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Sea burials increasing
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说完最后一次“再见”，13岁的Zhang
Yanjun将他父亲的骨灰撒入了东海。他站在晃动的船尾，眼中含泪。“我想他不会孤单，”他说，“除了这些花瓣，陪伴他的还有我和妈妈的爱。”
在周末，同Zhang
Yanjun和他母亲一起参加各自亲人海葬仪式的共有284户家庭。
自1991年以来上海共举行69次海葬，1186户家庭将他们亲人的骨灰撒向大海。
Fan
Meijing
Zhang Yanjun, 13, threw his father's ashes into the surging East
China Sea, after saying ``farewell'' to him for the last time.
He stood on
the stern of the drifting ship with tears in his eyes.
``I know he will
never be lonely,'' he said. ``Since accompanied him are not only those delicate
petals, but my and my mom's endless love.''
Zhang's family was one of 284
families taking part in sea burial ceremonies over the weekend, the 68th and
69th such mass burials since they were introduced into the city in
1991.
Altogether 328 people found their final resting place in the seabed
during the weekend, escorting them were 1,186 of their family
members.
``It's really touching,'' said Xu Guoxiang, manager of Shanghai
Feisi Sea Burial Service Agency, the only local company providing the service.``
You see so many people crying for their departed beloved. You see piles of
flowers linking into two lines stretching to the distance on the sea, and you
are aware that under each pile, there is what was once a vivid life.''
In
2003, 1,254 people from 771 families were buried in the sea, rising from only
287 people from 247 families 13 years ago, according to Shanghai
Feisi.
Though the number of people who choose sea burial rises by about 7
percent every year, it still accounts for less than 1 percent of all people
buried in the city, Xu said.
``By being buried in the sea, we return to
nature and leave our limited land resources to our offspring, so I hope more
locals can choose it in the future,'' he said.
To encourage people to
choose burial at sea, the local government offers each family a 150 yuan subsidy
to cover the charge of chartered buses and ships.
In addition, a sea burial
memorial hall has been set up in Shanghai Binhai Guyuan Cemetery in Fengxian
District, for relatives of the deceased to do regular mourning. People can
chisel the name of the dead on a gravestone there, which is free of
charge.
Xu said most of the families came to the ceremonies to carry out
the will of the deceased.
``Otherwise, Chinese families seldom prefer the
sea to the land, owing to a 1,000-year-old tradition and a fear that they may be
misunderstood or even denounced by others,'' he added.
Zhang and his
mother, Wu Haiying, are the few who chose the sea burial for the dead.
``We
Chinese believe in an old saying that to be peaceful and secure, the dead must
rest under the earth. Since there is also plentiful soil in the sea, we believe
my husband will enjoy a comfortable afterlife there, being spared any misery of
this life,'' Wu said.
词汇快车
Underground
Tutor
ash骨灰
surge汹涌，澎湃
farewell再见
stern船尾
drifting漂流的
accompany陪伴
delicate精致的
petal花瓣
touching动人的，令人同情的 | |
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