Information sources:
1. What is the difference between a cemetery and a cemetery?Fudi.2013/6/6 [Cited 2014-07-16].
2. Regulations on the Administration of Funerals and Funerals.cn [Citation date: 2023-03-07].
3. Website of the Ministry of Civil Affairs - "Interim Measures for the Management of Cemeteries".
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Text丨Shangguan Gu Jiu
Editor丨Shangguan Gu Jiu
Preface
When a relative dies, the Chinese regard entering the soil as one of the filial piety to be followed, and every Qingming will go to the cemetery of their relatives to visit the grave.
People in rural areas are okay and can bury their loved ones in their own land, while in cities there are limited land resources, and people rarely have their own land except for shelter, so they can only buy a cemetery.
However, few people know that in fact, the cemetery purchased is time-limited, generally about 20 years, if the time is not renewed, the ashes of relatives will even be taken out by the staff.
So, why is there a time limit for buying a cemetery, and where will the ashes be placed?
Grave culture
At any time in the mainland, the burial culture is a tradition with a deep historical and cultural background, people will pay attention to the burial of their relatives when they die, and now whether it is rural or urban residents, they will find a place to bury the remains of their relatives.
However, with the scarcity of modern land resources and the development of urbanization, traditional burials began to be gradually eliminated. Because in some cities, the land resources have been almost exploited, and if traditional burials are still practiced, there is not so much land at all.
As a result, the cremation model came into being, that is, the remains of loved ones are specially incinerated to form harmless bone residue and ashes. However, many elderly people believe that burial is a manifestation of respect for ancestors and inherited culture, and have resistance to cremation.
It is inevitable that there will be a conflict between these two funeral cultures, because no matter which ancient dynasty the reform will be met with certain resistance, but it turns out that the reform will benefit the common people in the end.
If the mainland wants to develop strongly, urbanization is the inevitable result, and with the improvement of people's living standards, some people choose to scatter their ashes into the sea to complete the dream of the deceased before their death, and there will be some people who directly put the ashes at home to worship, these modern funeral culture, has gradually begun to dilute the traditional tombs.
In rural areas, there is also the phenomenon of cremation of relatives, they will cremate their relatives and bury them in the land owned by their relatives before their deaths, and come to worship every Qingming Festival.
However, in the city, land resources are not so abundant, and people generally live in high-rise buildings, with only one floor of the room for themselves, let alone rent a house to live there.
If the whole family lives in the city, if a loved one dies, most people will bring the body of their loved one to their hometown for burial. And those urban households who are serious will choose to buy a cemetery to bury their relatives.
Cemeteries in the city can only be used to bury ashes, and the price of buying a cemetery is not cheap, but many people are willing to pay a lot of money to buy a cemetery in order to have a "shelter" after the death of their loved ones.
Many people think that the cemetery purchased is for permanent use, but in fact, most of the cemeteries only have a 20-year service life, and if there is no immediate renewal when it expires, the cemetery administrator will even take out the ashes directly, why does the cemetery have such a regulation?
Why 20 years?
Many people who don't know about the cemetery think that as long as they buy a cemetery inside, they can keep the ashes of their relatives in it for a long time. However, the reality is that everyone only has 20 years of use, so many people do not understand this decision.
First of all, because the land resources of the mainland are very precious, if a large number of cemeteries are built, it will definitely cause a waste of a large number of land resources, after all, the mainland has the largest population in the world. Not only that, the construction of the cemetery will also cause damage to the local ecological environment, so the right to use the cemetery is generally about 20 years.
Secondly, in addition to being buried in the cemetery, the cremated body can also be scattered into the sea or used as plant nourishment, and the cemetery period is set at about 20 years, which can also indirectly allow people to carry out more environmentally friendly funerals.
If a person's cemetery arrives within the time limit and the children and grandchildren do not renew the fee, will the cemetery be dug up by the staff?
It is understood that if a cemetery has reached the end of its 20-year service life, the person in charge of the cemetery will usually call relatives 180 days in advance to inform them and ask them to come to handle the relevant renewal procedures.
If the relatives decide not to renew the fee, they can take the ashes away when the time limit is up, and the cemetery staff can sell the cemetery again to other people after the cemetery expires.
There is also a situation where the relatives of the cemetery are likely to change their contact information in these 20 years, which leads to the fact that the staff of the cemetery can never contact the relatives, and those who are interested will take the initiative to contact the staff of the cemetery to renew the fee when the cemetery is about to expire.
And those relatives who really forget, the cemetery staff can't really contact them, they will put the ashes inside or put them in the urn after the cemetery arrives for use, and then resell the empty cemetery to others.
Therefore, even if the relatives change their contact information, they should take the initiative to contact the staff of the cemetery when the deadline is about to arrive to avoid some unnecessary trouble.
Now many people think that as long as the relatives are buried in the cemetery, there is no need to worry about the issue of timeliness, in fact, such cemeteries are limited to 20 years, if the family of the head of the household does not renew in time, then the cemetery will be taken away by the cemetery management, these ashes are either placed in a centralized manner, or they are scattered into the sea.
The cemetery is not the only place to be
In some cemeteries on the mainland, for those unclaimed ashes, the cemetery staff will scatter these forgotten ashes into the sea for a certain period of time, which is often called sea burial.
Sea burial has become a relatively new burial method, and the burial used before will cause certain environmental pollution and sudden pollution.
So nowadays, in the hearts of young people and some more avant-garde people, they will think of not having to bear the cumbersome matter of buying a cemetery, not only saving a sum of money, but also not having a follow-up renewal procedure, and directly spilling into the sea after the cremation of the bones.
There are many traditional burial methods, but I believe that in the future, there will be many burial methods that evolve with the times, so as to weigh the relationship between tradition and the times, and correctly promote the significance of mainland funeral culture.
epilogue
Many people will think that it is filial piety to give a grand funeral and a quiet cemetery to the deceased elders, but in fact, this is wrong, many younger generations did not fulfill their filial piety when they were young, but only used these ways to make up for the debt to their parents after death.
Everyone should also keep abreast of relevant information and regulations, and plan and arrange reasonably. We should cherish our own ashes or those of our loved ones and choose a suitable and safe cemetery. Let's care for ourselves or our loved ones, love for life and death!
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