The Remaining Memory Of The Bo People Of China

As Paths Unwritten reports, the first study to examine the hanging coffins of the Chinese Bo people took place in 1946, though non-Chinese references to the coffins date from the 1930s. Almost all hanging coffin discoveries have been made in central China. Many additional studies and expeditions to study the sites where they're found have taken place since then. Evidence of hanging coffins also exists in Thailand, and the practice persisted in areas of the Philippines until recently.  

The Chinese people native to the areas where archaeological hanging coffins have been uncovered speak of stories passed down for generations. One explanation says that affluent He families, with rumored Bo ancestry, were told if their ancestors hung their dead at high elevations they believed their descendants would prosper. Today, though, hanging coffins are considered bad luck. Writings from the Tang dynasty suggest the higher the coffin, the more profound the display of family wealth. 

Still, other theories proffer that hanging the dead rather than burying their coffins kept the remains safe from scavengers. Valuables have also been found or have fallen from inside the caskets, suggesting those interred were prominent members of Bo society. Remains of multiple people have been found inside them, and the practice of hanging coffins may have simply kept valuable land clear for farming.

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