Qingming is coming, and a ban in Nantong has sparked a controversy over whether to burn paper money.
Judging from the past situation, the behavior of burning paper money in various places is only not recommended and not promoted, and there are no clear regulations prohibiting burning and sales.
It is precisely because of this that when the ban in Nantong was introduced, it caused an uproar on the Internet.
One of the points of contention is the definition of sacrificial objects. Including Nantong, in the past, the relevant departments in some regions classified a type of sacrificial supplies such as dead coins and tin foil into the category of feudal superstition.
In the eyes of the people, these are sacrificial items, not feudal superstitions. At the same time, it is interesting that while we are breaking the feudal superstition, foreigners are obsessed with burning paper money, and there are even special non-governmental organizations to teach.
So, when did the custom of burning paper begin in Chinese, and what is the meaning behind it?
Cai Lun and the invention of paper
One view is that the custom of burning paper originated in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Because paper was improved and popularized by Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a custom of burning paper in the Wei and Jin dynasties.
This is not only the view of modern people, but also the view of ancient people. In the Tang Dynasty, there was a similar record in the "Feng's Records of Experiences and Experiences", and Cai Lun made paper in the Later Han Dynasty, and there was such a thing as burning paper money in the Wei and Jin dynasties.
Another theory refers to the fact that paper burning originated in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and the first person to burn paper for the deceased was Yin Zhongwen. He was a literary scholar at that time, and he also held a long history position in the imperial court.
There is also a theory that the custom of burning paper is related to Xiao Baojuan. He was the emperor of the Southern Qi Dynasty, and during his reign Xiao Baojuan was an absurd and playful young man.
In modern terms, he was a man who liked to play script killing, and often had the palace maids and eunuchs accompany him to play games such as market buying and selling and playing hawkers. In play, paper is cut into money instead of possessions.
Due to his extravagance, Xiao Baojuan was later killed by the rebels in the rebellion. His former strange hobby has also been gradually transformed into paper money for sacrifices.
Regardless of which of the above statements is true, they all have a common feature, that is, these parties all belong to the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties period. And this period is after the Han Dynasty, and it is indeed related to Cai Lun papermaking in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
As for the folk, there are even more legends of Cai Lun and paper and paper money. The American scholar Bai Hua wrote a historical work called "Burning Paper", which talks about the customs and cultural psychology of Chinese burning paper money.
There is such a folklore written in the book. Cai Lun was not a eunuch but a businessman, and he was also married. He invented paper, but people didn't need it at the time, so a lot of paper piled up in warehouses and couldn't be sold.
Seeing that he was about to go bankrupt, Cai Lun and his wife discussed a countermeasure at this time. They lie everywhere that the burned paper will turn into money in the underworld. Many people believe it to be true, and then spread it to ten, ten, ten, hundred, and finally enter the stream.
This legend is naturally absurd, and there are various versions throughout the continent. In some versions, it was not Cai Lun who lied, but Cai Lun's brother and sister-in-law who co-authored this nonsense.
But no matter which version it is, these folk legends that have been handed down have only found a starting point for the burning of paper money, and the reasons can be made up or far-fetched.
Because the legend is backward in time relative to the custom itself. In other words, when such legends were circulating, the custom of burning paper already existed and became quite common. At this time, the legends and stories only deepened people's impression of burning paper.
In addition to the custom of burning paper, there are other studies that show that this custom originated in the Tang Dynasty.
Paper money is an alternative to real money
Some historical works published during the Republic of China period mention that paper burning originated in the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, when the prime minister Wang Yu used paper money to sacrifice.
This statement has fallen out of place in modern times. Because in the archaeology of 1914, archaeologists found the remains of paper money from an ancient tomb in Turpan. And the tombs here belong to the tombs of the Gaochang period.
Historically, the Gaochang period in the Western Regions was the Liang and Chen period of the Southern Dynasty in the Central Plains. This can show that paper money did originate in the Northern and Southern Dynasties.
And it was not only used for burning at the time, but also probably for burial goods. In this way, the legend that Xiao Baojuan used paper instead of money may be true.
It is worth mentioning that the custom of sacrificing paper money in the Tang Dynasty has indeed flourished. Some records of the time show that once someone died, they used paper to make money, accumulate money for mountains, and add carvings.
Tang poems also wrote: If you have money, you don't eat it, and your wife and children will die. I had to send paper money, and I didn't know how much I owed.
It can be seen that paper money was indeed extremely popular in that era. However, it should be pointed out that there is a certain difference between the paper money mentioned by the ancients and the paper money burned by modern people's sacrifices.
The paper money used in modern rituals generally refers to the dark money used for burning. But in fact, there is also a kind of paper money, which is thrown on the funeral road after the death of a person.
That kind of paper money is still in the shape of ancient copper coins, cut into a square hole in the middle, and some will make some carvings on the paper. In modern urban areas, there is rarely such a custom of cutting paper money after death, and it is usually said that the paper money used for sacrifice is burned.
In rural areas, because the complete process of burial is still preserved, the paper money used in the sacrifice refers to both the burned dead money and the paper money thrown on the funeral road.
In ancient times, the paper money mentioned in the records of the ancients should only refer to the paper money used for throwing. The sacrificial burned coins are definitely different from the coins made in modern times.
