Selecting Gravesites in 9th-Century China: Fengshui, Land Contracts, and Empire-Wide Death Ritual Standardization

• In Event: Death, Politics, Violence, and Ritual: New Perspectives on Chinese Religions

Abstract

Quantitative and qualitative analyses of original data, including nearly 3,000 ninth-century tomb epitaphs and hundreds of archaeological reports, lead me to recognize consistent patterns in how gravesites were selected in late Tang-dynasty (618-907) China. Many epitaph inscriptions list what was located in each of the four cardinal directions from the tomb, but with an approach that varied strikingly by region. In northern China, large-scale geographic features such as rivers and mountains, visible yet afar, dominate the descriptions and convey a sense of geomancy. In the south, specific landmarks such as a neighbor’s garden or a road bordering the gravesite are listed; combined with information including the exact size and purchase record of a burial plot, some southern epitaph inscriptions resemble land contracts. I use GIS technologies to map this fascinating north versus south dichotomy and argue that it reflects different mentalities: the northern maintained a traditional fengshui view and situated the deceased within an auspicious landscape, revealing a sensitivity to a particular notion of community, while the southern claimed ownership of a burial plot and stressed family property and status, manifesting the strong impact of widespread commercialization.
Beyond regional differences, my research also reveals empire-wide principles governing the positioning of graves within a family cemetery, and it further explores the issue of cultural integration in the “Tang-Song transition.” The central role of ritual specialists in religious practice at all levels of society, as well as the circulation of printed almanacs, may account for this remarkable example of cultural standardization.

Author

• Claire Yi Yang, University of California, Berkeley