The Study On The Traditional Funeral Customs Of The Zhuoni Sangemao Tibetan

Life etiquette is a ritual held at different ages in a person’s life.Life etiquette has always been valued by the Tibetan people.The Tibetan people have developed quite complete life etiquette in all aspects of the birth,old age,illness,and death that must be experienced in their life.People are regarded as a dying existence,and from the moment of birth,they are gradually approaching death.Among the many complicated life etiquettes,funerals are the most valued among the various etiquette activities in society.As the last stage of life etiquette,funeral rites have an inseparable connection between the living of the world and the dead through the concept of immortality of the soul.In this paper,the traditional funeral customs of the Sangemao Tibetan people in Zhuoni County,Gansu Province are taken as the research direction,adopts multidisciplinary methods such as religion and ethnology,uses methods such as literature analysis,field surveys and in-depth interviews to collect literature data and local materials,Literature analysis data are combined with investigation records to conduct research.The Zhuoni Tibetan area,which is located in Tao-min area,is not only an important area for the spread of Tibetan Buddhism,but also a corridor for the exchange of Tibetan and Han ethnic groups,with a multi-cultural background.Due to the special geographical location and the influence of multiple cultures,the Sangemao Tibetan living in Zhuoni area are inevitably influenced by Tibetan Buddhism,and are also influenced by the "heavy burial and thick burial" of the Han cultural.The funeral custom that is one of the life etiquettes is especially valued by the Sangemao Tibetans.After a long period of development and integration,the funeral custom of the Sangemao Tibetans is complex and unique,showing the characteristics of multicultural exchanges that appear after the multi-ethnic intermingling.The whole paper is divided into five parts.The first part is the introduction,including the reason and significance of the topic,research objectives and methods,the current situation about some important opinions from the domestic and foreign researches,research innovation and existing difficulties.This part mainly introduces the origin of this research topic,and combs the related research basis of this field.I believes that the formation of the traditional funeral customs of the Sangemao Tibetan is closely related to the local living environment and the ethnic culture of the Sangemao Tibetan.So in the second part,it introduces Zhuoni’s natural and cultural environment and the special Tibetan branch of the Sangemao Tibetan.The third part introduces the funeral customs of the Sangemao Tibetan in detail.In this chapter,I discusses the reasons for the adoption of cremation.In my opinion,there are many reasons for the adoption of cremation.Their funeral customs are not only the cultural phenomenon created by the living environment,but also the cultural behavior of religious concepts.At the same time,it also makes a detailed record of the people who attend the funeral,the funeral process,various taboos in the funeral,and changes in funerals.The fourth part analyzes the contents of the funeral rites and customs of the Sangemao Tibetan,including the analysis of the rich cultural meaning contained in the funeral,the analysis of the structure of the ritual process and the impact of the funeral activities on the people participating in the funeral and the whole society of the Sangemao Tibetan.The funeral ceremony is a means for the living to be filial to the dead,which can pacify the sadness of the family members,reconfirm the relationship between the relatives,show the family strength,enhance the cohesion of the ethnic groups,and at the same time,the funeral site is also a place for the spread of national culture.The fifth part is the conclusion,which explains the characteristics of the funeral customs and the funeral culture of the Sangemao Tibetan.This paper holds that the concept of soul is the root cause of the funeral custom.Due to the development of society,people’s concept of soul becomes weak,and the funeral customs will change accordingly.However,the traditional funeral customs of the Sangemao Tibetan will not change fundamentally.It is to carry out continuous changes and bring forth new vitality in the new era.