Joss paper refers to the special papercrafts used in Chinese traditional worship and mourning rituals. Most joss paper is made from coarse bamboo, with one side decorated with golden or silver-colored tin foil. By folding joss paper into different shapes, it can be the physical representation of money, daily necessities, and luxury, including gold and silver ingots (Lau, 2019). Chinese people believe that by burning joss paper in rituals, the deceased—usually their departed relatives—can receive these “gifts” in the afterlife.

Burning joss paper is not an isolated activity. It is part of traditional Chinese mourning and worship rituals. These traditional rituals are usually held on important holidays including Spring Festival and Qingming Festival. Such rituals are complicated and involve multiple preparations and steps. As they are usually related to death, a taboo in China, few people ask about and fully understand them.

In this essay I will focus specifically on burning joss paper for deceased ancestors, introducing some common types of joss paper, how the ritual are performed, and most importantly, the reasons behind this practice. Although the ritual does involve mysticism, it cannot be simply reduced to superstition. The ritual of burning joss paper carries more cultural meanings than most people expect. It is not only related to ancestral worship, but also Chinese philosophical thoughts including Confucianism and Taoism. By exploring this thin piece of joss paper, we may be able to open a window into Chinese traditional worship and mourning rituals, catching a glimpse of Chinese beliefs and life.

Cash for the underworld bank. Source: nationsonline.org 

Burning joss paper requires adequate preparation. Although there is joss paper that has been folded into various shapes for sale, most families still fold joss paper by themselves to convey their remembrance. Most people fold joss paper into the boat shape with the tin foil side out, making the most common joss paper in China: “a mock ingot”, the currency in ancient China. Folding joss paper with grandparents is one childhood memory shared by many Chinese people. In addition to the “mock ingot”, there are also different types of joss paper, including “cash for the underworld bank” (冥票通子 ming piao tong zi) (see Figure 1). By drawing or printing huge numbers on the sheets of joss paper, people consider it one of the currencies in the underworld.

When it comes to the burning ritual, although everyone can fold joss paper, it is generally only the men who can be the representatives to burn joss paper, reflecting the discrimination against women in ancient times. This ritual is usually performed on the ground in front of their own doors. Nowadays, people write the names of the “recipients” on one piece of joss paper prior to the ritual, which ensures that it is their deceased ancestors rather than other ghosts who will “receive the money.” When people have prepared the dishes and placed them on the dining table as offerings, they will then light the candles and burn incense to mark the start of the rituals. When performing the rituals, people need to keep the door open to allow their ancestors to “enter” the house and “enjoy” the offerings. While the ancestors are enjoying their offerings, the men go outside and start to burn joss paper, sending the money to their ancestors. Watching dancing flames and the rising smoke, people usually murmur the names of the ancestors to inform them of receiving the cash. After the ritual, most people will leave, waiting for the wind to take the ash away, which marks the end of the traditional burning ritual.

The ritual mentioned above has been passed on for thousands of years in China. But few Chinese people can have full knowledge of joss paper and all the relevant rituals. One reason is that there are multiple variants of the rituals due to the regional differences. Facing so many ways to burn joss paper, ordinary people cannot know all the constantly changing variants. The complexity of rituals also impedes the inheritance of the joss paper burning ritual. Although the older generation still remembers the details of relevant rituals, the gap between generations has become an obstacle to inherit the traditional customs. Another deep reason is that some people, especially the young, refuse to accept joss paper. As they consider the act of burning joss paper no more than superstition, they are reluctant to learn about relevant rituals and even resist them nowadays.

However, if burning joss paper is no more than superstition, why has the complex custom been passed down through a long history? In the fast-paced modern society where fewer and fewer people are superstitious, facing the complexity of rituals, why are Chinese people still willing to burn joss paper? People’s answers to the question vary. The most common answer is to seek blessings. Chinese people believe that if they burn joss paper for their ancestors, their ancestors will protect and bless them. Thus, when burning joss paper, many people pray for prosperity and longevity, seeking blessings from their ancestors. Some people also burn joss paper to escape the curse of the ghosts or seek emotional relief. When the Chinese people feel that they are cursed by ghosts by having repeating nightmares, some people, especially the elderly, will burn joss paper to the deceased to seek peace. They believe that by burning joss paper and sending the “cash” to the spirits, they can find protection and get rid of the curse. Furthermore, burning joss paper is regarded as an act of performing the duties of descendants in China. By burning joss paper, Chinese people think that they show full respect to their ancestors, fulfilling their filial duty.

Aside from the multiple answers above, I argue that there are more deep cultural reasons behind this practice. I consider that burning joss paper is closely related to family. Both Confucianism and Taoism play an important role in this regard. By performing rituals of burning joss paper, Chinese people try to build a connection between the living and the departed. Since ancient times, such rituals maintain the existing family value system, carry people’s good wishes, and express people’s remembrance of the departed.

