As we all know, "paper", one of the four great inventions in ancient times, was the invention of Cai Lun . However, his sister-in-law Hui Niang also has a story about burning paper, which is said to be related to the folk 1st October 1st . According to legend, when Cai Lun invented paper, he sold the paper he made to others and his business was also very good. Cai Lun's sister-in-law Hui Niang was very envious, so she asked her husband Cai Mo to learn papermaking skills from Cai Lun, and when she came back, she also opened a paper mill. However, Cai Mo was not good at learning skills, and the paper he made was of poor quality and could not be sold. The couple was very anxious. Later, the smart Hui Niang thought of a way and got rid of the predicament.
One day in the middle of the night, Hui Niang pretended to have an acute illness and died suddenly. Cai Mo also pretended to be heartbroken and cried bitterly in front of Hui Niang's coffin. He burned the paper and cried, "My younger brother Cai Lun and I were not careful and did not learn well. The quality of the paper he made was too poor, and it made you so angry. I want to burn all the paper to ashes to relieve my hatred." After burning it, he brought the paper to burn it. After burning it for a while, he heard Hui Niang shouting in the coffin: "Open the door, I'm back." This made the people around him stunned. With everyone's help, Cai Mo opened the coffin. At this time, Hui Niang sang pretentiously, "Money in the world can travel all over the world, paper in the underworld can be used for business. If my husband burns the paper, who would let me go home?"
Hui Niang sang over and over again as if no one was around, and finally calmed down and said, "I was a ghost just now, and now I am a human being, don't be afraid. When I was in the underworld, King of Hell asked me to push the grinding and suffer. When my husband gave (burn) the paper money, many little ghosts helped me. It's really 'mother can make the devil push the grinding'. The three officials of Cao asked me for money, and I gave him all the money, so he opened the back door of the underworld and let me go back." Cai Mo also pretended to be confused and said, "I didn't give you money." Hui Niang said, "The paper you burn is money in the underworld." When the people present heard that burning paper could bring people back their lives, they all came to Cai Mo to buy paper. This story spreads from ten to ten, and from ten to hundreds. People from all over the country came to Cai Mo's house to buy paper and burn it for their deceased relatives, hoping that their relatives could return to the world. In less than two days, all the papers accumulated in Cai Mo's house were sold out.
Hui Niang "returning to the sun" was the first day of the tenth lunar month in my country. Therefore, it has gradually become a custom among the people to worship ancestors on the first day of the tenth lunar month. "Money can make the devil push the mill" has also become a common saying among the people.
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