Jiading Cave Burial Site

As revealed in a survey by a scholar in 1981, there are eight cave burial sites, but researchers believe the real number is far more.

"Since these burial sites are ages old, and the custom is no longer popular at present, many sites have been forgotten. Up to now, there are two sites that have been kept intact: one is the Jiading cave burial site, and the other, the Shaping cave burial site," said the researchers.

The Jiading cave burial site is situated halfway up Limu Mountain in Jiading Village. The cavern is U-shaped, with two entrances: an upper one and a lower one. The coffins are laid in the upper cave hidden in the lush and green forest, with a ten-meter wide and high entrance.

Inside, as many as one hundred coffins can be seen laid in five rows on top of wooden shelves in the shape of the Chinese character "井." Some coffins are placed with the dead people's head near the entrance, and others away from the entrance.

Spacious Cave

Located in a mountain, the Shaping cave burial site can only be seen from the side but not accessed, as many broken and rotten coffins lay at the entrance, preventing people from entering inside. Stone inscriptions can be found on a rock right in front of the cave, with the top part bearing the inscription "Dragon Village's Key." The inscriptions mention the Shaping site, claiming it has existed since ancient times.

According to the local villagers, a few years ago, the coffins in the cave, thought dilapidated, remained in the original shape. Only recently did they collapse and block the entrance.

The villagers said, "Cave burial is no longer popular these days, and all those coffins are for the ancestors. Nowadays, dead people are generally buried in the mountain. But if an old man wants to be buried in the cave, we will act according to his wishes."

The most spectacular site is situated on top of nameless mountain in Guoli Village of nearby Longli County. About 40 meters high, 70 meters wide and over 100 meters in depth, the cave can hold over 200 coffins, all of which lay in the ground. Walking among the coffins, visitors can see the unweathered bones in the decayed coffins and broken earthen jars on the ground. To visitors surprise, there is a grave mount inside the cave near the wall on the left side.

Coffins for husband and wife

This is a typical limestone cavern, with stalactites, stalagmites, and stone pillars everywhere. As told by a geologist, millions of years ago, the cave was in fact located underground. In areas where the underground water kept corroding the rocks, a cavern was formed. That's why ripple-shaped vestiges can still be found on the walls inside the cave. Later, with the rise of the earth's crust, the cave went up and the water ran off, thus conceiving the cave of today.

Guizhou boasts enormous karst topography, with 73 percent of the whole province covered with carbonate rocks. During the long process of geological development, caves of various sizes were formed as a result of crustal movements and complex geological evolution.

Author: Jessie

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