Every time when the Pure Brightness Festival, Spirit Festival (15th day of the 7th lunar month) or Spring Festival and any other traditional festival comes around, before the tomb or on the crossroads in the evening, fires will appear with black butterfly-like ashes flying in the wind, feeling so mysterious. This is the custom of burning paper money to worship the deceased.
There are many legends about the origin of this, one of which is associated with Cai Lun (61-121). According to the story, paper sold so well when papermaking had been improved by Cai Lun that his brother and sister-in-law followed Cai Lun to learn the skill. However, they were so anxious to achieve quick success and get instant benefits that they hurriedly opened a paper-making shop without mastering the necessary arts. As a result, the paper they made did not sell well owing to poor quality. The couple was very worried, and, in order to get out of difficulty, the wife thought of an idea.
She pretended to have died from sudden illness one midnight. The sad husband cried over her coffin, burning paper. After a while, a voice came from the coffin. The people hurriedly opened the coffin, and the woman jumped out. The people present were all frightened. She explained that she had bribed the goblins in the underworld to make the mare go for her, and gave money to the King of Hell, so he would let her go back. The people wondered where the money came from. Cai Lun’s sister-in-law explained that the paper her husband burned was money in the underworld. People suddenly realized that the humble paper could play such a great role in the underworld, so they bought Cai’s paper and burned it to the memory of their deceased loved ones. As money could make the mare go, if their loved ones had money, they could suffer less, and perhaps could return to life.
From then on, burning paper money has been spread far and wide.
There are varieties of paper money. One is made by cutting the white or yellow paper into a shape of a copper coin with a square hole. Another is made by knocking the iron-made money mold above the yellow paper with a mallet to produce the shape of money. There is one s made by printing, which has become more popular in recent years. Similar to the notes circulated on Earth, the paper money is printed with “Mingtong Bank” or “Heaven and Earth Bank” and so forth. It generally has brighter colors and bigger face values, and even paper money in dollar and euro is available. There are also gold and silver ingots folded with gold and silver foil paper. Paper money is usually burned, but also thrown to the sky along the route of the funeral procession, or hung on the graves, which are generally for the purpose of turning away the wandering ghosts, also known as money paid for passage, generally in the form of cut paper money.
Paper money should be burnt before the tomb, however, as many people have moved to other places, it is not so easy to do so now. So the alternative is to draw a circle with a piece of white chalk at an intersection, with the exit facing the direction of the tomb of the deceased. In order to make sure the accurate delivery by the postman in the underworld, the name and address must be clearly written on the envelope packed with paper money. Of course, a few pieces of paper money should be burned to the wandering ghosts first, to avoid theft.
Paper money will not only be burnt on Pure Brightness Festival, Spirit Festival and traditional festivals, but also on “Burning Seven” and “Burn Anniversary”. “Burning Seven” means that every seven days from the day of death constitute a memorial point, called the first seven and on to the seventh seven. Among them, the first, third, fifth and the seventh seven are the most important memorial days. According to folklore, the first seven is the time for the soul of the deceased to go home, so a memorial ceremony will be held at the dwelling, including burning paper money, lighting candles and serving food. On the other six memorial days, paper money will be burnt before the tomb. “Burn Anniversary” means burning paper money before the tomb on the first anniversary of the death, with other offerings also included.
Burning paper money has a long history in China, but it has often been criticized; for example, some of the poets in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) criticized this practice. Many people now pay attention to environmental protection and advocate an online memorial, however, as one of the ways to the living one’s comfort, the custom of burning paper money has continued. On May 18, 2008, the State Council announced May 19 to 21 as the period of national mourning for the numerous victims of the Wenchuan earthquake on May 12 of that year. May 19 was just seven days after the day of earthquake, which was the first seven for burning paper money.
