Second Burial | National Geographic

these aren’t grave robbers but a family
the who’s the who’s mean to unbury their
grandmother clean her bones then bury
her again in the family pagoda where her
spirit will be reunited with her loved
ones
it’s an ancient sacred ritual called
second burial in Taiwan many families
dig up their dead and bury them a second
time often to consolidate ancestral
remains at one sacred site wishing to
honor their grandmother with a second
burial the Hoos call in professionals
the Wang family
the Wong’s meet the Hoos at the
graveyard on a day do you best buy a
geomancer an expert in she was long
resting places for the dead at
grandmother’s grave father and sons
start the heavy work in the United
States when the person dies is a time
for grief when we pick the bones of the
deceased is different people are in
because picking the bones means to
refurbish the body of the deceased and
to move into a new residence the grave
is opened and swept until every piece of
bone is found and tagged at the Wang
family headquarters the Hoos select an
urn for grandmother’s bones for now her
remains will take a place in the line of
bones waiting to be cleaned the Wang
brothers get to work on the backlog of
other clients bones first they clean the
bones of dirt and flesh and reassemble
the skeleton every phase of bone
cleaning has a reason and meaning rooted
in tradition
if the rituals aren’t followed precisely
the ancestors could become angry and
take it out on the living paint is mixed
with wine to symbolically reflection
clothed the spirit at last the Wong’s
pack the bones in an urn after her bones
are cleaned grandmother who won’t leave
the Wang storehouse right away it may be
months before geomancer chooses an
auspicious day for her second burial
when her urn would be placed in the
pagoda mr. who built exclusively for his
family
oh yeah Ethan can you believe that
so we have the luxury of living in a
nice home then we should provide our
ancestors a better place to live – how
you did my gosh with a full heart mr.
who will soon lay his grandmother to
rest again and fulfill his sacred duty
to the dead