Buddhism has a cloud: "The eight sufferings of life, birth, old age, illness, death, resentment, love and parting, can't ask for, and can't let go." "Death has been a major event in life since ancient times.
People often deal with the aftermath of the deceased in a complicated way to express their remembrance of them. With the progress of society and the change of people's concept of funeral, cremation that has been passed down by the folk for many years has gradually been eliminated.
Instead, a series of new burial methods such as tree burial, sea burial, flower burial, and lawn burial are adopted, the most popular of which is tree burial.
Tree burial is an emerging form of environmentally friendly funeral. It buries the deceased under the tree, and uses the tree as a companion, so that the deceased can also be integrated with nature after death, which is both environmentally friendly and full of poetry.
Can all groups of people accept tree burials? The answer is yes. Because tree burial not only respects the wishes of the deceased, but also conforms to the pursuit of environmental protection in today's society. Moreover, tree burial sites are not limited to rural areas, and tree burial areas can be set up in parks, streets, and green spaces in cities.
So, why does the state vigorously promote tree burials? First of all, tree burial is a way to save land resources and alleviate the problem of land tension. Secondly, tree burial can allow the deceased to live in harmony with nature after death, which is in line with modern people's pursuit of environmental protection and green life.
Finally, tree burial is also a manifestation of humanistic care, so that the deceased can still feel the love and care of their family after death. Ancient and modern tree burials are very different, the traditional funeral culture believes that "into the soil for peace", only by burying the deceased in the soil can they "return to the roots" and the soul can be rested.
However, with the development of the times and the popularization of environmental protection concepts, tree burials have gradually been accepted and respected by more people.
The burial has a long history, which can be traced back to the Paleolithic Age, and the aristocratic and wealthy families have private cemeteries, such as the "Holy Forest" of the Confucian family, covering an area of more than 3,000 acres, and the wall is 7 kilometers long, which shows that the burial has a lofty status in ancient times.
Modern tree burials, which are completely different from burials, are more green and civilized, that is, the cremated ashes of the body are buried in the ground, without building graves or walls, and various trees are planted on them, so that the deceased can continue their lives in a dignified and new way.
In areas where modern tree burials are practiced, they are often built into public cemeteries, living in harmony with the beautiful nature. Under each of the cedars, cedars, cinnamon and camphors, the soul of a deceased person is hidden.
Modern tree burial can not only meet our funeral needs, but also beautify the environment. For us modern people, the well-known tree burial is a long evolution and selection, and it is very different from the ancient tree burial.
Ancient tree burial, also known as "dew**", this funeral custom is mainly spread among some ethnic minorities. They believe that the natural and holy environment of the forest cleanses the spirits of the deceased and helps them to transcend the bondage of the flesh and attain blissful death.
In ancient times, humans began to take various forms of tree burial, and they would dig a hole in the tree to place the remains of the deceased. After the baptism of time, the dug trunk will gradually heal, just like the deceased being absorbed by the tree and returning to the embrace of nature.
In some villages in Indonesia, there is still a tradition of wrapping the remains of dead babies and burying them in tree hollows. In addition to using tree cavities, people in some places would clean the bodies of the deceased with snow or river water before tree burials, then wrap them in birch bark or palm bark, and place the bodies on the branches of towering trees with rattan to prevent attacks by wild animals.
This form of tree burial is not only a respect for the deceased, but also a manifestation of the harmonious coexistence between man and nature.
In some areas, a small platform is built between two trees and branches are laid to place the remains. In ancient times, a wooden plaque or a stone would be hung in a tree burial, and the name of the deceased and the year of birth and death would be simply written.
However, such primitive funeral customs have all but disappeared in modern society, and more civilized ways to return to life in nature have become possible. Modern tree burials are more in line with people's thoughts and needs.
Although the road to tree burial is bumpy, the future is bright. Anything new takes time to be accepted, and the process of tree burial in our country has not been smooth sailing.
In particular, the elderly are mostly resistant to this, believing that this method is unlucky, and even thinks that it is a perfunctory performance of their children.
In many Chinese families, different philosophies of funeral often clash with each other. Young people may support tree burial, but they don't choose this way out of respect for the wishes of the older generation.
Although traditional burials are expensive and laborious, the elderly value their decency more. Therefore, burying a deceased family member in a big city has become a headache.
The promotion of tree burial will not happen overnight, and we need to patiently change the traditional perception of the elderly. Blindly "one-size-fits-all" all forms of funeral except tree burial will only arouse people's resentment and make them feel that their dignity has been violated.
Although Henan Province started public welfare tree burial activities as early as 2008, progress has been slow. Even if the department vigorously advocates it, the choice rate of tree burial is still only a pitiful 7 per 1,000, and the number of free tree burial places provided by ** is rarely interested, and people still prefer traditional burials.
In the final analysis, it is still the ideology of the elderly who cannot accept this "avant-garde" method of tree burial. Due to the weak foundation of the people's tree burial culture, it takes time and effort to gain a place in the funeral market.
In order to enhance the attention of all walks of life to tree burials, a series of preferential policies have been introduced in various parts of China. Although the specific content of these preferential policies is different in both urban and rural areas, the core content is similar, which is to encourage the family of the deceased to choose tree burial.
In Shenyang, for example, if a local household registration person chooses to be buried in a tree after death, the family of the deceased will be able to receive a one-time reduction of 1,000 yuan for the purchase of the tomb. At the same time, in order to encourage more cemetery units to participate in the promotion of tree burial, cemetery units that provide tree burial sites will also receive a reward of 500 yuan.
In terms of specific forms of tree burial, urban tree burials differ from rural tree burials. Tree burials in the city do not allow the erection of tombstones, and the tombstones of the deceased are set up on the trunks of trees.
