PA-PHILA-MOUNT-MORIAH-CEMETERY-L Archives

From: John Ellingsworth <>
Subject: Burial Practice in China - no burials!
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 08:28:15 -0500

Slightly off-topic, but interesting in light of our efforts and concerns
with some of the cemeteries in Philadelphia.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/10/business/worldbusiness/10coffin.html
[You may have to register to read the article.]

From the article:

The ban on coffins shows that when the Chinese government really tries
to enforce regulations, it can still effectively do so. The suppression
of coffin sales and the requirement that the dead must be cremated
instead of buried began soon after the Communist takeover in 1949; it
was aimed in part at preventing ostentatious funerals and preserving
land for other uses.

Pre-Communist society in China put such an emphasis on funerals that
families spent up to three years actively mourning a death and sometimes
even sold daughters to pay for elaborate temple rituals commemorating an
elder member, according to Ho Pui-yin, a historian at the Chinese
University of Hong Kong.

"The whole family spent a lot of money and suffered a lot," she said.

--
Thanks,

John Ellingsworth
Project Leader, Virtual Curriculum
Academic Programs
School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
(215) 573-4451

Virtual Curriculum
http://www.cu2000.med.upenn.edu
AIM: vc2000support

To contact the Virtual Curriculum team:

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• Burial Practice in China - no burials! by John Ellingsworth <>