Why do people burn paper money after death? Is burning paper money really useful? Regarding this question, we have to ask Cai Lun 's sister-in-law.
Eastern Han Cai Lun improved papermaking and made snow-white paper. After he became famous all over the world for a while, it attracted a lot of jealousy, including his brother Cai Mo. He knew that this was his brother's exclusive secret technique, so he was not easy to ask directly, so he secretly peeked many times, but he couldn't get the secret.
Just when he was about to give up, someone found his wife and was willing to spend a lot of money to buy the secret to improving papermaking. So the couple decided to secretly learn Cai Lun's papermaking . However, before they could fully understand the true meaning of Cai Lun's papermaking, the couple learned the basics and started making paper by themselves.
Because they were not good at learning, the paper they made was black and rough, and they could not make snow-white paper like Cai Lun. Seeing that the money they got was about to fly, Cai Mo's wife fainted suddenly, and Cai Mo patted and shouted at his wife, but she couldn't wake him up no matter how hard he shouted. So he thought his wife was dead, so he beat a coffin and prepared to bury his wife.
At this time, he saw that he had made those black and rough papers. He was very angry and felt that if it weren't for them, his wife wouldn't have died. Then he thought, he couldn't let his brother and outsiders know that he was secretly making paper.
So, he burned the paper in front of his wife's coffin. The paper was very smokey when it burned, and it soon attracted the attention of the residents around him. Everyone thought that Cai Mo's family was on fire, so they rushed over. Everyone saw Cai Mo kneeling beside the coffin burning paper, and cried very sadly. They didn't know what had happened, so they didn't know how to comfort him.
At this time, my wife actually sat up from the coffin, which scared the people in the yard. Looking at the people in the yard, my wife knew that secretly making paper was discovered, so she began to murmurly: "There is money in the world that can travel all over the world, and the underworld uses paper to trade. If my husband burns the paper, who would have to let me come back?"
Then, Cai Mo's wife carried a lot of paper out of the room, burning it while talking, hoping that her parents would suffer less underground. In this way, the resurrection of Cai Mo's wife was soon spread, and everyone said that Grandpa also loved money. Cai Mo's paper is money in the underworld. After receiving it in the underworld, he will not have to worry about food and drink.
So the paper made by Cai Mo was quickly snatched away by the locals, and many outsiders even came here, and the threshold was almost trampled. Cai Mo was happy when he saw it, and quickly discussed with his wife to continue making paper. In fact, Cai Mo's wife's resurrection from the dead was just a play directed and acted by herself. The death of her relatives will cause thousands of times of longing for the living. Isn't it a way to use burning paper to express grief?
No matter what, burning paper for dead relatives is not a feudal superstition, nor is it a bad habit. It is just a comfort and redemption for the living, a longing for old friends, a remembrance for ancestors, and a culture that has been passed down for thousands of years. It is a special cultural symbol of our Chinese nation and a need of the public.
What do you think? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area.
