Paper Making and Death

I signed up for a tour through my university only knowing that the description stated this 5 hour long program would explore death in Hong Kong and paper making.  Unable to make the connection, I still thought it sounded really cool (and it was free) so I signed up.

The program started with a brief overview of different types of burials common in Hong Kong (traditional burial, cremation and the variety of ways of dealing with the ashes, and donation of body to the medical field).  Apparently, it is common practice for Chinese, regardless of religion, to continue practicing funeral ceremonies and beliefs from ancient China alongside the various practices proscribed in Buddhism, Islam, or Christianity.  And here is where the "paper" comes into play.

The traditional Chinese belief is that the afterlife mirrors this one.  In the afterlife, the dead will need money and food and clothes along with everything needed to live in comfort today such as cars and smartphones.  The living provide these items to their ancestors during funerals but also during yearly celebrations such as the Hungry Ghosts Festival.  The living acquire paper replicas of the items they wish to send to their ancestors and burn them during these special times.

Modern accessories for the deceased - all made out of paper

After the explanation the first task was to make money and food.  I have not done paper crafts since elementary so my attempts were not good but it was interesting watching the local students do the crafts with ease, apparently a task they have all done in school as recently as junior high.  

Ghost money.  I could not grasp the idea of "3D" so mine's the weird flat one in the front

The bottom two are paper dumplings purchased from a professional stall.  All of the paper crafts have to be hand made.  The top container are various food items that my group made, along with the container itself.

After we had finished trying our hands at paper making, we had lunch at a restaurant on campus before taking a bus to a different part of Hong Kong.  We walked around a neighbourhood that had many different stores selling these paper crafts.  It was fascinating seeing the wide variety of items available for sale.  Everything from basketballs to airplanes and fully decorated and furnished houses.

 

Burning paper versions of objects for your ancestors is something that my religion's class briefly went over earlier this semester but I still liked learning more about a unique aspect of Chinese traditions.