Proposal to Promote Cremation[I]
(April 27, 1956)

It is a law of nature that people pass from birth to death. After death, the deceased should be properly laid to rest, and mourning should be conducted in an appropriate form to express grief—this is a common human sentiment. Throughout our country’s history and among the various nationalities of the world, there have been many methods for burying the dead. The principal methods among them are earth burial and cremation, with earth burial being the most widely practiced. However, earth burial occupies arable land and wastes timber; moreover, the feudal ruling classes of successive dynasties in our country established elaborate funerals and prolonged mourning as rites and laws, often reducing many families to bankruptcy because of the burial of the deceased. Practicing cremation does not occupy farmland, does not require coffins, can save the expenses of encoffining and burial, and does not hinder the commemoration of the deceased. Although this method has been adopted by only some people in ancient and modern China, it should be acknowledged that this is the most rational method for laying the dead to rest, and it has already been widely practiced in some countries. Therefore, we propose that among a minority of people, first of all among leading working personnel in state organs, according to their own will, cremation be carried out after their death. For the convenience of cremation, in addition to the existing crematoria in places such as Beijing, Shanghai, Hankou, and Changsha, we suggest that the state may also build additional modern crematoria in certain large and medium-sized cities and other suitable locations.

We hold that the method of burying the dead should respect the people’s own will. The promotion of cremation among the people must be gradual; it must be carried out entirely according to the principle of voluntariness, without any compulsion whatsoever. The overwhelming majority of Chinese people have a long-standing custom of earth burial; so long as people are still willing to continue practicing earth burial, the state must not interfere; existing graves must also not be handled roughly. The graves of revolutionary martyrs and ancient tombs that have become historical monuments should all be protected with care. When ordinary graves with owners need to be relocated, the consent of the family members should be obtained.

All working personnel in state organs who approve of the method of cremation, please sign at the back. All those who sign indicate that they will definitely practice cremation after their death. Those who die later must ensure that those who die earlier realize their wish for cremation.

[I] The first to sign this proposal was Mao Zedong. The date beneath the title is the date of Mao Zedong’s signature. In the order of signatures, the signatories also included Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, Kang Sheng, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Peng Zhen, Dong Biwu, Deng Xiaoping, and 136 others from within and outside the Party.
On February 10, 1959, Chen Yun wrote a letter to Yang Shangkun, stating: “A few years ago at a plenary meeting of the Central Committee, there was a voluntary signature campaign for cremation after death. I did not attend that meeting and therefore did not sign. I am in favor of cremation, and I am sending this letter as a supplementary signature.” “At the same time, I also approve of the dissection of corpses, because this does no harm to the deceased and benefits medical science. Therefore, if after my death the doctors feel that certain organs need to be dissected to verify whether the diagnosis and treatment at the time were correct, please allow the doctors to dissect them.”