Celestial burial is one of the popular ways for the Tibetan people in China’s Tibetan-inhabited area to bury the dead. In May, 1996, I was lucky to see its entire process. Celestial burial was carried out on the special terrace on a hill. A master in charge of celestial burial started to limb, behead the dead body and viscerate, then skinned the head and chopped all parts of the body into pieces, which were blended with roasted qingke barley flour. After that, the master spreaded the blended pieces on the terrace to feed vultures waiting impatiently around. In this way, the dead was said to release souls from purgatory. This is sacred and also the most unique folklore in the Tibetan-inhabited area.
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