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Hitobashira

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Hitobashira (Japanese: 人柱; "human pillar"), also known in Chinese as da sheng zhuang (simplified Chinese: 打生桩; traditional Chinese: 打生樁; pinyin: dǎshēngzhuāng; Jyutping: daa2saang1zong1), is a cultural practice of human sacrifice of premature burial before the construction of buildings. Hitobashira was practiced formerly in Japan as a form of human sacrifice. A person was buried alive under or near large-scale buildings like dams, bridges and castles, as a prayer to kami (indigenous divinities). It was believed that these builders' rites would protect the building from destruction by natural disasters, such as floods, or by enemy attacks. Hitobashira can also refer to the workers who were buried alive under inhumane conditions.