Joss paper

Joss paper, also known as incense papers, are papercrafts or sheets of paper made into burnt offerings common in Chinese ancestral worship (such as the veneration of the deceased family members and relatives on holidays and special occasions). Worship of deities in Chinese folk religion also uses a similar type of joss paper. Joss paper, as well as other papier-mâché items, are also burned or buried in various Asian funerals, "to ensure that the spirit of the deceased has sufficient means in the afterlife."

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Quotes[edit]

During the Cultural Revolution, burning joss paper was repressed as a “feudal superstition” but has since been tolerated. Every year, in this or that city or province, either local authorities or ecologically-minded Buddhist groups, claim that burning spirit money causes pollution and should be discouraged or banned. These measures, when passed, are widely unpopular. At any rate, banning paper-burning rituals in the name of ecology is different from prohibiting them because they are “superstitious,” although ecology may sometimes function as a pretext for ideological suppression of [Chinese] folk religion.
- Zhu Yaozu (pseudonym), "Spirit Money in Nantong: The Ban That Wasn’t", Bitter Winter (April 5, 2024)