When to burn paper during the Zhongyuan Festival? What are the time and taboos for burning paper during the Ghost Festival?

When do we burn paper during the Ghost Festival? We all know that the Ghost Festival is a traditional Chinese festival for ancestor worship, so every household will burn paper money for their ancestors on this day. Next, let’s take a look at the time and precautions for burning paper on the Ghost Festival.

When do we burn paper during the Ghost Festival?

The meaning of burning paper

Burning paper refers to paper money that people burn to worship ghosts and gods, also known as "burning paper money". In some places, it is called "Hua Bao". The purpose of burning paper money is to worship the ancestors and gods and pray for blessings. There are roughly three types of objects for burning paper money: one is for Buddha, immortals and gods, usually a clean outdoor place is chosen to burn paper; the second is for ancestors and relatives, by burning paper at a crossroads near home; the third is for wandering spirits, by the river or before burning paper for ancestors.

Time to burn paper

The Ghost Festival is a traditional festival for worshipping ancestors, but because the cultural customs vary from place to place, the ways of worshipping ancestors are also different. Generally, people burn paper and light incense by the river in the evening on July 14th, and some even prepare food. Starting at 5:30 in the evening, people began to take action and continued until late at night. Therefore, the whole night was almost shrouded in smoke, which choked our noses and eyes.

Steps to burning paper

1. When buying paper money, spread it out and put 100 yuan real money on it, from right to left, from top to bottom, filling the entire piece of paper.
2. Fold the paper for burning, cut it into seven or eight pieces with one cut, and fold them diagonally twice each time. It will be convenient to burn them if you stack them up.
3. When burning paper money, you should first draw a circle on the ground. Don’t circle yourself in it, and leave an opening in the northwest corner for your relatives to take the money.
4. When burning paper money, read out who has given you the money, so that your relatives will know who can bless you.
5. When burning paper money, it is best to use a windproof lighter and stick, which can pull up the paper money that is pressed underneath and cannot be burned. Be careful not to take the stick home after use.
6. Make sure everything is burned completely before you leave. This can prevent fire and also prevent some of the things that are blown away by the wind from being picked up by others and angering your loved ones.