The use of gravestones for the stone steps of a hiking trail in Huishan National Forest Park, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, China, is causing a controversy. China Newsweek, a Chinese media outlet, reported on the 28th.

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According to the person who discovered it, they found stones engraved with characters such as "Deceased Father" and "Wise Wife" on the stone steps of the hiking trail on the north side of the park. It is believed that old, cut gravestones were used for paving the steps, and netizens raised voices saying, "This is disrespectful to the deceased and their families, and also has a negative psychological impact on tourists."

Regarding this matter, an official from Shabei Subdistrict, Liangxi District, Wuxi City, explained, "Upon receiving the report, we immediately investigated and confirmed that fragments of gravestones were used for paving the steps. All of them have now been replaced."

A staff member of the park introduced, regarding the problematic steps, "that Longhai Temple and Baiyun Temple pooled funds to build them quite a long time ago, and at that time, they locally sourced and used unidentified gravestones that were nearby." They also stated, "There are many privately established graves on the northern slope, some of which date back to the Qing Dynasty."

According to the article, there has been a custom in the local area since ancient times for residents to bury their ancestors in the mountains. Cemeteries already existed on Huishan during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and by the early period of the establishment of New China, they had reached a considerable scale. On July 28, 2004, the "Decision on the Protection of Huishan and Qinglongshan" was adopted at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Wuxi Municipal People's Congress, and a policy was put forth to rectify uncontrolled development and mining, unauthorized burials, illegal construction, and so on.

According to records, a total of 92,392 unauthorized burials were managed, of which 68,231 were deeply buried on site or in nearby land, and 19,110 were relocated. However, opinions have also emerged stating, "While the necessity of organizing private cemeteries and restoring the ecological environment is understood, names carved on gravestones should be handled with minimum consideration and should not be 'reused' like ordinary construction materials."

Yuan Li, a researcher at the China National Academy of Arts, revealed that she herself had seen stone steps made of gravestones during a previous mountain climb, and then pointed out, "From a tourist's perspective, it's not a very pleasant sight. This kind of usage also goes against the reverence for the dead." She also expressed the view, "Even if they are unclaimed graves, that is not a reason to use them as building materials." (Translation/Editing by Kitada)

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