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Friday, February 1, 2019

Ritual Reburial

I just read in the Jakarta Post about a strange Vietnamese ancient ritual, still widely practiced, wherein the dead are dug up and reburied after the passage of three years in order to assure a serene final resting place. 

A long and elaborate ceremony is performed which involves sticky rice offerings, boiled chicken, a paper horse for the deceased to ride on, and fake US dollars. The bones are carefully removed from the coffin, making sure that every bone, including teeth, is accounted for (which can sometimes require dental records or the testimony of a family member). If anything is missing, the deceased will suffer in his new grave. If the bones are black an bare of flesh, they are carefully cleaned. If there is still flesh on the bones, it must be painstakingly scraped away. The bones are then placed in a small stone case and the case is reburied in a different spot. Finally, if all has gone well, the deceased is perfectly at rest in a peaceful new place. 

These rituals occur mainly in the North of Vietnam, and are now beginning to give way to a preference for cremation, which is actually rewarded with a government rebate of $130 US dollars.  Many, however, cling to the ritual, in the belief that cremation will caused their deceased beloved to burn through eternity. 

2 comments:

Mb said...

Check this book out. Very interesting read about death rituals around the world.

https://www.amazon.com/Here-Eternity-Traveling-World-Death/dp/0393249891/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549069331&sr=8-1&keywords=from+here+to+eternity+book

R.W. Boughton said...

Mb--How interesting! Thank you.