Families of those who died in the Wuhan epidemic burn paper to memorialize their dead on April 4, 2020, the Qingming Festival.
Every year, on the occasion of the traditional Chinese Qingming Festival, people are seen in various ways in urban and rural areas of the mainland to pay tribute to the spirits of their loved ones. This has been a traditional ritual of the Chinese people for thousands of years, and it has remained unchanged from generation to generation. However, under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), various controls are becoming more and more severe, and in recent years, they have started to intervene to change the folk traditions, in the same old way: issuing documents and media campaigns to brainwash the people, and then following up with administrative measures to monitor and suppress them. This makes Chinese people feel like they are back to the “Four Olds” era of the Cultural Revolution.
Authorities outlaw folk activities to burn paper for the dead
As previously reported by the Epoch Times, authorities in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, have attempted to ban a millennia-old folk custom by using “changing customs” as the reason for the so-called special rectification of paper and coins, leaving the people with “nowhere to buy and no paper to burn” for their traditional rituals.
According to local party media reports, Harbin city authorities recently held a meeting, requiring the Qingming Festival in 2021, the production and processing of paper and coins of enterprises to strictly punish, investigate and deal with all kinds of market, funeral supplies stores, agricultural (food) stores, such as wholesale and retail operation of paper and coins and other ritual supplies behavior.
The vice mayor of Harbin, Jiang Chuanhai, called for a ban on the burning of paper and coins and other ritual supplies, saying that “there is nowhere to buy paper and coins, no paper to burn”. The official also advocated “civilized sacrifice”, but did not specify what is “civilized sacrifice”.
As early as New Year’s Eve, Harbin authorities have mobilized city management, public security in the city launched a special rectification action of placenta coins. According to reports, 3,230 kilograms of paper and coins were seized and 7,460 cases of burning of paper and coins were discouraged.
In March 2018, the city government also issued the “Harbin City, according to the law to control the production and operation of burning paper and coins work program”, which is “to consolidate the results of the creation of a national civilized city, remove the old rules and customs, advocate new social style. The so-called “National Civilized City” title issued by the Central Civilization Office of the Communist Party of China in 2017 and 2020, the selection criteria include “construction achievements” such as social atmosphere.
The “National Civilized City” has been elected once every three years since 2005. In recent years, mainland provinces and cities have been competing for the title of “National Civilized City”, which is considered a political achievement.
Beijing continues to tighten civil liberties through Qingming festival
On March 8, 2021, the General Office of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the Communist Party of China (CPC) issued a notice on the work of the Qingming Festival in 2021, stating that it is necessary to “do a good job of managing the masses’ sacrificial sweeping during the Qingming period. The 4-point requirements of the Notice are summarized as follows.
Although the Chinese Communist Party claims to be effective in controlling the epidemic, it still fears another outbreak. The Notice says, “The risk of a rebound of the new epidemic cannot be ignored, and the proper management of the Qingming period is a matter of social stability.”
The notice also said, “guide the masses to choose a civilized low-carbon sacrificial way, and resist vulgar sacrificial supplies and superstitious behavior.” The Chinese Communist Party says “guide” on the one hand and “resist” on the other, standing on the “civilized” high ground of the so-called “low-carbon”. The Chinese Communist Party said “guide” on the one hand, and “resist” on the other, on the so-called “low-carbon” “civilized” high ground, and then banned the form of folk sacrifice.
The Notice calls for “improving the management standard of the mourning service”. The so-called improve management standards, in other words, control, not according to the rules of the party to sweep the loved ones of the P people behavior suppressed.
The “strengthening of organizational security capacity”, to put it bluntly, the Communist Party wants to mobilize the state machinery to ensure that the “new broken four old” campaign to replace the folk tradition of sweeping.
Officials and folk disagree on restricting paper burning at Qingming
In addition to the four circulars from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the explicit ban on paper burning at Qingming Festival by the Harbin authorities, it was found that in recent years, many provinces and cities on the mainland have banned the burning of paper at Qingming Festival.
Sun Li, deputy director of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Beijing People’s Congress, explained the Civilization Regulations, which ultimately read “not to burn or scatter funeral offerings on roads, in residential areas and other public areas”, seemingly without a complete ban, but how is “public areas” defined?
Sichuan Xichang authorities last year, under the pretext of civilized sacrifice, a clear notice on November 1 every year to June 30 of the next year to prohibit the burning of paper on graves; Mianyang also issued regulations before last year’s Mid-Year Festival, prohibiting the sacrifice of burning paper and even light wax.
