vultures fly into the sky after eating, while Tibetans think that the deceased ascended to heaven smoothly. Celestial burial is held in celestial burial ground, and there are fixed locations in various places.
After a person dies, he stays in the morgue for several days and asks the Lama to chant Buddhist scripture and choose a funeral day. Funerals are usually very early, and there are people who send the bodies to the celestial burial master to burn incense for the gods first. Vultures gather around the celestial burial ground when they see fireworks. The celestial burial master immediately stripped off the clothes of the body, dismembered the body according to certain procedures, and peeled off the bones. The bones are mashed with stones, mixed with Ciba, and the meat is cut into small pieces and set aside. Finally, whistle the vultures, and don't feed them in the order of bone and meat until they are completely swallowed.
Tibetan funeral forms have undergone historical changes. According to Tibetan historical records, during the ancient "Seven Days", kings died "holding the heavenly rope to ascend to heaven" and "disappearing like a rainbow, leaving no remains". This situation is related to the understanding of Tibetans at that time. At that time, Tibetans believed that their ancestors came from heaven and died.
In Tibetan, the celestial burial is called "Du Chui Jie Wa", which means "closing (corpse) to the burial ground"; Also known as "Chado", it means "feeding vultures". In this paper, "QIA" is a kind of vulture specializing in carrion, which is called "Hagui". According to this, this kind of "celestial burial" can also be described as "bird burial".
When did the celestial burial custom begin? There is no specific and exact record. After Buddhism was introduced into Tibet, it had a great influence on the Tibetan funeral custom. In Buddhism, "giving" is the principle followed by believers. There are many kinds of giving, and giving one's life is also a kind of giving. According to the Sutra of Giving One's Life, which was discovered in Dunhuang, people are advised to divide their flesh and blood after death and give a corpse to Tuolin (burial ground). This custom existed before the Sui Dynasty in Han Dynasty. This custom may lead to the same goal for Tibetans who believe in Buddhism.
Tibetan Buddhists believe that celestial burial entrusts with a desire to ascend to "heaven". There are celestial burial sites in every region, that is, celestial burial sites, and there are special personnel (celestial burial masters) engaged in this industry. After death, people curl up the body, bend their heads to their knees, synthesize a sitting posture, wrap it in a white quilt, place it on the earthen platform on the right side behind the door, and ask the Lama to recite the sutra of crossing over. On the auspicious day, the undertaker will carry the corpse to the celestial burial platform, first light "mulberry" smoke to cause vultures, and after the Lama recites the scriptures, the celestial burial master will dispose of the corpse.
Tibetans believe that vultures on the mountains around the celestial burial platform do not harm any small animals except eating human bodies, and are "divine birds". Celestial burial ceremonies are usually held in the early morning. Before dawn, the family of the deceased will send the body to the celestial burial platform. The sun rises slowly and the celestial burial ceremony begins. It's best not to watch it without permission.
Whether there is a skeleton wall in Tibet or not, even many old Tibetans have only heard about it, and few have come near it. Ma Lihua, a famous Tibetan writer, affirmed in his book Travel in Northern Tibet that there is a skull wall in Tibet, and Dodoka in northern Tibet became the only celestial burial platform in Tibet to preserve skulls. About 3 kilometers from nagqu prefecture to the southeast, it's like County. For example, it means "female yak horn" in Tibetan, and it is said that it was originally a place where "female yak tribe" settled. The Duoduoka Celestial Burial Platform of Dharma Temple is located in the western suburb of the county seat, for example, and it is also the location of the skeleton wall.
With regard to celestial burial, Tibetan Buddhism believes that lighting mulberry smoke is to pave a colorful road, and respectfully invite Daku to the celestial burial platform, offering her body as a sacrifice to the gods, praying to atone for the sins of the deceased when she was alive, and asking the gods to bring her soul to heaven.
In the middle of the Duoduoka Celestial Funeral Parlour, there is a corpse burial pool with a size of about 4 square meters, which is paved with pebbles. On the north side of the pool, there is a rectangular stone with a height of 6 cm, which is used to park corpses during celestial burial. Outside the south gate of the Celestial Funeral Parlour, there is a prayer flag pole about 1 meters high, with a skeleton sculpture on it and many faded prayer flags hanging from the top.
The whole courtyard of the Celestial Burial Terrace is about 4, square meters, surrounded by earth walls about one person high, and there are wooden frames on the south wall and the west wall, about four or five squares, each of which is neatly arranged with a personal skull, forming two long skull walls. One by one, the skulls make people feel sacred and awe-inspiring. Only then did I know that the skull wall was the product of celestial burial.
Miao nationality is one of the oldest among the 56 ethnic groups in China, and thousands of years of historical accumulation have endowed this nation with unique and rich culture. It is for historical reasons that Miao culture sometimes appears tragic and mysterious to outsiders.
The custom of cave burial is still a specious mystery in the eyes of folk customs and historians. Miao people first lived in the rich and developed Yellow River valley. Because of the defeat of their ancestor Shennong's war, they were forced to move to the mountains and forests in Guizhou.
There is a cave in the mountainous area of southern Guizhou called Meidong, which contains 4 coffins of different periods. It is the largest Miao burial in Guizhou. Walking through the coffins, you can see decaying coffins and bones that have not yet weathered, and there are some broken crocks and other containers on the ground.
coffins are placed in different ways, all with their heads facing the north entrance and fixed on two or three "well" stands. The coffins supported by six columns and three "well" stands are male, while those supported by four columns and two "well" stands are female.
coffins are placed in different ways, all with their heads facing the north entrance and fixed on two or three "well" stands. The coffins supported by six columns and three "well" stands are male, while those supported by four columns and two "well" stands are female.
Coffins can be divided into flat-headed and drum-shaped male heads, and their size depends on the body shape of the deceased. The flat flat-headed coffin was in the Ming Dynasty, and the convex male coffin was in the Qing Dynasty. Flat flat-headed coffins are roughly made, and drum-shaped male coffins are mostly made of Chinese fir. The coffins in the cave can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty at the earliest, and the latest one was in the late Qing Dynasty.
The cave is filled with ancestors of the Miao people of Wu surname in the village below the mountain. Every Qingming Festival, they come up to offer sacrifices to their ancestors. Walking inside by torch, the empty cave is full of stalactites of different shapes. There is a natural small cave on the right side of the center of the cave, which was the temporary meeting room when Miao Wang escaped from foreign enemies. There is also a small cave in the small cave, which is Miao Wang's bedroom.
On March 3rd and June 6th every year, Miao compatriots hold a solemn ceremony to kill cows and worship their ancestors outside the cave, and hold a unique jumping hole in the spacious hall inside the cave. The architecture of the village still retains its quaint and rich Miao style.