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More than 250 years ago, instead of cremating
the dead, the Naxi started to bury them in the ground. Today, the cremation
tradition is maintained only in Zhongdian County, Yunnan Province. |
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3. A Dongba sorcerer presides at the cremation
ceremony. The scripture he is reading was written in Dongba pictograph,
which is the only one in the world still in use. |
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4. The heads and skins of three oxes and one
goat are presented before the coffin. The souls of the sacrifice will acoompany
the dead into the new world. |
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6. Women are forbidden to get close to the cremation
ceremony. They can only get down on their knees to form a bridge for the
dead. If the funeral procession encounters a gully on the way to the cremation
site, the men are also required to form a bridge for the soul of the dead
of pass. |
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