Thousands of billions of dong burned in votive paper every Vu Lan occasion

Many people spend millions, even tens of millions of dong to buy votive paper to burn, wasting thousands of billions of dong.

The full moon of the seventh lunar month, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, is a day for families to pay respects to their ancestors and to offer forgiveness to the deceased. This is an occasion for families to prepare meals and burn incense to remember the deceased. With the belief that “the world is like the afterlife”, many people spend millions, even tens of millions of dong to buy votive paper to burn, wasting thousands of billions of dong.

These days, it is not difficult to see people burning votive paper in front of their houses, in residential areas or on the sidewalks... Many families spend hours burning all the votive paper.

Thousands of billions of dong have been spent on buying votive paper to burn.

Ms. Dao Kim Dung, on Hang Bong Street, Hoan Kiem District, said that the full moon of the seventh lunar month is an occasion to show gratitude to parents, grandparents, and ancestors. On this day, her family gathers their children and grandchildren to prepare a savory feast. After the ceremony, they burn votive paper, clothes, shoes, and other items made of paper for the deceased. This year, Ms. Dung bought more than a dozen sets of clothes and a lot of gold and silver coins, totaling about 500,000 VND.

“When grandparents die, we have to buy clothes for them, when uncles and aunts die, we also have to buy clothes for them, when parents and husband’s parents die, we also buy clothes for them. The 15th day of the 7th lunar month is very solemn, every family has fruits, incense sticks, remembers old memories, gathers children and grandchildren to release animals, burn votive paper, burn money,” said Ms. Dung.

Ms. Pham Thu Nga, on Luong Van Can Street, Hoan Kiem District, said that the custom of burning votive paper for the deceased has existed for many generations. Although she did not understand much about the meaning of the “day of pardon for the dead”, Ms. Nga followed the custom and bought a lot of votive paper with the intention of making the “dead” have enough for the whole year. Ms. Nga’s sincere gratitude to the deceased was shown by the pile of votive paper that filled the corner of the house.

“I think that during these days, we should remember our parents and grandparents, burn incense for them, and buy them clothes. Depending on how many people have passed away in the family, we should buy as many clothes as we can to give to them and take them out. We should only do this if we are sincere and remember our parents,” said Ms. Nga.

With the concept of “the afterlife is like the present”, many families are “spending real money to buy fake money”, willing to spend several million VND to buy many different types of votive offerings. If in the past, votive offerings only included clothes, hats, shoes, jewelry, paper money, now, votive offerings include household appliances, smartphones, cars, motorbikes, airplanes, and even maids... made of paper. The prices of votive offerings also depend on each item, ranging from several hundred thousand to several million VND. And every Vu Lan occasion, thousands of billions of VND are spent nationwide on buying votive offerings to burn.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thu Huong, in Gia Lam, Hanoi, with this amount of money, we can do many meaningful things such as helping children with serious illnesses, donating money, doing charity, which will certainly be much more practical.

“My point of view is that we should sincerely prepare vegetarian meals and fruits on the days of the ancestors. We can go to the temple to pray for the souls, but we should not have the concept of burning votive papers. We should live well with our grandparents, parents, and siblings while they are still alive. When they pass away, we should do charity, release animals, and help the poor and the suffering. That way we show our gratitude to our grandparents and parents, and there is no need to burn votive papers,” Ms. Huong shared.

Due to not understanding the meaning of Vu Lan festival and Buddhist teachings, many people still believe in and maintain the custom of burning votive paper on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month and consider it a way to show respect to grandparents, parents, and ancestors.

Most Venerable Thich Duc Thien, General Secretary of the Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, said that Vu Lan festival reminds everyone to remember the nurturing and giving birth of their parents, grandparents, and ancestors. In addition, Vu Lan festival helps us approach the humane educational meaning of Buddhist philosophy, which is "Kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity," "When drinking water, remember its source"... People who want to show filial piety to their parents, grandparents, and ancestors must have a charitable heart, be altruistic, and know how to take care of those around them. The custom of burning too much votive paper on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month also loses the good meaning of Vu Lan festival.

“We must understand the true meaning of the Vu Lan festival on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month and express it with our consciousness and remembrance, not by mindless actions such as buying votive offerings, buying a lot of them and considering it as an expression of affection for the deceased. We should not waste money by burning too much votive paper, this custom is being misunderstood, from a very beautiful cultural feature that is viewed by society as superstition,” said Venerable Thich Duc Thien.

Vu Lan Festival is a ceremony to show gratitude to parents and ancestors, taking place on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month. It is a beautiful traditional cultural feature imbued with humanity. If the cost of burning votive paper increases in the style of “wealth gives birth to rites”, it will not only lose the meaning of the festival, pollute the environment, but also pose a risk of fire and explosion, causing unpredictable disasters.

According to VOV