In recent years, with the rapid development of the mainland economy and the continuous advancement of urban and rural construction, the contradiction between supply and demand of land resources has become increasingly prominent, and the reform of rural funerals has become one of the hot topics of social concern. Traditional burial methods occupy a large amount of valuable arable land resources, which conflicts with the concept of sustainable development in modern society, so the implementation of cremation has become a top priority.
However, due to the influence of multiple factors such as history, religion and culture, the elderly in rural areas have a low degree of acceptance of cremation, and even have conservative concepts and emotional resistance, which brings certain difficulties to the implementation of cremation. In order to solve this problem, some places began to try to promote new funeral methods, such as sea burial, tree burial, etc., and achieved certain results, becoming a major highlight of the funeral reform.
1. The background and significance of rural funeral reform
1. Save arable land resources
With the continuous advancement of urban and rural construction, the supply of land resources is gradually decreasing, and with the continuous increase of population, the demand for land resources is increasing day by day, and the contradictions and conflicts of land resources are becoming increasingly prominent. The traditional burial method needs to occupy a large amount of valuable arable land resources, which has conflicted with the concept of sustainable development in today's society, so how to rationally use land resources under the premise of protecting the legitimate interests of the elderly in rural areas has become a difficult problem for governments at all levels.
2. Promote the development of agricultural mechanization
The reform of rural funerals is not only to save cultivated land resources, but more importantly, to promote the development of agricultural mechanization. Traditional burial requires a lot of manual labor, which not only increases the labor burden of farmers, but also is not conducive to the promotion and application of agricultural mechanization. As a green and environmentally friendly funeral method, cremation can not only effectively save land resources, but also help promote the development of agricultural mechanization and improve rural production efficiency.
2. Challenges facing rural funeral reform
1. The elderly are conservative
With the continuous development and progress of society, people's concepts are also quietly changing, more and more people begin to accept new things, and the constraints on tradition are gradually weakened, however, in rural areas, especially among the elderly, the phenomenon of conservative concepts is still relatively common, they have a certain resistance to cremation, and even hold some superstitious concepts, thinking that cremation will affect the peace of the next life, therefore, it is difficult to accept cremation from the psychology of this new funeral method.
2. The social repercussions are greater
In some places, although cremation has begun to be implemented, due to the resistance of the elderly, there are also some hidden burials, which brings certain difficulties to the management of the local government, and is also easy to cause negative impact on the society, and even has a certain impact on the image and reputation of the local government.
3. Exploration and attempt of new funeral methods
1. Sea burial
With the continuous enhancement of people's awareness of environmental protection, sea burial, as a unique funeral method, has gradually been accepted and accepted by people. Sea burial is to put the ashes of the deceased into a biodegradable jar, and then scatter the ashes into the sea by boat, so that the soul of the deceased can be accompanied by the sea and get permanent rest.
At the same time of sea burial, you can also hold a memorial ceremony on the ship, so that relatives and friends can pray for the deceased in the embrace of the sea, which is not only conducive to saving valuable land resources, but also meets the requirements of modern people for environmental protection, and can also give the deceased a broader space for sustenance, which has been loved by more and more people.
2. Tree burial
As an environmentally friendly funeral method, tree burial has also been favored by more and more people. Tree burial is to bury the ashes of the deceased under a specific tree, and through the absorption of the tree, the life of the deceased is extended, becoming a part of the towering tree, symbolizing the eternity and continuation of life.
In some places, the government will also give certain subsidy policies to encourage more people to choose tree burial, which can not only play a role in saving land resources, but also help promote local ecological construction, enhance people's awareness of environmental protection, and let the deceased get another detachment and sublimation in the arms of trees.
4. Enlightenment and reflection on new funeral methods
1. Conform to the development trend of modern society
With the continuous progress and development of society, people's concept of life and death, for funeral is also quietly changing, more and more people begin to pursue personalized, distinctive funeral methods, and new types of funeral methods such as sea burial and tree burial just meet the needs of modern society, in line with people's protection of the ecological environment, the pursuit of rational use of resources, with a strong era and forward-looking.
2. It is conducive to the inheritance of traditional culture
The implementation of a new type of funeral method, not only to solve the problem of waste of land resources, but also conducive to the integration of traditional culture and modern society, sea burial, tree burial and other funeral methods, into the rich cultural connotation, to give the deceased a broader space for sustenance, but also to give the living profound thinking and enlightenment, is conducive to the inheritance and promotion of traditional Chinese culture.
3. Facing challenges and difficulties in promotion
Although the new funeral method has many advantages and characteristics, it is not easy to truly realize the transformation from cremation to sea burial and tree burial, which faces many obstacles from traditional concepts, and also requires the joint efforts and support of the government and all sectors of society.
In the process of implementing new funeral methods, it is necessary to strengthen publicity, guide people to treat life and death correctly, treat funerals, respect the wishes of the deceased and their families, give them a variety of choices, and implement funeral reforms.
epilogue
Rural funeral reform is a wide-ranging and far-reaching work, which is not only a change in the way of funeral, but also a change in the concept of life and death, which needs us to think and solve it from multiple levels. The implementation of a new type of funeral method requires the joint participation and efforts of the whole society, and also requires each of us to start from ourselves, enhance environmental awareness, treat life and death correctly, cherish the current life, and let a better life start from us, start from the bits and pieces around us, and slowly pass it on.