People in China are being encouraged to opt for vertical burial or
cremation under new government funeral guidelines aimed at coping with
land scarcity.
It's hoped the guidance, issued by nine government departments, will
promote environmentally friendly forms of burial that take up little or
no land. These include burial at sea and tree funerals - where ashes are
interred beneath a newly planted tree.
Shared family tombs and arranging coffins vertically also get the
nod, as do smaller plots and gravestones. The guidelines stress that the
funeral traditions of ethnic minorities should be respected.
Rapid development and urban growth has put pressure on the country's
land resources, but state-run China Daily says previous attempts at
reform have fallen foul of deep-rooted Chinese burial customs, despite
measures such as a cremation competition.
Cremation rates actually fell slightly between 2005 and 2012, from
53% to 49.5%, according to the Ministry for Civil Affairs, which wants
it to reach 100% by the end of 2020.
The government has urged members of the ruling Communist Party to "take the lead" or face punishment.
The move has been met with outrage on social media, with thousands of comments posted on the Sina Weibo microblogging site.
"Has the government lost the plot?" one user exclaims, while another
complains: "Even after life, death must be regulated." One person draws
parallels with the country's chronic housing shortage: "No place to live
during this lifetime, after death it's the same."
But some are more philosophical. "Everyone dies - I don't mind what happens to me after death," one user says.
