House of the Dead

House of the Dead

Graveyards definitely present interesting reminders of people's show of respect to their dead relatives from the tombs to the tombstones to the statuettes to the epitaph people create to keep memories of the dead. Chinese cemeteries are no way different in this aspect. On the other hand, religions and cultural traditions heavily influence funeral rites and the manner by which tombs and burial grounds are built. For instance, villagers in the hilly parts of Fujian dig holes on the side of the mountains enough for them to stick the coffin into the hole then pile stones on the entrance to seal it. Other communities use concrete arches or marble slabs. A similar practice is done in Guizhou but with a different motif and design. Because Guizhou is abundant with flat black slabs, most tombs have similar designs. In communities where there are caves that are not easily accessible by humans and beasts, the caves become communal tombs. Towns I've seen along the main freeway from Shanghai to Yancheng have entirely different tomb structures from one township to another. There's the graveyard with tombs like tiny houses; another one with simple small mounds of earth like cookies on a platter; still another one with black granite tombstones sticking out of the ground; and this unique cone shaped concrete tombs I recently discovered behind a newly built church.