In recent years, many cities across the country, such as Harbin, Lanzhou, Qingdao, Chongqing, Shanghai, etc., have issued relevant regulations on prohibiting the production and sale of dark money. Among them, Shanghai's regulations are relatively relaxed, mainly requiring funeral service units and their practitioners to discourage and stop the behavior of obstructing public order or throwing or using feudal superstitious funeral supplies in funeral service establishments. Other cities have a certain degree of prohibition on the sale and production of paper money. This time, Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, also joined the ranks and explicitly banned the production and sale of paper money. In the face of these regulations, we can't help but ask: Are these regulations reasonable, and should we, ordinary people, support them?
Historically, when did we start using paper money to worship our deceased loved ones?
According to the Tang Dynasty Feng Yan's "Feng Shi Wen Jian Ji", ancient people used to sacrifice their deceased relatives with physical objects, these things are real money, real valuables. In the Han Dynasty, treasure money was used for burials. From the Wei and Jin dynasties, paper money gradually became a funeral item. In the Tang Dynasty, both princes and nobles and ordinary people were popular in burning paper money for funerals. It can be seen that the use of paper money for sacrifice has a deep historical origin in the mainland and is accepted by the general public.
Next, we need to examine whether the basis for these provisions is tenable.
Take Nantong's recent release, for example, which advocates "abandoning the bad customs of funerals and advocating civilized sacrifices", and regards burning paper money as bad customs and feudal superstition. However, this view does not seem to me to hold. First of all, from the perspective of the history and culture of the mainland, sacrificing deceased relatives is the embodiment of filial piety, which is not only a remembrance of deceased relatives, but also an important way to educate future generations about filial piety. We have a training since ancient times, filial piety is the first, in fact, sacrificing deceased relatives is also a kind of filial piety, this is not only our adults in the memory of deceased relatives, this is to educate the next generation to honor their parents and respect their elders. Let's think about it, when parents and relatives pass away, they have to spend money to buy money for filial piety, so should the living elders and relatives buy something to see and pay homage to them during the New Year's holidays?
Secondly, sacrificing deceased relatives also reflects respect for life. Think about who is not solemn and who is giggling when we burn paper money for our relatives to sacrifice. I didn't understand it when I was a child, and at this time I laughed and laughed, and it ended up with two big slaps. Since then, I have learned to respect life, to be in awe, and even more to respect elders. In the end, to put it bluntly, I just miss my relatives, even if he has passed away, I hope he is doing well, burning paper money is a way for us to express our sorrows, and it is the easiest and easiest way.
Of course, on the other hand, the article mentions that according to the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution, this is indeed a strong argument, and we must also face up to the pollution problem caused by burning paper money. Especially in cities, burning a large amount of paper money will lead to smoke and dust, which will have a certain impact on the environment and residents' health. In the countryside, it is to burn paper money on the grave, and it is easy to cause mountain fires. However, this does not mean that we should ban paper money altogether, after all, it is not an everyday practice, and its effects are similar to those of fireworks, which can be mitigated by reasonable restrictions on the amount of paper money that can be bought or sold, as well as publicity.
Finally, for such a one-size-fits-all regulation, if it is implemented immediately, we need to solve several problems. First of all, for the sacrificial items such as the dead money and paper money that have been produced, it should not be simply collected, and a certain buffer time should be given to give the owner of the red and white ceremonial event a chance to digest these assets. Secondly, as the Qingming Festival approaches, we need to find a suitable way of sacrifice, which is both civilized and reflects the longing for our loved ones. The relevant authorities should provide guiding plans and advice, rather than simply banning sacrifices. After all, the significance of the Qingming Festival is to remember the ancestors and inherit filial piety, which is a very important festival of the Chinese nation.
Conclusion: Although these cities have issued regulations prohibiting the production and sale of paper money, it is certainly difficult to enforce them at present. Of course, there are very few to enforce them, and it can only be said that there are clear provisions and stronger reasons for dissuasion. A complete ban on burning paper money, personally, I don't think it will work. But we can consider limiting the quantity or finding alternative ways, such as replacing paper money with paper flowers, and not burning. As a part of Chinese culture, we should reflect our confidence in the Chinese national culture in our inheritance.
Finally, the Qingming Festival is approaching, we not only remember our relatives, but also pay tribute to the martyrs who sacrificed for the peace and social stability of our Chinese nation.
#清明祭英烈 ##全面禁止烧纸大家支持吗##南通禁止制造 and sales of funeral supplies such as dark coins will be fined less than 3 times the amount of ##清明节祭祀##清明追思家国永念 for violations#