China News Service, Jinan, April 4 (Wang Caiyi) On Tomb Sweeping Day, wheat fields stretch as far as the eye can see to the east of Dong'anwu Village, Xuyuanzi Township, Qingyun County, Dezhou City, and the winter wheat seedlings in the green stage have turned dark green. Villager Hu Junling opened the Changing Customs section of the Smart Qingyun APP, followed the positioning and walked to his original graveyard, where he placed flowers and paid homage to his ancestors.
Qingyun County innovatively launched digital grave mounds. Photo courtesy of Qingyun County Party Committee Propaganda Department
In recent years, Qingyun County has advocated a new trend of civilized funerals. For rural graves, the county has adopted the form of on-site ecological transformation and relocation to memorial halls. The existing scattered graves will be managed and moved in batches, and the public is encouraged to offer flowers, plant trees and green, Remember the deceased through outings, remote memorial services, online memorial services and other methods.
Qingyun County implements funeral reforms. Photo courtesy of Qingyun County Party Committee Propaganda Department
"When implementing the on-site ecological transformation model, we positioned the original grave site." Wang Jianqi, director of the Qingyun County Civil Affairs Bureau, said that the county relied on Beidou satellite positioning to upload the location of the grave site to the relevant section of the smart Qingyun APP. When villagers perform memorial sweeps, they can use their mobile phone positioning to find the place of worship and commemorate the deceased. So far, Qingyun County has completed the ecological renovation of 79,719 graves and restored 950,000 square meters of cultivated land.
The digital graves in Qingyun County are a vivid epitome of Shandong Province’s implementation of funeral reforms and deepening the transformation of customs. In recent years, Jinan, Linyi, Dezhou, Heze and other places in Shandong have continued to promote funeral reforms, reduce the burden on the people, promote green and civilized ecological funerals, and create digital graves. Digital, green, and people-friendly funerals have gradually become a new trend in funerals.
Qingyun County implements funeral reforms. Photo courtesy of Qingyun County Party Committee Propaganda Department
Solemn and solemn, with low sadness and joy. Recently, at the memorial service for Xu Yongping, a deceased resident of Manzhuang Village, Huangshanpu Town, Yishui County, Linyi City, Zhang Xiushu, secretary of the village party branch, delivered a eulogy, read out a brief biography of the elderly man, and sent the elderly man on his "last journey" with his relatives.
As the new trend of funeral and interment reform continues to deepen, the characteristics of "public welfare" and "people-benefiting" of funeral and interment services have become increasingly prominent. "The funeral reforms are getting better and better. My father's funeral is handled with dignity and respect without our children having to spend a penny. It is civilized and economical," said Xu Yongping's son.
Funeral public services are a basic livelihood service, and Yishui County is the first in China to implement a "free funeral" policy. Up to now, 62,773 deceased families in the county have enjoyed the "free funeral and burial" policy, which has saved social funeral expenses of more than 1.5 billion yuan (RMB, the same below) and more than 1,300 acres of land.
It is understood that since 2020, Laiwu District, Jinan City has provided basic funeral services such as body pick-up and transportation for deceased residents free of charge. Those who choose burial methods such as scattering of ashes, sea burial, tree burial, flower bed burial, lawn burial and deep burial without leaving a grave , and will be given incentives ranging from 1,000 yuan to 4,000 yuan respectively.
Fuluyuan Cemetery in Laiwu District currently has 30 acres of land-saving ecological burials, 0.8 acres of flower bed burials, 108 wall burials, and 81 ashes storage spaces. It has also created special theme parks such as "Red Memorial" and "Big Dipper". Liu Zhi, the person in charge of the cemetery, said: "We actively promote land-saving ecological burials, insist on ensuring the basic burial needs of the people as well as saving resources and protecting the environment, and advocate a new trend of green and civilized funerals."
In recent years, the funeral reform in Laiwu District has been carried out in an orderly manner. Various ecological burial methods that benefit the people, such as wall burials, tree burials, and flower bed burials, are gradually recognized, and the number of participants is increasing. It is expected that by 2035, the district will basically achieve full coverage of public welfare burial facilities, and ecological burials in cemeteries will reach more than 50%.
As the Qingming Festival approaches, Linyi Tancheng County Water Affairs Group organizes volunteers to carry out the civilized practice theme activity of "Civilized Sacrifice Green Qingming Festival" to guide the people to perform civilized sacrifices and establish a new trend of civilized sacrifices. In Tancheng County, more and more people are changing the old habit of sending wreaths and making sacrificial supplies when paying condolences, and hanging elegiac couplets on pots of purchased flowers to express their feelings.
Tancheng County promotes civilized sacrifices. Photo courtesy of Tancheng County Party Committee Propaganda Department
In order to further promote the reform of funeral and burial and reduce the burden on the people, Tancheng County will cover all costs involved in the funeral and burial process, including transportation of remains, cremation, ashes storage, urns, covering with red cloth, and burial in the cemetery. It will be borne by the government finances and will not cost the public a penny.
Dongming County, Heze City, formulated funeral customs reform standards based on village conditions and issued the "Ten Measures for the Control of Weddings and Funerals" to provide the public with standards for handling weddings and funerals. Gifts and gifts are determined by the local Red and White Council according to customs. It stipulates that no banquets will be held for hot mourning, and large pot dishes will be used. If banquets cannot be eliminated, the standard for each table shall not exceed 300 yuan. These standards have greatly reduced the burden on the people. According to incomplete statistics, each family that responds to the policy of simplified funeral arrangements can save 10,000 to 30,000 yuan. (over)