Blocked on Weibo

天葬 (sky burial / tiānzàng) is a Tibetan funeral practice where the corpse is placed on a mountainside and ritually cut with cleavers. The dead body is then left exposed, oftentimes eaten by awaiting vultures. It is a practice that is both practical (the ground in Tibet is usually too hard to dig and fuel for cremation is scarce) and spiritual.

Why it is blocked: Disposal of the dead has at times been a contentious issue in China. Though traditionally, Chinese have preferred to bury their dead in the ground, Mao initiated a campaign in the 1950s to encourage citizens to cremate corpses in order to free up more productive farmland (a notion that is still advocated today) as well as to stamp out “superstitious” folk religions. In some areas, burials are still technically illegal, though such laws are widely ignored. Cremation rates have risen since the 1950s (now at 48%), and today most urban Chinese cremate while the majority of those in the countryside still bury.

Sky burials, also known as celestial burials or open-air burials, have the added sensitive element of being a Tibetan practice. To those who are unfamiliar with the ritual, it may also appear to be a particularly grotesque one (NSFW). In 2006, in order to protect and respect the act, the central government reportedly implemented regulations, with a ban on photography and media coverage of any such burials. However, numerous photos persist online (NSFW). It’s likely blocked due to these graphic and potentially upsetting images to non-Tibetans. [Status]

喀什 (Kashi or Kashgar / Kāshí) and 库车 (Kuqa / Kùchē) are Chinese cities, both located in Xinjiang province, home to a large percentage of China’s Muslim and Uyghur population.

Why it is blocked: On August 4, 2008, sixteen Chinese police officers were killed in Kashgar. Though there are conflicting reports, it was reported by state media that two terrorists drove a truck into a group of officers then attacked them with grenades and machetes. The gruesome attack, just days before the start of the Beijing Olympics, drew wide attention, with some pinning the blame on Xinjiang separatists.

Six days later, violence rocked another Xinjiang city, Kuqa. Again, Xinjiang sepratists were blamed, with several committing suicide while detonating their bombs.

Kuqa has been blocked since at least November; Kashgar’s block is more recent and clearly related to the rioting on Tuesday that left 12 dead, just the latest in a number of incidents in the region. [Status of “Kashgar” - 11/19/12: unblocked; 3/2/12: blocked. Status of “Kuqa” - 11/25/12: blocked; 3/2/12: blocked]

馬明心 (Ma Mingxin) was a Dungan Sufi master. During the Qing Dynasty, he established the Jahriyya Sufi order in China, which was in opposition to the Khufiyya Sufis.

Why it is blocked: Jahriyya was considered to be a subversive religion in China, and after one of Ma’s disciples Su Sishisan (苏四十三) led an armed anti-government uprising, Ma was arrested and beheaded. [Status - 1/9/12: blocked; 2/5/12: unblocked]

伊斯兰 (Islam / Yīsīlán) is the monotheistic religion articulated by the Qur’an. Adherents live in every region in China. The highest concentrations are found in the northwest provinces of Xinjiang, Gansu, and Ningxia.

Why it is blocked: Though the state government is by all accounts atheist, the Chinese constituition supports “freedom of religious belief” and officially sanctions five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism. Of these, Islam is the only one that is blocked on Weibo, likely due to tension in regions like Xinjiang, where Uyghur Muslims represent roughly half the population.

乌尔 (wu’er) is the ancient Sumerian city of Ur. According to one estimate, Ur was the largest city in the world from c. 2030 to 1980 BC. However the city started to decline from around 550 BC and was no longer inhabited after about 500 BC.

Why it is blocked: Though the city of Ur is associated with various religions, it is not fraught with contemporary tension. The blockage is perhaps related to Xinjiang or the Uygher (维吾尔 / weiwu’er) people—though weiwu’er  is not blocked—or to dissident Wu’er Kaixi’s name (whose claim to notoriety stems from his interrupting Li Peng during a televised negotiation during the June 4 protests). Though his full name is banned (吾尔开希), the Wu’er portion (吾尔) is not, making the blockage of seemingly innocent Ur quite a mystery, caught in the crossfire of something opaque.

Thickening the plot more is the blocking of the Iranian city of Qazvin (加兹温 / jiaziwen), capital of the Persian Empire in the 16th century. It may just be an odd coincidence that two formerly mighty Middle Eastern cities are blocked, but perhaps there is a rhyme and reason to this.

加拿大法语 (Canadian French / jiannada fayu) is an umbrella term referring to the varieties of French spoken in Canada.

Why it is blocked: It’s caught because of a word it unintentionally contains: 大法 (dafa), short for Falun Dafa, aka Falun Gong. Similarly, a nickname for China’s most prestigious law school, 人大法学院 (Renmin University of China Law School / rendafaxueyuan) is also banned. See Scunthorpe problem.

东方闪电 (Eastern Lightning, aka “Real God” and “Church of Almighty God” / Dongfang Shandian) is a cult offshoot of Christianity in China.

Why it is blocked: The Chinese government lists the group as a cult and has actively tried to suppress it, especially since its theology appears to take an explicitly anti-government stance.