In response to the Harbin authorities’ strong interference in the folklore of burning paper at Qingming, a Beijing-based rights lawyer interviewed by the Epoch Times said: “I haven’t been back to Beijing for more than a year, so I don’t understand the situation in Beijing, but I feel that burning meditation paper and coins before 2020 is not a serious problem in Beijing. The northeast folk ritual burning of paper and coins may be serious, but it is mainly a historical tradition and customary phenomenon, and it is an agricultural era and agricultural social customs, which are not illegal and not explicitly prohibited by law, so it is not suitable for public security to intervene.
The lawyer said that it is more appropriate for the city management department responsible for urban environmental management to step in, but the city management department’s enforcement and punishment authority has been the problem of low authority under the law, only a departmental regulations of the Ministry of Housing and Construction “urban management enforcement measures”, and the city management staff generally low quality, brutal behavior, violent law enforcement is common. And because it is not a security issue and illegal issues, to prohibit public security intervention.
Wuhan white-collar Mr. Wu feedback: Hubei side has not heard of the ban on paper and coins, but previously heard the authorities have propagated the “civilized sacrifice”, calling on people to offer flowers rather than burning paper money, but there is no mandatory. This time, Heilongjiang forcibly banned the production and burning of paper money, just like the previous forced cremation in Jiangxi to dig graves, is a serious government abuse of power, violation of the rights of the people, reflecting the arrogance and hegemony of those in power. Not only does it deal a heavy blow to the funeral industry and affect the local economy and people’s livelihood, it is also bound to intensify the conflict between the government and the people and make more people disgusted with the rule of the CCP.
The Chinese Communist Party’s crackdown on traditional folk rituals has provoked public anger
The paper money, also known as paper money and netherworld money, is a traditional cremation offering in East and Southeast Asian countries for sacrificing to ghosts and ancestors, a folk custom that has existed for thousands of years.
Because of the Harbin city government to rectify the action of the plutonium paper and coins, to combat a wide range of people involved in the New Year ancestor worship, Qingming tomb sweeping and many other traditional customs, so it was strongly condemned by civil opinion.
Some netizens 0iqKnN said: burned for thousands of years, how can not?
“This is not superstition, is a memorial to the ancestors, if the plutonium is superstition, then the temple, Taoist temple incense is also superstition? And how should?” “Maybe they don’t have a father and mother!”
A netizen asked rhetorically: Isn’t the CCP superstitious? You have to choose a day for a groundbreaking ceremony! Is it not superstition to invite a monk to build a bridge?
“Nonsense! What’s wrong with people burning paper money at the mausoleum? How can we send our condolences if there is no formality? How can a family not disintegrate if there is no mourning for the deceased? Put your mind and energy into developing the economy and removing de-Chineseization! Don’t interfere with the normal life of our people.”
“store door couplets are shoveled out by the city management, before the legendary couplets can bring good fortune and peace, subdue the beast of the year, today ban on whips, in addition to the couplets, here it is said that the ban on burning paper, it is said that the new mayor of Shenyang, I do not know whether to carry out his orders, or who engaged in senior black? Today’s technology can not help the plague, can give people some good thoughts of the traditional firecrackers couplets are not allowed to have, also do not know this so-called ‘city’ is what the name, people offended enough, but also to offend the ghosts, not counting the anger of God, but also the ghosts cry?”
“The state is extremely incompetent, and the people are very skillful, again! It will happen again and again.” There are also sarcastic: “civilized sacrifice” must mean burning the party flag national flag it …… no meditation paper then burn Mao Zedong it, that new version of 100 yuan Mao Zedong is meditation money.
The story of “Journey to the West” is good? The origin is the King of Tang owes paper money in the netherworld, and then to repay the kindness, only to lead to the construction of the Great Sangoku Temple, whether there is a god or not, which is stretched over a thousand years of tradition, the sentiment of the ancestors, what makes it a bad habit?!”
There are also calls: the day the Communist Party does not completely eradicate, the Chinese people will not have a good day! If they dare to ban it, they will scatter paper money and coins all over the gates of the governments and light white candles all over the roadsides. The fall of the Red Bandit regime will require the awakening of every Chinese to make it happen!
“The illegal organization of the scourge of the world’s communist parasites, every time they see the paper and coins, they must be more afraid of the inescapable fate of going to hell!”
“Forgetting their ancestors! Folklore is gone, the heritage of traditional culture is also gone. Burning incense and paper to pay homage to ancestors, the heritage is unbroken. It has been burned for thousands of years, but here in your dynasty it is banned, what are you?”
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