Sunbathing

Picture Story

"Sending the Elder" — not a farewell, but a sending-home.

The Naxi language refers to an elder's death as "song lao" ("sending the elder") or "guo bei" ("passing a generation") — never "si" (death).

"Sending" is an active act — the shared responsibility of family, clan, and even the whole village. The elder does not leave alone; they are collectively escorted back to the land of the ancestors.