As the deaths piled up during the Taiping Civil War, the grim but pressing reality of how to deal with and commemorate all of the dead bodies lends insight into historical questions of identity and ritual, but also questions of power and authority. To what extent does the loss of bones lead to loss of identity? Why did civilians fear what would happen to their dead body? How did state and local officials insert themselves into the commemoration process? What does all this tell us about the nature of grief and moral narratives in history?

This episode is part three in a series covering Tobie Meyer-Fong's excellent book "What Remains," about some of the less talked about social aspects of the Taiping Civil War such as memory, identity, and psychological distress; as well as the practical physical and psychological realities which played a role in a conflict with tens of millions of casualties. 

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