The craze of burning votive paper in Hong Kong

The best-selling item in Hong Kong's paper shops this year is a stack of $1 trillion dollars in seven-colored, glittering notes. In addition to money, mansions and cars, gifts for the dead also include hi-tech gadgets such as iPhones and iPads.

A model of a god made of votive paper. Photo: WSJ

In the past, Chinese ghost money was usually of small denominations, but the situation has changed in the past few decades. The value of these coins has increased from millions, billions to trillions. Explaining this situation, many experts say that it is because even the dead want to show off their wealth, and their descendants still believe that their ancestors always need a lot of money to buy houses, cars and technology products.

This Vu Lan season, Hong Kong people witnessed the arrival of a series of new types of votive offerings, votive paper shops, and stacks of hell money with face value up to trillions of USD.

“We are seeing hyperinflation,” quipped Timothy Hau, an economist at the University of Hong Kong. “It’s like Zimbabwe.”

The inflationary situation in both worlds is expected to worsen during this year’s Hungry Ghost Festival, when (according to belief) the gates of the underworld are opened, allowing souls to return to the living world. Over the next few weeks, the city’s residents will put on traditional music and dance shows to entertain the departed guests. They will even leave the front row empty for the ghostly audience, in addition to making offerings and burning mountains of paper money.



A votive paper shop in Hong Kong. Photo: WSJ

The world is like the sky

Inflation in the underworld mirrors what is happening on earth. In recent years, people in both Hong Kong and mainland China have been feeling the negative effects of rising prices.

And as a result, the market for votive offerings is not out of this vortex. Shops offering offerings are popping up everywhere, filled with a series of models of villas, luxury cars, air conditioners and DVD players, all made of paper.

Near a funeral home in Hong Kong is a long row of shops that offer services for the deceased. Despite having been there for decades, many of them are preparing to close. “The rent is very expensive, it’s very difficult to sustain the business,” said Tony Tai, 62, one of the paper shop owners.

“Inflation is everywhere, so of course it appears in the underworld,” said Li Yin-kwan, 42, another shopkeeper. The trillion-dollar bills are the best-selling item in her shop, “because they help the spirits buy a lot of things, like houses and cars.”

But Ms. Li said there was still room for smaller denominations. “The elderly also need small change to buy daily necessities, like clothes and food,” she said.

Before the 15th of July, Ms. Li's store had sold out all the 1 trillion bills.

“I'm sorry,” Ms. Li told a customer, “but there's still some $100 billion left.”

Li also has Bank of the Underworld credit cards, some decorated with pink diamonds, while others are mint green like American Express. The lives of the underworld's inhabitants are as rich as those of the living, thanks to tablets, flat-screen TVs, 3D glasses, and sports cars.

According to economic experts, the problem lies in the fact that real money is used to buy votive paper and hell money. The more votive paper is burned, the more inflation increases. Mr. Hau humorously suggested that the King of Hell should learn from the Zimbabwean government, dollarize the underworld economy and use greenbacks.

Fortunately, not all Hong Kongers are inclined to burn large amounts of paper money to the underworld. Kenny Cheung, 50, manager of Cheung Kee Funeral Services, said he prefers to burn cups of milk tea and suits for his ancestors, as they were things they never enjoyed when they were alive. “There’s no need to burn so much money,” he said.

"I don't think it's a good habit," Mr. Kee said of the East Asian custom of burning a lot of votive paper.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said it was powerless to deal with the situation. "We cannot quantify the amount of money being poured into the spiritual world, nor can we regulate activities in this field," said an HKMA spokesman.

As for the people, they explained that because there are corrupt officials in the underworld, money is extremely necessary, even if it has been burned to ashes.

“There’s also corruption down there,” says Maria Tam, an anthropologist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “If you send a house to your ancestors, you have to send money too. Because some corrupt officials will try to embezzle money,” Tam explains, “so you have to have money to bribe them.”
Besides bribery and shopping, money is used for many other purposes.

"In the underworld, the elders also need money to gamble," Cheung said. "Without money, there's no fun."

According to VnExpress - TH