Protests Erupt Over Cremation Directive in Rural China
Significant protests have broken out in China's southern Guizhou province, specifically in Shidong town, triggered by a local government directive mandating cremation over traditional burial practices. The unrest represents the latest in a wave of rural demonstrations across the country.
The protests began over the weekend after authorities issued the order, which requires the deceased to be cremated rather than buried. This policy has been met with fierce resistance from local communities, for whom burial rites hold deep cultural and traditional significance.
Cultural Clash and Official Justification
The local area has a high proportion of people from the Miao ethnicity, an ethnic minority group for whom tradition dictates that the deceased should be buried. The state's intrusion into these deeply personal funeral practices has been the primary catalyst for the demonstrations.
In response to the escalating situation, the local government published a notice on Tuesday stating that the directive was based on a 2003 law. Officials justified the cremation policy as necessary to preserve land resources and promote a "frugal new funeral style".
This is part of a broader national effort where China has struggled with crowded cemeteries and has encouraged alternative funeral practices, such as sea burials. However, for many in rural areas, traditional burials remain a non-negotiable core part of their cultural heritage.
Personal Grievances and Widespread Unrest
The personal impact of the policy was highlighted by a villager from Xifeng county, the administrative district for Shidong town, who posted on social media. He revealed that his grandfather had been cremated earlier in the year under pressure from local officials. The family was reportedly warned that failure to comply would lead to negative consequences for three generations.
Unverified footage from the protests, shared on X by the account Yesterday Big Cat, captured the intensity of the sentiment. One villager was heard shouting, “If the Communist party is digging up ancestor’s graves, go dig up Xi Jinping’s ancestral tombs first”. Another video collected by the China Dissent Monitor (CDM) showed dozens of villagers surrounding a police car.
This incident is not isolated. According to data from CDM, a project run by Freedom House that tracks unrest in China, there has been a 70% increase in rural protests in 2024 compared to the whole of 2023. The monitor recorded 661 rural protests this year. Furthermore, in the third quarter of 2025 alone, CDM logged nearly 1,400 incidents of unrest, a 45% increase on the same period in 2024.
Kevin Slaten, the research lead for CDM, noted that the Guizhou protests were unusual for their duration, having lasted several days. He stated, "Protests are more likely to be large scale and last longer if it involves something very personal... or something that’s their heritage or dealing with ancestors. People are much more likely to feel motivated to take the risk of protest."
This pattern of prolonged protest was also seen in August in Sichuan province, where a demonstration over a school bullying incident spiralled into a multi-day clash between hundreds of locals and authorities.
On Chinese social media platforms like Douyin, a video-sharing app, many comments were supportive of the protesters. One user wrote, "Yes everyone, let’s stand up and support traditional burial practices!" The Xifeng local government has declined to comment on the ongoing situation.
