Joss Paper for the Spring Festival

festive fruits for Chinese New Year

It's Chinese New Year's Eve! Today is the final day of the Year of the Ox, and tomorrow will ring in the dawn of the Year of the Tiger. All around Bangkok, red lanterns have gone up, Chinese music is playing, and stores are filled with joss paper goods for burning.

"Joss" is an anglicized word which came from the old Portuguese "Deus" meaning "God". Joss sticks is an old-fashioned word for incense, and joss paper is sometimes called "incense paper", as its purpose is to be burnt in offering.

Joss paper is burned as an aspect of Chinese ancestral worship and in offering to deities in Chinese folk religion. It's most commonly seen around the Hungry Ghost Festival, but it's a part of the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) as well.

traditional joss paper

Traditional joss paper is made from bamboo paper decorated in gold or silver foil or various stamps and seals. It can be folded into Chinese-style ingots or bars before being burnt.

gold bars and ingots

Different types of joss paper (also known as "ghost paper" or "spirit money") are offered to different categories of spirits. Cash (traditionally in the form of copper, but also nowadays represented as luxury goods and items) are given to the recently deceased and unknown spirits. Golden joss paper (jin) are burnt in offering to deities - specifically the Jade Emperor (the Chinese god of heaven). Silver joss paper (ying) are given to ancestral spirits.

Today, however, even the spirit world has modernized. While you can still find traditional joss paper, it's even more common to see these bank notes in various denominations, which can be purchased by the bundle.

*Note: I found all of these goods for sale at my local supermarket in Bangkok.

Bank of Heaven

The banknotes were traditionally called "Hell Bank Notes", a term which developed out of the confusion caused by Portuguese missionaries who taught their Chinese converts that their (non-Christian) ancestors resided in Hell in the afterlife. Sometimes, you'll still see the unfortunate "Bank of Hell" printed on the notes, but today, it's much more common to see "Bank of Heaven" - a more accurate translation of the Chinese afterlife.

cash and coins

The bank notes usually feature an image of Yanluo Wang, the judge of the underworld, on the front. When someone burns these bank notes to send them to their departed loved ones in the afterlife, they are meant to be given in bribe to Yanluo for a shorter stay or less severe punishment before reincarnation. Chinese afterlife is somewhat similar to Christian purgatory. It is believed that punishment is not eternal, but one must atone for one's sins before moving on.

Today, it's becoming more and more common to find paper luxury goods, such as the iPad and jewelry you can see in this photo:

iPad and jewelry

Like leaving a loved one's favorite food on an altar for Dia de los Muertos in Mexican culture, followers of Chinese traditions will burn paper facsimiles of luxury goods to send to the spirits of their loved ones to use in the afterlife.

luxury makeup brands

Typically, people choose goods which the deceased would have enjoyed in life.

a set of joss goods for a man

For example, if your loved one liked to travel, you might buy them this set, which includes several credit cards, a passport, some travel brochures, and first-class tickets for an airplane and a bullet train journey.

a set of joss paper for someone who loved travel

If someone was more techy, they might get an iPad, iPhone, earbuds, a charger, and a smart watch.

tech products

Of course, you can't go wrong with cash, and some people might just prefer a nice new "VIZA" or "MatherCard" credit card with a 2099 expiration date.

credit cards

The supermarket had also set up an entire section of Chinese snacks and desserts. I'm not quite sure if they are for eating or for offering. To be honest, I don't know a ton about Thai-Chinese culture.

various snacks

possibly offerings?

Others were definitely for eating, like these sweet dessert buns which looked like oranges. Citrus is considered good luck on Chinese New Year. 

oranges for Chinese New Year

Chinese culture is all about double-meanings, and the word for "mandarin orange" in Chinese is a homophone of for "gold", so giving someone a citrus fruit is symbolic of wishing them a wealthy and prosperous year.

golden sweets

Other sweets were more literal, like these golden buns which were actually shaped like traditional Chinese golden ingots!

golden ingot buns

In preparation for the Spring Festival, the supermarket had plenty of delicious and beautiful fruit packaged up ready to be bought as gifts for your loved ones.

fruit

more fruit

Likewise, the Chinese word for "apple" sounds like the word for "peace", so giving someone an apple represents wishing them peace and happiness throughout the coming year. These apples, marked with golden Chinese characters, are very expensive!

beautiful apples

I'm looking forward to the Spring Festival this year! It's an exciting time, and even though it's not an official holiday in Thailand, it's a big deal here.

Happy New Year to all! I hope that the Year of the Tiger brings luck, health, happiness, and prosperity to you!