Introduction

This article explores the real originator of the mysterious hanging coffins in China.

Coffin customs

Hoisting down a coffin in China

The hanging coffins is a custom where the dead is buried high up in the hills and not buried under the ground which is the customs of the Han Chinese in ancient times. Therefore, it is the customs of one of the minority ethnic groups in China.

There are several evidence that supports the theory that the Kra people are the true owners of the hanging coffins as detailed below.

Distribution evidence

The hanging coffins were found distributed mainly along the Kra people's known migration path in the Yangzte River basin which provides evidence that it is a custom of the Kra people. The coffins in some regions are only accessible by river.

Trail of hanging coffins along Yangtze River

It is believed that the hanging coffins originated from the Wuyi mountain in Fujian province. According to carbon-14 dating of a coffin in Wuyi mountain, the wood is about 3500 years old i.e. 1500 BC. This implies that the Kra-Dai people were in Wuyi mountain as early as that period.

Their migration westwards along the Yangtze River basin left behind a trail of hanging coffins. The dating of the coffins provide the timing evidence of this migration; the westernmost coffins in Sichuan date back as late as the Ming dynasty before the Kra people escaped back to Guizhou.

Historical text evidence

There are also evidence in a Chinese history book named Records of Yunnan where the Liao people were recorded to have this custom. Liao people were traditionally a branch of the Kra-Dai people.

Records of Yunnan

Boat-shaped evidence

The coffin is made of Phoebe Bournei, a kind of tree with non-perishable texture. It is boat-shaped which implies they were boat people. The Kra people and the other surviving Kra-Dai people such as Tanka in Fujian still live on boats until 20th century AD. Refer to 'ethnic origin of Tanka' in this blog.

Hanging coffin of Wuyi mountain at a museum

Cliff painting evidence

There are many hypothesis on the reasons for burying their dead high up on the cliffs of the hills.

The most probably reason is that in the earliest days they lived mostly on the boats near the cliffs as seen in other related tribes such as the Tanka people in Fujian and Guangdong.

Furthermore, the paintings on the cliffs drawn by the related Zhuang people in Guangxi gives further evidence that they worked and lived near the cliffs.

Cliff painting of Zhuang in Guangxi

Confusion between Bo and Kra

The Bai were called Bo which is part of Sino-Tibetan people; however, Kra were called Liao (獠) which is part of Kra-Dai people.

The history of the Bai has been confused with the history of Kra who also migrated to the same area in southeastern Sichuan. The hanging coffins in southeastern Sichuan actually belonged to the Kra and not Bo as mistaken by some historians.

The Bai people being the close relative of Han Chinese bury their dead underground and not on cliffs.

This confusion is probably due to the fact that the Bo first lived and established a kingdom in southeastern Sichuan before moving to Yunnan. The migration path of Bo doesn't include Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi where the hanging coffins are also found.

Migration of Bo/Bai people

However, the Kra people, who migrated there during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280 AD) which is much later than the Bo people, were confused with the Bo people by the Chinese during the Ming dynasty. Refer to ethnic origin of Kra article for more details.

The documentary below narrates the search for the real owners of the hanging coffins.

Earliest homeland

We know from part one of 'Ethnic origin of Kra' article that the Kra's earliest recorded homeland was in Hunan around 800 BC.

The hanging coffin trail might suggest that their earliest homeland might actually be either in Wuyi mountain of western Fujian or Tiantai Mountain of Zhejiang where they lived along the banks of the river and would hang their coffins by the cliffs facing the river.

River banks of Wuyi mountain

Hanging coffins in Philippines

The Igorot tribe (Austronesian) in Philippines also has the custom of hanging their coffins but further research on the similarities and differences between these two tribes are needed.

The hanging coffins in Sagada, Philippines

Conclusion

From examining the origins of both Bo/Bai and Kra people, the hanging coffins was a custom of the Kra people and not the custom of the Bo/Bai people as mistakenly believed.

The other Kra-Dai groups such as Tai and Hlai don't seem to have such hanging coffin custom in Guangdong and Guangxi.

A map of the places of hanging coffin

Sources

Records of Yunnan (雲南志略輯校). By Li Jing 李京.
Wu hanging coffins mystery. By Tan Weiyun
A matrilineal genetic perspective of Hanging Coffin custom in Southern China and Northern Thailand. By Xiaoming Zhang et al.
The cult of the Wuyi mountains and its cultivation of the past: a topo-cultural perspective. By Delphine Ziegler. 1998.
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East Asian origin, history, language, culture

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Ethnic origin of Kra part 2 - The hanging coffins of China