Humans have a complex relationship with death and the Tibetan people are no exception. “At the end of life, a soul-owing being – human or otherwise – deserved a decent burial.” (Eller, 2016)
Sky Burial: A Truly Intangible Heritage
As UNESCO’s definition, “the burial ritual, as a kind of folklore, reflects a country or a district’s cultural and social identity.” (UNESCO, 1989) Sky burial, with thousands of years of history, is one of the most precious intangible heritages in Tibet Plateau.
Sky burial is a traditional funeral rite for the Tibetan people. After death, the corpse is taken to the designated place for the vultures (or other carnivorous birds, mammals, etc.) to devour. The essence of sky burial is the immortality and reincarnation of the soul. Demise is a separation between the soul and the old body and is a transformation of different spiritual space. Tibetan people respected the burial as the most distinguished almsgiving, which embodies the supreme state of Mahayana Buddhism. Like the body burial, water burial and cremation, sky burial is a kind of belief expressing people’s mourning of the deceased, which is essentially a social and cultural phenomenon influenced by the religion, natural geographical environment, mode of production and other factors. Therefore, in different historical periods, different countries and regions, different nationalities and even social classes own various burial rituals. Indeed, Tibetan sky burial is the most typical and famous one.
Picture by https://www.calebwilde.com
Sky Burial: A Consecrated but Controversial Ritual
On the one hand, should this holy ceremony be seen as a scenic spot? Sky burial is such a sacred and secret rite that many tourists consider that watching this ritual could be a cool experience to show off. Some visitors also desire to feel the divinity of Tibetan Buddhism through it. In Lhasa, you could easily find a tour guide to lead you to watch the ritual for a fee, which somehow brings business opportunity to the Tibetan tourism.
As a matter of fact, however, no matter how respectful your intentions may be, your presence at a sky burial won’t be a welcome one, especially if you are holding a camera. During the ritual rites, your presence is extremely offensive for the local residences because you have disturbed the peace of the dead people. The lamas will ask you to leave with intense anger and hate. The Chinese government also passed the law in 1985 and 2005 to preserve this intangible heritage with thousand-year history: “The Article Four: The sky burial shall be protected by the Chinese law. People without any official permission are prohibited to view, picture and record the sky burial. ” (Gov.cn, 2005)
Picture by http://www.globaltimes.cn
On the other hand, sky burial has brought dangers and diseases to the local people. The carnivorous birds and mammals used for the corpse disposal are not strictly raised in cages. These fierce scavengers not only assault the villagers on the mountains but also bring the infectious diseases like rabies and pestilence to the locals. According to the statistics, from 2000 to 2010, 483 people were infected by the Pestilence in Qinghai-Tibet plateau. (Jing, 2011)
Until today, without any doubt, sky burial is still one of the most attractive rituals of Tibetan culture; meanwhile, its controversies may also still exist for people to debate. The uniqueness of this rite, however, will never change nor vanish because of Tibetan people’s strong belief and worship of the sky. In a word, to respect the culture and let the deceased rest in peace is the best help we can offer.
Horrific Tibetan Sky Burial Ceremony – Vultures Feeding On Corpses
References and sources:
Jing, F. (2011). Analysis of the Pestilence Outbreaks in China from 2000 to 2009. Chinese Journal of Control of Endemic Diseases, (01)
Eller, J. (2016). Cultural anthropology. 3rd ed. London: Taylor and Francis Group.
UNESCO. (1989) Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore. Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000846/084696e.pdf#page=242 (accessed October 23, 2017).
Gov.cn. (2005). 西藏自治区政府发布《天葬管理暂行规定》通知. Available at: http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2006-01/11/content_154517.htm (Accessed 22 Oct. 2017).
Globaltimes.cn. (2017). The secret rites of sky burials – Global Times. Available at: http://www.globaltimes.cn/galleries/203.html (Accessed 22 Oct. 2017).
Pictures sources：
http://www.globaltimes.cn/galleries/203.html
https://www.calebwilde.com/2014/06/tibetan-sky-burial-36-photos/
Global Heritage 