Post 10: Plant Food

The Plan
I would like to be cremated once I die. I just don’t see a point in confining bodies in lacquered boxes that take forever to decompose. My dead body won’t even feel the velvet lining of a pretty coffin. Why make my family spend more for a six-foot hole in a grassy field that no one will visit after my grandchildren's passing? My family doesn't exactly practice ancestor worship, so there's no guarantee of a steady stream of visitors throughout the years. Though this article states that elaborate funerals for elders are expected from Chinese families, and that “It is considered good and proper for children to go into debt in order to pay respect for older people,” I would rather not leave my family such a financial responsibility during a time of grief.

No, I’d rather they burn the body and scatter the stuff. I like the idea of being everywhere at once, and nowhere at all. Why should I care where the body goes or looks like? My soul—I—am not there. And we all turn into dirt anyway.

Burial
At this point, I’ll apologize for the morbidity of the subject; but maybe burial is not right for me. It doesn’t matter if the fengshui of the place is good or not. In Chinese custom, many people are buried on hillsides; the higher along the hillside, the better the fengshui, which aids in the passage to the afterlife. But if the fengshui’s that good, I’ll be gone to the afterlife, and I won’t be around to enjoy the beauty of the hillside. It just doesn’t seem right to be buried at a beautiful site that I won’t enjoy, especially when my grave is likely to scare off the little children of picnickers.

Embalmment?
Even if I don’t mind terribly about being interred, there’s something odd about embalming that doesn’t appeal to me. Take a look at this website (albeit quite biased). There are so many chemicals that embalmers inject, spray, and rub onto and into our the bodies, that it can take several decades for an embalmed body to decompose, as opposed to the few years that a normal body takes. If I’m going to be fertilizer, I might as well feed the worms quickly. I wouldn’t relish the idea of being washed up as a perfectly intact body in the event of a flood or earthquake at the site of my cemetery. And nor would the picnickers.

Positives of Embalmment
The whole process is done with a great amount of reverence for the deceased. The body is usually dressed in a formalwear piece from the personal wardrobe of the deceased. Then there’s the cosmetic work: the deceased is moisturized, made up, his/her hair is styled, lipstick is applied for a more natural look.

The purpose for all this is so the family can see the face of their deceased. For many, seeing a beloved’s face finalizes the passing, and may make it easier for family to accept the person’s death.

In the end
There are perfectly good reasons for embalmment: for the family’s sake, cosmetic work may be desirable; and for the crops’ sake, disinfection of the body is a good idea. And the reasons for burial are good, too: that descendants may honor their departed ancestors. But my family doesn't follow the Chinese burial tradition, so I doubt my descendants will be bringing me honeycakes and rice after I pass.

My opposition to burial is not about being squeamish, but about being rejoined with the earth as quickly and as naturally as possible. For my own sake as the dead person, if I’m going to be stuck with needles of formaldehyde and then stuck in a hole…I’ll pass. For the sake of those who will have to deal with my passing, it would be much easier, more economic and less stressful for my family if I'm just cremated.

But it's a strange decision that not many people like to make. Their families are forced to decide what to do with their beloved once he/she has passed. And that is not a time for clear thinking. The responsibility is ours. Will away!