In addition, in addition to the paper money thrown at the funeral, after the deceased is buried, a string of paper money will be hung on the grave. In modern tomb sweeping, it is said that some places still retain the custom of hanging paper money.
However, in most places, sacrificial items are only burned during the Qingming Festival, that is, people's common dark coins, tin foil, and paper folded ingots.
There is an opinion that paper money is a substitute for funeral goods. In ancient times, from the dignitaries to the common people, they all paid attention to thick burials. Even if it is a poor family, after the death of the family, they must pick one or two valuable items to put into the earth.
Due to the intensification of the custom of thick burials, the people are miserable, so some people advocate thin burials without burying burial goods. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Mohist school has been advocating thin burials.
But what is clear is that once an idea is formed, it is difficult to change. The practice of heavy burials continued, at least among the royal family and the scholarly class.
The common people could not afford to bury them, so after they had paper, they used paper instead of real money to express their grief for the deceased.
Burning is a medium of communication with our ancestors
Modern people have a mobile phone, leaving each other's contact information at every turn, mobile phones and social software, is the medium between people.
And after death, according to the traditional view of the mainland, the soul does not disappear, but continues to exist in the underworld. But how do living people get in touch with it? That's where paper burning.
The burning of paper during the sacrifice is actually very particular. In some places, it is customary to light a fire to burn paper money, and you need to draw a circle in front of the grave.
This circle represents the burned paper money and belongs to the owner of the cemetery. If you don't draw a circle before burning the paper, the burned paper money may be taken by other ghosts after it reaches the underworld.
In the incineration process, the paper money used is also differentiated, and in the past there were yellow and white paper and tin foil. After the modern society replaced the ancient metal currency with paper money, the people also kept pace with the times and printed paper money into the shape of paper money.
Especially since the 21st century, the printing of dark coins has been renovated. Some denominations are the same as real currency denominations, but most of them are actually very large, and it is common for a pluto to cost tens of millions of dollars.
From this point, it is not difficult to see that even if it is a custom that has been passed down for thousands of years, it can keep pace with the times in details, and change the type of paper money and dark money, which can be accepted by the people, and will not feel inappropriate.
However, in the process of sacrifice, there are some procedures that cannot be made like drawing circles. In addition to drawing circles, in the process of burning paper money, it is necessary to have a dialogue with the ancestors, constantly remind the ancestors to collect money and goods, and also report the situation at home to the ancestors.
The most important thing is that during the incineration process, there must be no residue, and all the paper money must be burned to ashes and burned clean, because only in this way can the ancestors better receive the complete money.
Speaking of which, we have to mention the mountain fires that start every year because of the burning of paper. The materials used in paper money are flammable, and if they are fully burned during the incineration process, there will be no fire hazard.
And those cases of accidental fires just show that the burning of paper money is not completely burned, and the sparks on the residue ignite others after the person leaves.
On the contrary, this shows that if you follow the steps to burn paper money, you will not start a fire. And those that started the fire were precisely because of a program error. In a sense, the ancestors did not receive money, and thus did not "bless".
Nowadays, people are worried about fires caused by wildland fires, and they are worried about air pollution caused by unnecessary burning. From the point of view of the sacrifice, burning is precisely the essential procedure in the sacrifice.
The absence of burning means that the living cannot establish a medium of communication with the dead. And the reason why this method is used is because burning, like death, means disappearing.
Just as death is isolation from the real world, burning an object makes it disappear in the real world. Therefore, in the long-standing concept, people believe that disappearing objects can also reach the disappeared ancestors.
Therefore, whether it is burning paper money or burning other sacrificial items, it can have the same effect.
Paper money is a shared cultural memory
Regardless of when the custom of burning paper money originated, this method has long become a common cultural memory of Chinese.
It is not only a kind of custom inheritance, but also has a practical bond and maintenance role. During the New Year's holidays, everyone goes to a certain cemetery to burn paper sacrifices, which maintains the bond between family and clan.
In the era of agrarian civilization, this relationship also meant that the family and even the whole family had a strong influence in a village or even a region.
Although modern civilization has deconstructed the foundation of agricultural civilization, the bond of family and family affection is still an important link in maintaining social relations among Chinese. The way to inherit the bond is to go to the graves of the ancestors to sacrifice and burn paper.
Of course, you can say that its former role has been weakened, and modern rituals are merely a formality. But even so, paper-burning sacrifices are still the most solemn and serious activities of the Chinese, no less than Westerners going to churches to worship.
Even in modern times with scientific advancement, Western societies still retain the church and God. Similarly, the family sacrifice activities of our Chinese are also a kind of cultural memory and inheritance.
epilogue
As a kind of inheritance, the practice of burning paper is enhanced by rendering year after year. No one has ever tried to learn this process, but everyone can naturally retain this habit.
So it is obvious that when a custom becomes a common inheritance habit, it rises to the structural significance of the ethnic group.
In this case, some people say that burning paper is a superstitious activity, just like someone running to a church in the West to pee and. Because of this, it is not surprising that Nantong's ban has aroused public opposition and disgust.
Resources:
"What is the dispute over the prohibition of the production and sale of paper money?" China News Network, March 29, 2024
"Paper Money Customs in the Tang and Song Dynasties", Literature and History, 2010
"The Origin of Paper Money: "Burning Money" in Chinese Folk Tales, Jiemian News, May 20, 2018