In rural areas, you can choose to scatter the ashes directly under the tree, or you can put the ashes in an urn and then bury them under the tree. In general, the introduction of these preferential policies aims to let more people understand and accept tree burial, a green and environmentally friendly burial method, and also meet the needs of different groups of people for burial methods.
In order to allow more people to accept and practice ecological burial, the tree burial cemetery will be operated in the form of a forest park, and each tree will have a unique number and be managed by professionals.
The maintenance of the cemetery and the pruning of the branches will be taken care of by professional staff, so that the family can have no worries. In this process, ** is also trying its best to promote tree burial, hoping to let more young people accept this environmentally friendly funeral method.
In fact, many young people have embraced this philosophy. As Yang, a post-90s girl, said: "I don't want my death to be ritualized in any form, life should be simple and pure." ”
I believe that like Yang, there are still many young people who pursue happiness in this world, and they do not pursue mourning after death, but only pursue happiness in the present.
Choosing tree burial, young people challenge the authority of the older generation, take the power to deal with the aftermath in their own hands, and are no longer bound by secular rules. Promote tree burials, change customs, and young people abandon old habits and develop new customs.
Most of the volunteers who participated in the ecological tree burial activities were young people, and the modern funeral concept of "thick and thin burial" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of young people.
With the renewal of social concepts, more and more young people have begun to accept green burial methods. According to the latest survey, more than 60% of netizens expressed support for modern tree burials, believing that this is not only in line with the concept of environmental protection, but also allows them to return to their roots.
Yan, a young league member from Yuhuan City, Zhejiang Province, also said in an interview that she can accept both tree burials and sea burials, because she does not want her posthumous affairs to become a burden to her family and friends.
This shows that the new generation of young people have a new understanding of the concept of funeral, they believe that life in the world, should respect nature, protect the environment, choose green funeral methods is the best feedback to the environment and life.
The perfect combination of tree burial, protection of cultivated land and respect for folk customs. In the face of China's 1.4 billion population and per capita cultivated land area is only 1With the reality of 4 acres, the protection of cultivated land has become an urgent task.
However, the law prohibits the construction of graves on cultivated land, which is not the case in reality. In large cities, there is even a phenomenon of "the living and the dead fighting for land", and the land resources of large cemeteries are becoming increasingly strained.
In order to solve this problem, modern tree burial came into being, which found a balance between the protection of arable land and the respect of folk customs.
Some public cemeteries with elegant environments and unique geographical locations have been saturated for a long time, and it can be said that they are hard to find. Ten years ago, the city of Hefei in Anhui Province suffered from it"Cemetery crisis"Some authoritative sources estimate that if the cemetery problem cannot be solved, Hefei will face the dilemma of having nowhere to bury in a few years.
Tree burial can perfectly solve this problem, and this new type of funeral can greatly save land resources. The land area required for each tree burial is 0Within 5 square meters, it is only one-fifth of the traditional burial land.
As early as 1989, Guangzhou began to implement it"The ashes are planted in the ground"Over the past few decades, it has saved more than 130,000 square meters of land for the urban construction of Guangzhou.
Tree burial not only saves land, but also reduces the financial burden on the family of the deceased.
Because of traditional ideas and personal feelings, people want to give the deceased a dignified farewell. In the process of preparing for a funeral, some people may be considered unfilial because they are stingy.
Some practitioners in the funeral industry may have taken advantage of this psychology and demanded sky-high prices. The unique nature of the industry also allows it to be highly profitable. In Shanghai, a top cemetery** is as high as 760,000 yuan per square meter, which exceeds the housing prices of many first-tier cities, and people can't help but feel "can't afford to die".
In addition, the offerings are varied, including the latest luxury cars, mobile phones, and even paper airplanes and yachts. Some netizens laughed: "They may need to burn the instructions together, otherwise they won't use these strange sacrifices." ”
In the current society where funeral costs are increasing, tree burial is a more environmentally friendly, economical and worry-free option. **Provide the land needed for tree burial free of charge, without the need for family members to spend a lot of money to buy.
Tree burial cemeteries are usually located on slopes or sparsely wooded lands that have been abandoned for many years, such places have beautiful mountains and rivers and beautiful ecological environment. **Less investment and low cost in the construction process.
At the same time, family members do not need to bear heavy financial pressure to use it, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone. There is no need to set up any funeral supplies on the ground of the tree burial, and all you need to do is bring a bouquet of flowers or a glass of sake with you.
The people very much welcomed this economical and environmentally friendly funeral method. In addition to saving space and money, tree burials can also remove the feudal superstitions that remain in traditional burials.
The ritual of burial is too complicated, and it takes a lot of time and money to choose an auspicious day of the zodiac. "The coffin must be heavy, there must be more food and clothing, the embroidery must be complicated, and the hill must be huge", which is a true portrayal of burial.
Influenced by traditional culture, it is generally believed that people will go to the underworld after death, and as long as the cemetery is large enough and the burial goods are valuable enough, the deceased can live a prosperous and prosperous life in the underground world.
But in reality, these forms are for the living, and the deceased can no longer enjoy all this, and their power and wealth are irretrievable after death. From an economic and cultural point of view, choosing a tree burial is the best choice.
The cycle of life and death is the inescapable fate of life, and the wheel of history ruthlessly crushes every life. Whether we choose a pleasing tree burial or a traditional burial, it is for the rest of the deceased and the comfort of the living.
Although burial has not been completely banned in China at present, for areas that do not have the conditions for ecological burial, burial can be continued temporarily. But it is clear that tree burial has become the mainstream form of funeral, and it is a way to coexist with traditional filial piety.
All rituals are appearances, and love and remembrance are the core of the funeral.