What happens when someone dies and no one burns paper for him? Is burning paper just superstition?

China has a long history of development and many excellent traditional cultures. After such a long time, some customs will naturally arise among the people. Take our Spring Festival as an example. When the whole national culture was just born, there was no custom of celebrating the New Year. This is a later folk custom. With the continuous spread and promotion of this custom, it has naturally become a holiday for everyone. In addition to the Han nationality and other ethnic groups celebrating the Spring Festival, other ethnic groups also have their own unique festivals, such as the Yi nationality in the southwest. Their traditional New Year is around August in the Gregorian calendar, and they have the custom of dancing and bullfighting with their bodies.

Besides, in feudal China, besides traditional festivals, there are many other customs, such as some funeral customs, burning incense, burning wax, burning paper and so on. So why do people in China pay so much attention to funeral etiquette? In fact, China people not only pay attention to people's funerals, but also pay great attention to every major event in life, such as birth, marriage, birth, birthday and death, because in ancient China, a large number of people lived in the form of clans. There are many people in a family, and they all live together. China people emphasize respecting the old and caring for the young, loving their mothers and filial piety, and being responsible for their husbands. All the emphases are inseparable from one place, and that is home. For China people, "home" is an important place, so everyone should give a big gift for every memorable event from birth to death.

Children are all kinds of etiquette from birth to death. Funeral etiquette is the last etiquette in life, so it is usually the most solemn and orthodox etiquette. From ancient times a long time ago to today, funeral etiquette is extremely important, especially for ancient emperors. As we know, the funeral of an emperor or nobleman is extremely luxurious and grand. When it comes to funeral, we have to mention some funeral customs, including entering coffins, burning incense, burning paper and so on. The most puzzling thing is burning paper. After people die, why should everyone burn paper, and the more the better? What if no one burns paper for him? What is the purpose of burning paper? Is burning paper really just superstition?

There is a very funny saying on the internet today: please burn paper if you have something. This sentence has a lot of teasing elements, but it also proves from the side that the funeral project of burning paper money is deeply impressed in people's hearts. So why are you so familiar with this project? According to ancient myths and legends, paper money is a currency that can circulate in the underworld, so people after death need the living to burn paper money for them. Because paper is something that the living can use, the dead can't use it, so burning paper has become a way of transformation. Of course, you can't listen to this superstition of heaven and hell, but it is also a good comfort to have other places to continue your consciousness after the death of the ancients.

So the superstitious significance of burning paper money is there, but how did people start this behavior? We should know that paper money was not used in China in the early days, and money was all metal and jewelry products. So why just paper money? This is a story about paper money.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Lun invented papermaking, and his brother Cai Mo and his sister-in-law Hui Niang started papermaking business. However, because of their poor papermaking technology, the amount of paper produced was poor, and no one cared at all.

The next morning, the neighbors heard a cry in Cai Mo's house early in the morning. Neighbors rushed to his house to see what had happened, only to know that Huiniang had "suddenly died" last night. Today, her husband Cai Mo put his wife in the coffin early in the morning. Cai Mo told the whole story while crying, and kept putting the paper into the fire to burn.

In this way, while the paper was still burning here, I heard a sound in the coffin. After a while, I actually heard someone knocking on the coffin. I also heard Huiniang say, "I'm back. Open this coffin quickly." This is a terrible blow to everyone. After a while, everyone got up the courage to open the coffin. Hui Niang immediately jumped out from the inside. She told her neighbors that he went to hell after his death, and the devil made her suffer, and there were children beating her behind him. She really can't stand it.

Later, Cai Mo burned money for her, and she gave the money to the child, who was busy pushing him. She gave Yan the rest of the money and Yan asked her to come back. At this time, Cai Mo also deliberately said to Hui Niang: "I didn't burn money for you?" Huiniang pointed to the pile of burnt paper and said, "This is money. Paper can be used as money in the underworld. " After that, he ran into the room, picked up a large sheet and burned it, saying that it would make the parents in the underground suffer less.

In this way, her plan succeeded, neighbors realized the role of paper money, and their paper was sold out soon. Later, someone specially burned this paper, which is the paper money at the back. It is said that Hui Niang's "coming to the light" was in the seventh month of the lunar calendar 15, and in subsequent history, people would burn paper to worship their ancestors on this day. July 15 of the lunar calendar is called "Mid-Autumn Festival". There are many similar stories, except the story of poor scholar and old mother, in order to describe that paper money is the common currency in the underworld. The purpose is to tell people to burn paper money for the dead after death. Will people really go to hell after death? What if no one burns paper for him? Is burning paper really just superstition?

The question whether burning paper has any practical use is actually easy to answer. There is no scientific evidence that people can be reincarnated after death. Some people think that proving its existence does not mean that it does not exist, but can only be said to be a personal opinion. This is an era of high dependence on science and the rule of law, and all feudal superstitions are not respected. In the past feudal historical years, due to the defects in technology, equipment and cognition, people attributed some unexplained things to "theology", but now every step of social progress depends on the hard work and outstanding wisdom of the people.

Burning paper is a unique custom and culture handed down by working people in ancient China. What he expressed was just a kind of sustenance. No one burns paper for "him" after death, so it won't have any influence. Burning paper is more about inheriting and commemorating ancestors than superstition. Just like Chinese New Year, Chinese New Year is not about "hunting animals", but the custom of family reunion in He Xinchun. Everything in the world is not necessarily right or wrong, black or white. People can believe in science and respect traditional culture at the same time, and both can exist.

In some traditional sacrificial activities, such as sweeping graves, burning incense, burning paper, spiritual tablets, wreaths and so on. , are formal emotional sustenance, there is no need to have superstition in it. China people attach great importance to every step from birth to death. You don't have to follow these behaviors, just respect and inherit the customs left by your ancestors. Of course, people have social attributes and individual attributes, allowing people to have their own beliefs. Our beautiful life is created with our hands, not a pie in the sky. While respecting historical and cultural customs, we can also create a better tomorrow by relying on scientific means to produce, work and live in a green and healthy way.