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Spirit money, also known as ghost money, is a form of joss paper, an offering used in traditional Chinese ancestor worship. \u00a0The burning of spirit money is the last ritual performed by a family member during a traditional funeral ceremony to ensure a favorable outcome in the afterlife. \u00a0It is also commonly used in ancestor worship rituals during important holidays. \u00a0Burning the money allows for the funds to be accessed by the deceased\u2019s spirit in the afterlife.\u00a0 Archaeological evidence supports the use of spirit money as early as 3,000 years ago.\u00a0 The tradition continues today, with the addition of paper credit cards and paper reproductions of all manner of luxury goods.<\/p>\n
This example of spirit money, likely printed on rice or bamboo paper, was sent to the United States as the souvenir of a Christian missionary in the late 19th<\/sup> century.\u00a0 The frame contains the following note from the missionary: \u201cSpirit Money: This $10 note on the Bank of West Haven comes to you from China, a souvenir which bears its own testimony to the need of her millions for a knowledge of Christ and release from the superstitions that bind them. It is a testimony, too, of the effect of the veneer of Western customs without the redeeming Gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n Carla Pena-Vega, a student in Anthropology 190, Spring 2017, conducted the research for this post.<\/p>\n Other Chinese objects that have been featured for Artifact of the Month include a scroll painting<\/a>, a Changsha Ware bowl<\/a>, a Majiayao basin<\/a>, and a tea grater<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spirit money, also known as ghost money, is a form of joss paper, an offering used in traditional Chinese ancestor worship. \u00a0The burning of spirit money is the last ritual performed by a family member during a traditional funeral ceremony to ensure a favorable outcome […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"overlay_title":false,"hide_featured_image_post":false,"wfu_hide_page_title":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artifacts"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n