334
cremation after a few years in a coffin grave. This paper concentrates on columbaria in municipal cemeteries in Hong Kong, and contrasts the conservative designs of the public sector with the more expressive solutions of private providers. It contains the statistics about numbers of 'cremains' stored in niche walls and columbaria that I had obtained from cemetery managers, whose co-operation was invaluable. The statistics should be regarded as indicative rather than precise.
Death has to be planned for as much as life. Storing the dead is a sensitive issue, for the family as well as the state. The worldwide story of columbaria through the ages is one waiting to be told, although sporadic information is to be found in the key texts on cemetery history such as James Curl's A Celebration of Death (1993) and Silent Cities (K.T. Jackson and C.J. Vergara, 1989). Columbaria pose an intriguing challenge to contemporary architects and some of the resulting designs can make for striking and imposing contemporary landscape artefacts. Compared with cemeteries, columbaria are much more focused and inward looking. Cemeteries have the advantage of being outdoors, with all the distractions of the fresh air, the sky, distant views, maybe trees and even some landscaping - though this is rare in Hong Kong, an exception being sections of the Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley. Landscaping was a fundamental part of the design of new private cemeteries that I visited in Guangzhou.
How will cyberspace supplement and perhaps supplant the material memorial space of cemeteries and columbaria? Cemetery managers I interviewed in Guangzhou were already thinking about this.
Teather, E.K. (1998). Themes from complex landscapes: Chinese cemeteries and columbaria in Hong Kong, Australian Geographical Studies 36(1): 21-36.
In this paper, I tried to break away from the straightforward description and painstaking attempt to understand the social and belief systems that underpin cemetery layout and ritual. I tried to capture a little of the contrasting landscapes, symbolisms and moods of four of Hong Kong's cemeteries: Diamond Hill Urn Cemetery (1931); Aberdeen Chinese Permanent Cemetery (1915); sprawling Sandy Ridge Cemetery on the border with Guangdong Province (1950); and St. Raphael's Roman Catholic Cemetery, Lai Chi Kok (1946).
334
cremation after a few years in a coffin grave. This paper concentrates on columbaria in municipal cemeteries in Hong Kong, and contrasts the conservative designs of the public sector with the more expressive solutions of private providers. It contains the statistics about numbers of 'cremains' stored in niche walls and columbaria that I had obtained from cemetery managers, whose co-operation was invaluable. The statistics should be regarded as indicative rather than precise.
Death has to be planned for as much as life. Storing the dead is a sensitive issue, for the family as well as the state. The worldwide story of columbaria through the ages is one waiting to be told, although sporadic information is to be found in the key texts on cemetery history such as James Curl's A Celebration of Death (1993) and Silent Cities (K.T. Jackson and C.J. Vergara, 1989). Columbaria pose an intriguing challenge to contemporary architects and some of the resulting designs can make for striking and imposing contemporary landscape artefacts. Compared with cemeteries, columbaria are much more focused and inward looking. Cemeteries have the advantage of being outdoors, with all the distractions of the fresh air, the sky, distant views, maybe trees and even some landscaping - though this is rare in Hong Kong, an exception being sections of the Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley. Landscaping was a fundamental part of the design of new private cemeteries that I visited in Guangzhou.
How will cyberspace supplement and perhaps supplant the material memorial space of cemeteries and columbaria? Cemetery managers I interviewed in Guangzhou were already thinking about this.
Teather, E.K. (1998). Themes from complex landscapes: Chinese cemeteries and columbaria in Hong Kong, Australian Geographical Studies 36(1): 21-36.
In this paper, I tried to break away from the straightforward description and painstaking attempt to understand the social and belief systems that underpin cemetery layout and ritual. I tried to capture a little of the contrasting landscapes, symbolisms and moods of four of Hong Kong's cemeteries: Diamond Hill Urn Cemetery (1931); Aberdeen Chinese Permanent Cemetery (1915); sprawling Sandy Ridge Cemetery on the border with Guangdong Province (1950); and St. Raphael's Roman Catholic Cemetery, Lai Chi Kok (1946).
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