Bone Cleaning

["Dylan W.H. Sung" <mabr12@dial.pipex.com>]

Dear Jonathan and Chanh and Al
 
: The custom to clean the bones years after burial and preserve in the jar
is
: also practiced by Hoklo (Fuk-kien) in Taiwan. In internet I read one
: posting discuss this custom. In western country it is called "Secondary
: Burial" or" Bone Cleaning". According the book written by a reknown
: ethonologist Dr. Ling, Chun-sheng, formal Director of Institute of
: Ethonology, Academy sinica, the Secondary Burial is practiced not only by
: the Hanpeople south of Yantze River, but also in some pacific islands,
: southeastern Asia and northeastern Asia. However, Dr. Ling believed this
: Secondary Burial was originated in southern China.
: Best regards
: Albert Chu

The practice of two burials still happened until recently in NT HK SAR and
environs. Hakka folk who passed away were buried and years were elapsed for
the usual decay of the corpse. Some leave it about 10 years, after which
they are exumed. The pots or large urns are called Gin1 Ang1 where Ang1
refers to the earthern ware pot, and Gin1 is the respectful name for bones
other wise called Gut5, or Hai2 Gut5. It is necessary for the bones to be
cleaned as there is a special way that the skeleton is reconstructed in the
earthen jar.

It seems that only the larger bones are kept, since the smaller ones are
fiddly to clean up. I do not know what they do with these smaller ones and
any remaining non-bone tissue that is left over though. My parents clean my
Great Grandfather's bones before the re-burial as is normal, so they had
experience of the proceedures, which I can relay to you all. I have heard
from them that in some cases where the corpse had not decayed, the
terrified families had to go through boiling the corpse and then extracting
the bones from it. I don't doubt that this is very grisly indeed.

As for the placing of the bones in the pot, it must be done so that the
bones are in the pose of a sitting person. If the bones are set the wrong
way round, you end up having your ancestor in a kneeling position which is
bad Fung Sui. By having the ancestor comfortably sitting, you can assure
benevolence. 

If you look at the sites where burials are often done, they are often in
places near to water, and on a mountain or hill side. I think the old
fashioned traditional round 'Ti4' type graves are supposed to resemble
armchairs, so that the ancestor in the sitting position in the urn under
it, can in spirit sit in this armchair and view pleasant surroundings.
Hence, the Fung Sui matter with the arrangement of the bones.

Nowdays, the large round graves are becoming less common, and small brick
built houses are seen on the hillsides. These are called Gin Ang Vuk, whose
meaning you'll appreciate.

Dylan.