Hitobashira (人柱, "human pillar"), also known as daa saang zong/da sheng zhuang (Chinese: 打生樁; Cantonese/Mandarin romanisation) in China, myosade (မြို့စတေး) in Burma, and tumbal proyek in Indonesia, is a cultural practice of human sacrifice in East and Southeast Asia of premature burial before the construction of buildings. Hitobashira was practised 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 Shinto gods. It was believed this would protect the building from being destroyed by natural disasters such as floods or by enemy attacks. Hitobashira can also refer to workers who were buried alive under inhumane conditions.