# Why haven't Undertakers Adopted This Method? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 28, 2015, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957 "2015-10-28T12:53:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/1 "2015-10-28T12:53:38Z")
In the late 1970s, Chinese archaeologists opened a tomb in China that dated from 100 BC. inside, they found the body of a noble woman/empress, perfectly preserved. in fact, the body was so well preserved that the joints were still flexible. I believe the secret was a fluid containing a mercury compound, which the body was immersed in. Compared to this, ancient Egyptian and Western embalming is lousy bodies rot away after a few centuries. Why haven’t undertakers revived the ancient Chinese technique? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/2 "2015-10-28T12:58:59Z")
What is the need? ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/3 "2015-10-28T13:42:55Z")
Along with “What do you need a posable corpse for?” let’s have some evidence this method actually exists. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/4 "2015-10-28T13:51:11Z")
I’m sorry, I must have missed something here. You’d like some significant fraction of 3,000,000 bodies to be pumped full of a mercury compound and placed into the ground? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/5 "2015-10-28T13:57:19Z")
Because “Mad as an Undertaker” doesn’t [roll off the tongue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_hatter_disease)as easily…? Shit be mad poisonous, yo. Also, we, as a society, don’t _want_ to keep bodies around. Witness the growth in cremation. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/6 "2015-10-28T13:57:56Z")
Mercury is not something one wants to have to deal with in their occupation, and will it leach out and eventually contaminate the water table? Though the body you state is perfectly preserved, we don’t necessarily know how and might have failures that leach the materials. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/7 "2015-10-28T14:03:52Z")
> [@naita](#): > > “What do you need a posable corpse for?” I can’t stop laughing at this. But yes, the answer is: 1. We don’t want to preserve corpses indefinitely; 2. Mercury is dangerous to handle, and 3. A danger to public health should it leak into the ground; and 4. It’s probably also a much more expensive process. I’m really not seeing the upside here, except as a ridiculous vanity project. ETA: Wait - [I just thought of an answer to **naita** ’s question](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098627/)… ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/8 "2015-10-28T14:22:24Z")
[Archaeological Institute of America](http://archive.archaeology.org/online/features/mawangdui/) makes no mention of the preservation fluid. In fact it says > [@](#): > > (Although no embalming solutions were found in her body, a translucent fluid that quickly browned surrounded her remains in her coffin. The archaeologists who first examined her reportedly suffered from a rash on their hands for months.) In 2003, an expert from Xiang Ya Medical School of Zhong Nan University examined Lady Dai before moving her to a new display case (right). Over the years, her intact veins have been repeatedly injected with a “secret” preservative solution. (Courtesy of Hunan Provincial Museum) So they don’t seem to know what the original preservative was so there’s no way to expect modern embalmers to reproduce the procedure. And apparently now they’re pumping her full of Calgon. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/9 "2015-10-28T14:24:51Z")
I’d like to see some cite that the OPs original premise is accurate. When in the 1970’s? Where in China? Who were the Chinese archaeologists? What was this “fluid” and what “mercury compound”? I am not sure I am prepared to believe any of it. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/10 "2015-10-28T14:28:34Z")
I make my own preserved corpses at home better and cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/11 "2015-10-28T14:38:11Z")
There are a number of ways to preserve bodies, most involve strong toxins that prevent bacteria and mold from surviving.[Sylvester the mummified gunslinger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_Olde_Curiosity_Shop#/media/File:Seattle_-_Curiosity_Shop_Sylvester_01.jpg) is steeped in arsenic, for example. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/12 "2015-10-28T14:46:57Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > I make my own preserved corpses at home better and cheaper. Do you buy the corpses or do you make your own raw? ---
**Author:** ![CatastrophicFailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@CatastrophicFailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatastrophicFailure)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/13 "2015-10-28T14:54:16Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > I’d like to see some cite that the OPs original premise is accurate. > > When in the 1970’s? > Where in China? > Who were the Chinese archaeologists? > What was this “fluid” and what “mercury compound”? > > I am not sure I am prepared to believe any of it. This is one of many articles you will find if you Google “Lady Dai”: > **[The enduring mystery of The Lady of Dai mummy](https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-asia/enduring-mystery-lady-dai-mummy-001357)** > > When talking about body preservation and mummies, people all over the world think of Egypt and the mummified bodies of Pharaohs, such as Tutankhamun. It doesn’t seem to be mercury - it was a magnesium fluid, and they haven’t been able to reproduce it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/14 "2015-10-28T15:03:30Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > It’s probably also a much more expensive process. Which does make “Why haven’t Undertakers Adopted This Method?” a legitimate question. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/15 "2015-10-28T15:19:29Z")
Because no thread would be complete without a Cracked link: Lady Dai was in a Cracked article just the other day. [7 Archaeological Discoveries Out Of Your Darkest Nightmares](http://www.cracked.com/article_22272_7-horrific-historical-artifacts-that-are-probably-haunted.html). ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/16 "2015-10-28T15:32:00Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > I make my own preserved corpses at home better and cheaper. I heard there was a show on tv about how to do this, but not having a tv, I can’t say for sure… ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/17 "2015-10-28T17:06:37Z")
I saw that that show was going to air but I missed it because I was having my cat declawed. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/18 "2015-10-28T17:25:14Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > What is the need? This. Embalming is nothing but an attempt to deny the most essential truth of our existence–that Death always wins. I would no more want such a thing done to me than I wanted my dead mother buried within a steel vault (something I strongly opposed). ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/19 "2015-10-28T17:40:39Z")
Related current thread, [about green burials and “dog funerals”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=773425). ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957/20 "2015-10-28T18:13:16Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Because “Mad as an Undertaker” doesn’t [roll off the tongue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_hatter_disease)as easily…? Shit be mad poisonous, yo. What shall we do with an undertaker? What shall we do with an undertaker? What shall we do with an undertaker Who’s mad as a hatter? (Sorry, couldn’t resist…) (But whatever was done, it should be early in the morning.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-undertakers-adopted-this-method/735957.md?page=2)