Hist 487_13 Summing up Kuhn Burial in Song China

The new elite
Kuhn defines the social elite of the Song as a much broader class than the elite of previous dynasties. The new society of the Song had an upper class that consisted of "degree-holders, office-holders, families of scholar-officials, landowners, men of property, private scholars, literati, merchants, and entrepreneurs". They all had access to education, were wealthy compared to the illiterate commoners, could afford to lead or emulate a prestigious lifestyle, and more often than not held power positions, either on the national or on the local level.

This diversified new class established its own set of cultural values. In the trend of the time these values were often based on the -re-interpreted- ritual/social/legal prescriptions of high antiquity.

New prescriptions for correct ritual behavior: The simple tomb

In the last of the rites of passage this trend is mirrored in the diversity of tomb constructions and tomb equipment. While wealthy landowners liked to follow the aristocratic tradition of the grand tombs of the Tang (618-907 C.E.) with large chambers that could have several compartments and barrel or arched vaults or even corbelled domes, the class of the scholar officials preferred the "simple tomb": a vertical shaft tomb or a tomb with an underground corridor leading to the "cave-room", the coffin chamber.

Prescriptions for rituals to be followed by the new elite were set up by famous literati like the conservative scholar Sima Guang, who described the "simple tomb". Later knowledge of the ritual prescriptions for the rites of passage spread throughout the social strata when the Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi popularized the rituals in an easy to follow fashion that could be understood and practiced by everybody.

Tombs were equipped with exquisite grave goods like clothing, books, lacquer objects, jewelry that may have belonged to the deceased person during her/his lifetime; they could also contain funerary objects that imitated the function of ordinary grave goods but were specifically produced for the use in the burial rites, e.g. miniature clothes imitating the fashion of those alive.

The demand of simplicity in burial may be traced back to Daoist practices of burial. Several sources state the wish of a dying person for a simple burial without a coffin. Such orders by an elder could pose a major dilemma for the descendants who were bound to their role as filial children to provide any amenity for their parents: Should they be filial on a personal level and follow their parents wish (which on a social level could be interpreted as greedyly saving money instead of providing an appropriately lavish funeral), or should they be filial in consistency with their social role and provide everything for the souls of their deceased parent that she/he might need in the realm of the neitherworld?

Simplicity also had a very pragmatic background: Expenses for funerals could ruin a family. To limit expenditures yet provide a dignified framework for a funeral was a major concern in the writings of Confucian scholars at the time. Therefore contributions for the funeral such as silk and animals for the sacrifices were prescribed according to rank. Excavated tombs prove that the transgression of the limits defined in the manuals on ritual were common practice.

Funerary inscriptions

This also holds true for the inscriptions buried within the tombs. Officials, their wives, and parents were entitled to receive a funerary tablet that recorded their name, life and deathdates, a personal biography stating achievements and rank and a eulogy. In addition, scholars and commoners with Daoist inclinations would have a land deed in their tomb, stating that the tomb owner bought the plot of land for the tomb in a legal procedure from the deities of the neitherworld. The deed gives the boundaries of the tomb and the price paid for it. Numbers recorded for size and price are usually given in fictitious extension and numbers. Since non-members of the officials' class were not allowed to have a funerary tablet in their tomb they often imitated the tablet by using the land deed as a replacement document. They altered the geomantically inspired text and had a biography inscribed instead, but titled the document 'land deed' in the tiltle column.

Cremation and other burial customs

Creamation was not favored by the Neo-Confucian elite, it was allowed though in case somebody died unexpectedly far from his native place, since it was of course much cheaper to transport an urn than a coffin to the final destination. Cremation was also common among followers of Buddhism and foreigners.

Which conditions had to be fulfilled in order to proceed with a burial? The lunar calendar was consulted and when the dates of the deceased were in accordance with an auspicious day, the funeral could take place. In addition a specialist of geomancy had to be consulted to find the appropriate spot for a burial. The inscription tablets had to be engraved, the ceremony had to be prepared and the relatives and guests had to be invited. All of this could easily take up three months which was the time period tolerated between death and funeral by the manuals of ritual.

Speculation about the unknown realm of the neitherworld in some traditions/areas led to the equalization of neitherworld and the heavens. Therefore the terminology for coffin includes the term for heaven and a popular funerary object were bronze mirrors attached to the cupola of the tomb or mounted on the inside of the coffin lid just above the face of the dead in order to shed light for the deceased person.

Burial customs were hybridized: The blending of different religious traditions, geomantic notions, and ritual prescriptions led to a diverse burial culture that archaeological and historical studies can help to decode and reconstruct.