Rules and regulations prohibiting religious funerary rituals are being adopted across parts of China, as the government promotes “civilized secular” traditions, according to a news report.

Expanding the measures to suppress religious believers, authorities throughout China are enforcing policies that prohibit religious customs and rituals to be used during funerals.  Xinjiang Muslims have been banned from commemorating the dead according to their faith,  and Christians ordered to stay away from religion during burials.

The Regulations on Centralised Funeral Arrangement, adopted by the government of Wenzhou city’s Pingyang county in the eastern province of Zhejiang, came into effect on December 1, 2019. The new rules aim to “get rid of bad funeral customs and establish a scientific, civilized, and economical way of funerals.” One of the regulations states that “clerical personnel are not allowed to participate in funerals,” and only “no more than ten family members of the deceased are allowed to read scriptures or sing hymns in a low voice.”

Similar policies are being adopted elsewhere in the country.