Paper has been an important element in religious rituals in China for more than a thousand years, especially in funerary practices. Using paper in funerary rituals started as earlier as the Wei and Jin dynasty (220 CE -420 CE) and became a common practice after the Song dynasty (690 CE-1279 CE). Paper was made into different kinds of objects, most commonly cut into the shape of coins as joss money, and burned or buried as offerings to the deities or to the ancestors.

Based on existing documents, joss money and the practice of paper burning started to gain popularity among the common folks during Tang dynasty (618 CE-907 CE), likely for two reasons: Firstly, the production of paper became very common during the time, and paper became a cheap and easy material for making offerings in large quantities than materials used previously, like clay, wood, or metal. Secondly, since the disintegration of burial goods was seen as a sign of entering the realm of the dead, the burning of offerings accelerated such processes, paper as a flammable material was ideal for this ritualist purpose.[1]

As the joss money was popular among the folk people, some members of the elite class tried to incorporate such practice into the religious rituals in the court. During the late Tang period, a high government official named Wang Yu brought paper burning into the Tang court as part of the official ceremonies at state-level sacrifices. However, Wang Yu’s attempt of incorporating folk practice of paper burning into court practice was attacked by the Confucian elites at the time as a violation of Confucian teachings on social order, and Wang Yu was soon demoted.[2]

However, not being recognized by the state did not affect the growing popularity of paper burning among folk population. During the Northern Song dynasty (960 CE-1127 CE), the high demand for paper offerings created a new industry of paper offering production. There were even paper models of houses, animals, servants, and carriages made of paper as an alternative for real burial goods.[3] In the cities, shops dedicated to selling ritualistic paper products like paper offerings, such as paper offerings, joss money, and paper gods, emerged as well.[4]

The change in burial goods and offerings marked the change in funerary costume, as well as a change in ideology caused by the social circumstance during Song dynasty. Under the Confucian idea of filial piety, respecting the elders in death was viewed as important as treating them well in life, and giving the deceased elder family member a proper burial became a test for the younger family members of their filial piety. As a result, families before the Song dynasty with enough wealth would bury their deceased family members with a large number of burial goods. However, during the time of war and disturbance before the Song dynasty, tomb robbery became a common crime and continued to occur during the Song dynasty. To prevent their ancestors from being disturbed by the tomb robbers, many families from the Song dynasty chose not to put much valuable into the tombs, so paper offerings became a good alterative, as they were cheap yet still resembled all the expansive burial goods in form.[5]

However, even as the offerings to the ancestors began to be transformed form material to symbolic, it was still a way to represent a family’s wealth and their virtue of filial piety. In fact, burning paper offerings during the funeral and the sacrificial rituals is more visible than burying expansive goods underground. As a result, funerals became a stage for Song families to display their wealth and power and gain respects from their neighbors. Even the families of less wealth and lower social status would follow such trends as well, because they could afford more offerings made of paper than the real things, and through the ritual of paper burning, they believed they would provide a better life for their family members in the other world.[6]

Although some Confucian scholars still condemned the practice of paper burning for reasons like violating the Confucian teaching or being wasteful, others, although did not encourage such practices, have accepted it, as Northern Song scholar Shao Xiaofu stated, “If it really has any benefit, doesn’t it satisfy the wishes of the filial sons and grandsons? (脱有益，非孝子顺孙之心乎?)”[7]

Compared to the previous tradition of burying the deceased with expensive burial goods, the popularization of paper offering and paper burning since the Song dynasty showed a shifted attention in the religious and funerary practices—from the dead to the living.

 

 

[1] Zhang Chongyi. “A New View on Joss Paper: From the Interaction between the Elite and the Folk Traditions.” Southwest Minzu University Journal (Humanity and Social Science), No.11 (2017): 189.

[2] Zhang Chongyi. 190.

[3] Song Dongxia. “An Analysis on Song Dynasty Burial Goods.” Qinghai Social Sciences, No. 6 (2004): 98.

[4] Zhang Chongyi. 190.

[5] Song Dongxia. 99.

[6] Song Dongxia. 99.

[7] Zhang Chongyi, 191.