Chinese 'Spirit Papers' Offer Safe Passage for Deceased

By Andy Sywak

The comfortable beige chairs and natural wood paneling give the Koret Auditorium at the San Francisco Public Library a cozy, modern feel. The symmetry and chic functionality of the auditorium provided a somewhat ironic location for a lecture about the ancient and mystical uses of Chinese ceremonial paper.

Roderick Cave, a longtime professor at universities in New Zealand and Singapore and author of numerous books on printing and publishing history, gave a lecture April 9 entitled "Money to Burn: The Chinese Use of Ritual Papers" at the Koret Auditorium.

Sponsored in part by the Asian Art Museum, the 90-minute lecture discussed the various uses of ceremonial papers within Chinese communities through an extensive slide show culled from Cave's travels through Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taipei and southern China.

Also called "spirit papers," Chinese paper offerings consist of intricately designed handmade paper created purely for ceremonial purposes. Mostly made of bamboo and imprinted with various shapes and designs ranging from money to natural scenery to Chinese characters, much of the paper is intended to be burned in a furnace, mostly in tribute to a deceased relative. Once the paper is burned, the message or item on the paper is delivered to the deceased in their afterlife. Paper money, for example, is often burned on the anniversary of a relative's death.

"There will be certain practices carried out by fisherman looking for a good catch, certain practices by farmers hoping for success," Cave said about the papers that have existed in Chinese culture for nearly 2,000 years.

But while the paper may look indistinguishable to the untrained eye, Cave noted, the images on the papers have different purposes. Cave's slides showed paper posted in front of brothels and inside kitchens. One slide showed a large, intricate house made of paper. Costing almost $10,000 to make, Cave explained how the house was then burned to provide sanctuary to the loved one it was built for in the afterlife. Such ornate and ceremonial items should be treated with the upmost respect.

"One thing I wouldn't do, ever," Cave said, "is if you come across burned paper on the ground, don't touch it." Such an act is deemed very offensive and sacrilegious, according to the professor.

Speaking in a classic professorial British accent, Cave also chronicled the recent history of paper in China. Officially discouraged by the ruling Communist Party in China, ceremonial papers were severely repressed during the Cultural Revolution. One slide showed paper featuring socially conscious images approved by the Communist Party. One print showed a smiling couple holding their one child to promote China's one-child policy.

Cave explained that the ceremonial use of paper in China has been so ingrained upon the population that their use has never been fully eradicated, however, and they continue to play important parts in New Year's rites and popular festivals.

Trina Lopez, 31, discovered Chinese paper on a stroll through the City and attended the lecture out of curiosity.

"I live near the Mission. There's this 99 cent store that had stacks of this paper and I wanted to learn more about what it was used for."

Chooi Eng Grosso, of the Sunset, had a more personal connection to Cave's lecture.

"I grew up in Penang (Malaysia), and the paper was a part of our past. He talks about 'women and young girls making the papers,'" Grosso said, pointing to a handout from the lecture explaining how the paper is made. "We spent time doing this," she laughs.

Grosso described burning paper money at a funeral for a family member back in Malaysia, while conceding that it is not a practice she continues in the United States.