The Bone-Collecting Burial Custom In Min-Tai During Ming And Qing Dynasties

The bone-collecting burial, also known as the bone-washing burial, is a type of burial custom which adopt kinds of forms to let the body decay, such as ground-burial, cremation or weathering-burial, then pick up the bones and position into a pottery urn for the final burial. Spreading widely in Fujian-Taiwan area during the Ming and Qing periods, this custom still remained in min-tai until the last1990s.As a special burial custom, the bone-collecting burial is attracting more attention in academia. Up to now, scholars have made certain research results in the field of its historical origins, ritual process, and cultural connotation, etc. Nevertheless, there is some bias and misunderstanding against the bone-collecting burial, the researchers most studied its abuse of geomantic superstition but neglected its spiritual connotations of filial-piety.On the basis of a great deal of literature, this paper introduced the bone-collecting burial’s prevalence situation of Min-Tai in Ming and Qing dynasties in details, analyzed and summarized its various reasons systematically, explained its relationship with certain social problems in Ming and Qing period such as geomantic superstition and the human land conflict, then interpreted its social assessment and cultural connotation from different perspectives at the end of the paper. Through the studying of the bone-collecting burial as well as its profound historical sources and cultural connotations, this thesis not only try to reduce the prejudice to this burial custom, but also aim to make people have a fully and objectively recognition of it.