TIANJIN - A new method for disposing of human ashes has sparked debate, as the ashes preserved in containers made from biodegradable material are designed to "disappear" in, at most, months.

The Yong'an Cemetery in north China's Tianjin Municipality initiated ecological burials this year, prior to the Chinese traditional Tomb-sweeping Day on April 5. But a large-scale such funeral held by the cemetery on Tuesday has triggered wider discussions.

"I definitely won't want to 'disappear' in the world this way. I hope that the caskets of my family can be buried together, which stands for reunion," said Ni Ruixin, a 60-year-old resident in Tianjian, who had worked with a university. "For the same reason, I will suggest to other family members not to do this."

Wang Yiqing, a 25-year-old newspaper editor in Beijing, regarded the new system as unnecessary. "A small casket retains the ties between the living and the deceased. Moreover, how much space can a small casket occupy? Isn't it too rigorous to label it as environmentally-unfriendly?"

While some accused the new burial system of breaching the funeral traditions, others asserted it complied with the Chinese philosophy of life and death.

"The method can save land resources, reflecting the Chinese theory that man is an integral part of nature," said Zhu Hongde, another Tianjin resident.

"It's quite natural for the dead to come back to nature," said an 80-year-old retired teacher, surnamed An, in Tianjin.

Many Chinese youths were working far away from their hometown and seldom had time to honor the dead, making a permanent tomb more of a waste, An added.

On Tuesday afternoon, accompanied by sorrowful music, workers in the Yong'an Cemetery laid 251 urns under a 400-square-meter lawn and put 30 caskets into a lake extending more than 200 square meters.

It only took three to five hours for the caskets to dissolve in the water, while the urns would dissolve and return to the earth within three to six months, said Zhang Xin, general manager of the cemetery.

"The containers, made from fine sand and natural adhesives, wouldn't cause any pollution to the environment. We have held such a funeral every month since April," Zhang said.

So far, the cemetery had provided free containers and funerary services for 410 decedents, he said. "We don't charge any money, and pay our Spanish supplier for the containers. We just want to promote the environmental friendly funerary method."

In China, more than 8 million people died every year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

In April, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said the average funeral costs for a decedent in China was 1,045 yuan (about 154 U.S. dollars). But many Chinese would spend tens of thousands of yuan to buy expensive cinerary caskets and tombs to show their respect to the dead.

"If everyone wants a tomb, it would result in a great waste of land resources and a persistent increase in tombs," Zhang said.

Source: english.news.cn