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 up to thousands of billions of dong.

The full moon of the seventh lunar month, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, is a Vu Lan festival to show filial piety and pardon the deceased. This is an occasion for families to prepare meals and burn incense to remember the deceased. With the concept of “the world is like the afterlife”, many people spend millions, even tens of millions of dong to buy votive paper to burn, wasting up to thousands of billions of dong.

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

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, costing 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 and money,” said Ms. Dung.

Mrs. 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 "pardoning the dead", following the custom, Mrs. Nga bought a lot of votive paper with the thought that the "dead" would have enough for the whole year. Mrs. Nga showed her sincere gratitude to the deceased 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 possible to give to them and take them out. We should do it with sincerity and out of respect for our parents,” said Ms. Nga.

With the concept of “the world is like the afterlife”, many families are “spending real money to buy fake money”, willing to spend several million dong to buy votive offerings of many different types. If in the past, votive offerings only included clothes, hats, shoes, jewelry, paper money, now, votive offerings include household appliances, smartphones, cars, motorbikes, airplanes, even maids... made of paper. The prices of votive offerings also depend on each item, ranging from several hundred thousand to several million dong. And every Vu Lan occasion, thousands of billions of dong 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, 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 ancestors' salvation. 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 if we can. That way we show our filial piety to our grandparents and parents, and there is no need to burn votive papers,” Ms. Huong shared.

Due to not clearly understanding the meaning of Vu Lan festival and Buddhist teachings, many people still believe 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.

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 upbringing and 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 offerings, this custom is being misunderstood, from a very beautiful cultural feature that is seen by society as superstition,” said Venerable Thich Duc Thien.

Vu Lan Festival is a ceremony to show filial piety 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 in the style of “wealth gives birth to rites” increases, 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