The Chinese government has strongly promoted cremation since the 1950s when Mao Zedong endorsed it for practical and ideological reasons. Officials are expected to increase cremation rates or risk their careers. In Jiangxi Province, new crematoriums are being built and burials banned to push the 100% cremation target by 2020. Party leaders are concerned about traditions of ancestor worship and "superstitions" associated with burial, and promote alternatives like scattering ashes. Cremation is also considered practical due to limited space in cities and to conserve land and resources. However, extreme promotion efforts have led to suicides to avoid burial bans and financial losses, and cremation still only accounts for under

1. Cremation in China – an imperative not an option
Cremation in China has long been the government’s
preferred method of disposal ever since the 1950s
when Chairman Mao pronounced it the appropriate
choice for both practical and ideological reasons.
The Chinese government is, of course, able to enforce
its desire to move to cremation in ways unimaginable to
most of us. In many towns, cities and even provinces
wholesale seizure of coffins and even corpses prepared
for burial has been a public demonstration of the policy.
Party officials are expected to demonstrate improved
cremation rates or risk their future careers.
In Jiangxi Province, East China, for example, the target
of 100% cremation by the end of 2020 is being
enthusiastically chased. The construction of new
crematoria is being accelerated and cremation is being
promoted in rural areas whilst in urban areas there is a
strict ban on burials. 1,000 coffins were recently
destroyed to further push the cremation message.
The ideological drive is partly down to Party concerns
about the tradition of ancestor worship and associated
‘superstitions’ connected with a long tradition of burial.
The idea that tree planting should replace Tomb
Sweeping Day, that scattering ashes over the sea or
even green burial are appropriate alternatives are all
‘nudges’ from the Party, whilst bans in towns and cities
are ‘pushes’.
The practical drive is self-evident in cities where there
simply isn’t space for cemeteries but even in rural
areas, cremation is considered essential to save land for
agricultural purposes and save trees and other
resources from being ‘wasted’.
The reality of the policy has had some tragic
consequences when elderly people have committed
suicide to pre-empt imminent burial bans as well as
financial consequences where reimbursement for
confiscated coffins has been substantially below their
value. What is interesting, however, is that despite
these extreme efforts, in China cremation still only
accounts for under 50% of disposals
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