How did the ancient Chinese bury their dead?

Question

I'm doing research on the Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties of ancient China. Emperors and nobles were buried in elaborate tombs, but I am having trouble finding any evidence of how non-elite citizens of these dynasties were buried in order to make an accurate comparison. Any knowledge or resources pertaining to the subject would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

During the Zhou dynasty there is the practice by minority groups of the hanging coffin (see source 1), in which people put their dead into wooden coffins placed them in caves of precipices.

Although the Qin dynasty is famous for the mausoleum of the First Emperor, there is a recent find in Xi'an (see source 2) of a commoner burial site with more than 200 buried individuals as well as items such as cauldrons, pots, jars, axes and swords. This indicates that there is the concept of a "graveyard" in the Qin dynasty and also gives some insight into the burial practices of that period. Unfortunately, there isn't much more information since this is a very recent find (not more than a month ago).

There is archeological evidence of family tombs during Han dynasty, an example of which is the Mawangdui dig. (see source 3), there is a relatively recent Han dynasty burial site in the Hunan province in 2006 (see source 4). In both sites there is the use of coffins for burial.

Answer 2

in coffins....................................

Answer 3

with dirt