Body, burning and cremation: Cremation and body burning practice of Five Dynasties China

This paper is an attempt to explicate cremation in Five Dynasties China particularly focusing on its historical identity as a transitional stage bridging cremation of Tang and Song dynasties and its cultural identity as a practice intricately related to ancient body burning practice.; Cremation in Five Dynasties was an outcome of interplay between ethnic minority culture, Buddhism, Confucian and Daoist traditions, positive body burning and practicality. The successful integration of various views of body, the improvement on existing burial custom by introducing a new possibility of dealing with distant death, and the continued affirmation of Confucian and Daoist views of body were key factors that contributed to the rapid increase of cremation.; The development of cremated body as an alternative representation of whole body reflects the maturation of cremation into a custom openly consented and widely practiced among the Han Chinese due to religious and cultural preference.