Grave Site
Spring-Cleaning
The Chinese have a definition for life and death: "Living is a spring dream; dying is like going home."
The resting place or "home" needs a spring-cleaning once a year and every family member has a hand in this. So on Qing Ming Day, entire families with hoes and other tools in hand, start out early in the morning to tidy up the area around their ancestors' tombs. They uproot weeds, wipe the tombstone, sweep the site and offer food and flowers.
Hell Money
Hell money paves the way for the dead in their dealings with
other spirits. How its use came about is traced to the legend in which an old man from the
"other world" helped child prodigy, Wang Bo, excel in a literary competition. In
return, he asked the boy for monetary help to settle a gambling debt of $10,000 with the
Chang Lu Spirit. On his way home after the competition, the boy forgot his promise. A
flock of crows promptly blocked his way. Wang Bo then remembered the old man's request and immediately burnt mock money or joss paper at the Chang
Lu Temple.
Today, "spirit money" is available as banknotes on good paper. These banknotes are in Chinese and English. Issued by the "Ming Tong Bank"(ß³q»È¦æ), or the bank in hell.
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