Wang Xuming, president of the Language and Culture Press, who has more than 1.43 million followers on his micro blog, criticized the campaign on Monday as "offending God and against nature".
The People's Daily also opposed the campaign on its micro blog on Saturday, saying that destroying ancestral tombs could not win the hearts of the people.
Spokeswoman Li, in response to questions over the controversy, said residents support the campaign.
"If everyone opposed it, how could it be possible to move more than 2.34 million tombs?" she said, adding that there had been no violence during the relocation.
However, Liu Guangming, director of the Dancheng county government, said it has been a tough battle to persuade villagers to relocate the tombs due to deep-rooted beliefs.
To gain public understanding, Fugou county officials held a speech contest on Oct 25 with the theme of tomb relocation. Top prize was a bottle of liquor, which many Internet users said was disrespectful to the dead.
Chu Jixue, a publicity official in Beijing, wrote in Southern Weekly that the tombs of his grandparents and great-grandparents in Zhoukou had been demolished this month without his approval.
"Seeing the photos of the destroyed tombs, all I can do is weep," he wrote. "Without my ancestors' tombs, I feel like a rootless weed."
Rules on funerals and interment state that authorities can take measures to deal with tombs violating regulations, but are not empowered to move tombs that do not.
Landmark building should respect the public's feeling
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