The local authorities’ attempt to prohibit joss paper burning on April 4, Tomb-Sweeping Day, failed. But the story is more complicated than it may seem.
by Zhu Yaozu


Burning joss paper, or spirit money (which of course is not real money), as an offering to the spirits of the dead or to certain deities is a traditional thousands-year-old practice dear to most Chinese. April 4 was Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional day for burning spirit money to the ancestors.
During the Cultural Revolution, burning joss paper was repressed as a “feudal superstition” but has since been tolerated. Every year, in this or that city or province, either local authorities or ecologically-minded Buddhist groups, claim that burning spirit money causes pollution and should be discouraged or banned. These measures, when passed, are widely unpopular. At any rate, banning paper-burning rituals in the name of ecology is different from prohibiting them because they are “superstitious,” although ecology may sometimes function as a pretext for ideological suppression of folk religion.
On the eve of Tomb-Sweeping Day, in Jiangsu province the Nantong Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau and the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Jiangsu Province issued a notice on March 25 prohibiting spirit paper burning in Nantong.


The notice read: “In order to further promote funeral reform in our city, abandon the vulgar customs of mourning, advocate civilized sacrifices, and purify the urban environment, in accordance with the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution, the Regulations on the Administration of Funerals, the Regulations on the Administration of Funerals in Jiangsu Province, and other laws and regulations, it is hereby announced as follows: It is forbidden for any unit or individual to manufacture and sell feudal superstitious funeral supplies such as underworld coins, spirit money and ancestor money in the city. Items produced in violation of the provisions of this circular shall be confiscated by the Civil Affairs Department at or above the county level in conjunction with the market supervision and administration department at the same level, which may also impose a fine of more than one time and less than three times the sales amount. If an act against public security management is ascertained, the public security organ shall impose a public security administrative penalty in accordance with the law. If it constitutes a crime, criminal responsibility shall be investigated in accordance with the law. This notice shall come into force as of the date of promulgation.”
Except that Nantong’s citizens would have none of it. They protested, and their protests were heard. CCP-controlled China Central Television (CCTV) reported the incident taking the side of the critics, and stating that joss paper burning “is not a feudal superstition.” While arrangements may be negotiated in the interest of ecology, the comment said that simply prohibiting the practice is “mechanical, unrealistic, and inhumane.”


CCTV speaks for the Communist Party. “Bitter Winter” has not been able to confirm whether the ordinance has been formally repealed, but in Nantong and Jiangsu in general spirit money was regularly burned on April 4. There was no report that those who did it were harassed.
Was this a victory for religious freedom and an instance whether citizens’ protests compelled a local government to back off? Yes. But. A look at the netizens’ protests after the ordinance shows that the most vocal critics did not use the religious liberty argument. They complained that the authorities are too lenient towards the activities of “foreign” religions such a Christianity and Islam, while cracking down on ancient customs such as the burning of spirit money that are part of the excellent traditional Chinese culture. Of course, these may be ad hominem arguments. On the other hand, they are typical of an atmosphere of xenophobia and Chinese nationalism increasingly prevailing on social media. By letting them burn their joss paper, perhaps the CCP understood it was not humoring its critics but its friends.