Factors of crisis and culture in international and Chinese death education research: a comparative bibliometric analysis

Introduction The sensitive nature of mortality has hindered the death education. However, post-pandemic existential anxiety has drawn significant attention, offering a critical opportunity for disciplinary advancement. Despite this momentum, the field's interdisciplinary nature lacks a unified theoretical framework, urgently necessitating clear development directions. Furthermore, given the profound cultural divergences between Chinese and Western death education paradigms, analyzing these two contexts both independently and comparatively is essential to comprehensively guide the field's future development. Design Comparative bibliometric analysis. Participants 2,311 publications were included. Objective This study aims to analyze and compare the evolutionary trajectories, thematic distributions, and emerging frontiers of death education research in international and Chinese contexts. By synthesizing their characteristic data, it delineates the developmental trends in the post-pandemic era and the cultural divergences between Eastern and Western paradigms, thereby providing reference and guidance for the field's future directions from a bibliometric perspective. Methods Literature was retrieved from international databases (Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus; timspan: 1971–2025), and a Chinese database (China National Knowledge Infrastructure; timespan: 1980–2025). Utilizing CiteSpace with one-year time slices, we performed co-occurrence, cluster, timeline, burst detection analyses across each bibliometric data fields. Node selection parameters were individually configured based on data density to ensure optimal network visualization. Finally, the meaningful resulting characteristic data were compared and synthesized. Results Analysis of 2,311 publications identifies 2020 as a pivotal turning point for significant growth in both international and Chinese death education research. Post-2023, international publication volume continues to accelerate, whereas Chinese research exhibits a downtown trend. Bibliometric results show that the highest betweenness centrality in international research remains anchored in early foundation literature. In contrast, Chinese research displays a marked preference regarding research subjects and reveals that “life education” has superseded “death education” as the primary thematic cluster. Conclusion Following a post-2020 surge, international research has maintained sustained growth, whereas Chinese publications experienced a decline post-2023. Distinctively, Chinese studies show a preference for convenience sampling, while international co-citation networks reveal a persistent reliance on early foundational research. To ensure sustainable development, the field must refine theoretical frameworks globally. Furthermore, reversing the decline in China requires leveraging culturally positive semantics and policy directives to position death education as a systemic public health intervention. Social media abstract Research intensity of death education in both regions exhibited high synchrony with major public emergencies. International research showed sustained post-pandemic growth but a paucity of theoretical innovation, while Chinese research faced significant localization bottlenecks, characterized by reliance on convenience sampling and a tendency to reframe death discourse through the indirect lens of “life education.”