While the form of burning joss paper is “a traditional Chinese-Taoist practice” (Radez, 2020), the core values behind it of cherishing family come from Confucianism, the mainstream thought in traditional China. Confucianism highlights the role of the family and emphasizes its importance in building order and harmony in Chinese society. As Lin (2009) has mentioned, the Chinese people attach great importance to their family life. The famous Confucian phrase “cultivate the self, regulate the family, govern the state, lead the world to peace” (修身，齐家，治国，平天下 xiushen, qijia, zhiguo, pingtianxia) also proves that a peaceful family is one important life pursuit in traditional China (Qi, 2016). Confucianism puts great emphasis on family as it considers that “the basis of a country is in the family” (国之本在家, guo zhi ben zai jia) (Zhu, 2018). By advocating for people to cherish their family, Confucianism hopes that people can extend their love of their family to their own country and society, which helps keep the social stability. Under the influence of Confucianism, the Chinese people value, cherish, and protect their family, seeing home as one of their eternal belongings.

For people living in modern society, burning joss paper is more a process of expressing the remembrance of the departed than worship rituals, which also maintains the family value system in another way.

As the ancient Chinese family often centers on the male family members, especially those who supported and guided their family by their resources and morals, the departure of core family members can lead to the collapse of the family value system due to the loss of both family supporters and moral leaders. Thus, finding the appropriate way to accept their death and further inherit their qualities after their departure became a crucial step to maintain the existing value system. However, Confucianism refuses to talk about death. As Confucius has said: “don’t know life – how can we know death?” (未知生，焉知死？weizhisheng, yanzhisi?), Confucianism focuses more on the current life rather than death (Bai, 2011). Someone may argue that according to Confucianism, when an individual fulfills his own obligation, he can embrace his death without regret. However, for his loved ones, it may not be as easy to accept his death. A person may be able to accept his own death calmly but fail to accept the death of his loved ones. In other words, although Confucianism urges people to cherish their family in order to keep social stability, it fails to prevent the collapse of the family value system when people face the death of their close relatives.

At this moment, Taoism, which emphasizes the communication between the living and the departed, comes into people’s sight and fills the hole left by Confucianism. By holding various rituals, the Taoists try to build a direct connection between the living and the deceased. The so-called “connection” between the living world and the underworld offers people a way to face and accept their relatives’ death. Performing the relevant rituals, Chinese people believe that their relatives are still connected to them, just in a different way. By creating emotional connections, the rituals protect or even improve the existing family value system. Inspired by the emotional connection, the descendants inherit the good qualities of their ancestors. Compared with the financial inheritance, the good qualities that circulate in the family are the real spiritual heritage. Good character has a greater power to connect the family members and maintain the stability of family.

With the progress of society, the core function of the burning ritual also changes. For people living in modern society, burning joss paper is more a process of expressing the remembrance of the departed than worship rituals, which also maintains the family value system in another way. Death is always a taboo in China. Chinese people are usually reluctant to mention death, especially the death of their departed relatives. As the remembrance of the departed is also connected to death, people tend to bury such feelings deeply. Most people restrain their sadness and remembrance of the departed in daily life, and only express their remembrance in the special rituals. The ritual of burning joss paper offers people an outlet to release their sadness and remembrance, helping them accept the death. In these rituals, the family members are connected closely by sharing the same feeling and memories which maintains the family system. Such rituals offer people not only the access to express remembrance and nostalgia for their ancestors, but also the precious opportunities to reflect on death. Watching the fire, many people realize the finitude of life and start thinking about death and their lives.

As more and more evidence supports that burning joss paper can cause severe pollution (Shen, Tsai, Yuan, Jen & Ie, 2016), the advocacy for simplifying the process and emphasizing the expression of emotions is growing in modern China. Many people choose different ways to remember their ancestors. Nowadays, the online cemetery is quite popular. Rather than burning joss paper in reality, many people choose to express their remembrance via the convenience of the Internet: by clicking the mouse, people can “burn joss paper” and “offer flowers” to the departed online any time. Another method is tree burial: people choose to bury their deceased relatives in soil and plant trees in the ground to remember them. By taking care of the trees, they believe the spirits of the deceased still live inside trees. Although the popularity and impact of tree burial is still limited, as people advocate for green life, tree burial may also become popular in the future.

In conclusion, burning joss paper is a Chinese traditional practice, reflecting both Confucianist and Taoist thoughts. The ritual of burning joss paper is not only for the departed, but for the living. People use the rituals of burning joss paper to express their remembrance, convey good wishes, seek emotional support from their family, and awaken the awareness of life and death. As time progresses, Chinese people transform the old rituals and find better ways to accept death and express their emotions and remembrance of the departed in a franker way. From my perspective, as long as we remember the departed, they still live inside our hearts. The true departure of our loved ones comes not when they die, but when we forget them.