Why Chinese Burn Paper on Tomb-Sweeping Day
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As you make your way around Beijing, you might have encountered locals burning paper on the sidewalk in impromptu bonfires. Rather than destroying incriminating evidence, or getting rid of rubbish, locals are actually paying tribute to their ancestors in a very old, Taoist tradition.
Known colloquially as 烧纸 shāozhǐ, literally"burning paper," this tradition is observed during a number of Chinese festivals, one of the biggest being Tomb-Sweeping Day, or Qingming Festival (清明节 qīngmíng jié), on the first day of the fifth solar term. Bundles of coarse "joss" bamboo-based paper (often printed as ersatz "ghost" or "hell" money) as well as any number of paper versions of other objects – cars, watches, iPhones, houses – are burned as an offering to deceased family members so that they can better enjoy the afterlife.
To prepare, relatives of the dead will usually draw a chalk circle to designate the living realm from the afterlife, and burn the money inside of it. They will often also voice greetings to the deceased while burning the paper, saying things like “use this money well” or “buy some nice things.” While most common during Qingming, the tradition is also observed during anniversaries or for family-related special occasions.
In Taiwan, where money burning is particularly popular, the joss paper industry saw takings of USD 400 million in 2014 alone, according to Taiwan News (taiwannews.com). In 2017, Taiwanese were incensed (har har!) when rumors circulated that the government was threatening a blanket ban on paper burning.
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Where does the tradition come from?
The tradition is Taoist in origin, and is a longstanding cultural practice in China. It is said to have originated from the ancient scholar Xin Xiaotang. When Xin's mother died, he was unable to afford a coffin to give her a proper burial and decided to keep the corpse inside his home. When asked why he wasn’t burying his mother, Xin said that the two had spent decades together and now that she was gone, he couldn’t bear to be physically separated from her.
Over time, the macabre practice of keeping family member's corpses inside the house became a tradition, and the longer you kept your deceased next of kin, the more filial piety points you could rack up. Eventually, the mother of a country magistrate passed away, but he wasn't so down with having her stinky corpse in the house for too long and so he handed her over to a monk at a nearby temple. Two days later, the body began to decay and the monk could no longer stand the smell, so he started to burn straw and papers to cover the stench.
The next morning, the magistrate came to check on his mother and questioned the monk as to why he was burning papers. The monk was terrified of what might become of him should the official find out the truth and so did as all good monks do: lied, saying that he was doing so as an offering to the magistrate's mother, adding that the money burnt in this world can be used on the other side.
Regardless of how the tradition of burning paper really came about, it remains an important demonstration of filial piety and a means for the living to pay respects to their ancestors. More importantly, it's a time for families to come together and enjoy their time in this world.
READ: Spring Has Sprung: The Best Beijing Parks and Gardens for Budding Horticulturalists
Image: xinrenfuyin.org
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