Deceased make presents felt
By Annie Huang |
April 3, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IT seems that fake paper money is no longer good enough for the dead of Taiwan, where relatives traditionally burn make-believe cash to help ease the passage of their loved ones through the byways of the netherworld.
Instead, many on this island of 23 million people now opt to provide ancestral ghosts with more elaborate paper gifts -- models of everything from Ferraris to iPhones, private jets and even villas. Many Taiwanese believe that burning a paper model makes a version of the item available to the dead in the spirit world.
For centuries, fake money was the primary gift for the island's dead. The first week after someone died was reserved for burning thick wads of yellow-colored paper cash -- usually at relatives' homes.
Recently, novelty-seeking islanders have increasingly turned to sophisticated paper models. They reflect a new desire to ensure that the dearly departed take with them what they need, rather than what may be useless wads of bills in a place where buying opportunities have never been convincingly documented.
Burning paper products for the dead reflects the importance of ancestor worship in Chinese culture, as well as the belief that spirits can influence the fate of the living.
Taiwan firms making the new-style paper gifts report booming business ahead of Monday's Qingming Festival, or tomb-sweeping day, when millions in Chinese communities in Asia and beyond pay respects to ancestors and dead relatives.
The Sky-Home Shop -- one of several advertising on the Internet -- looks like an up-market salon for billionaires, but its prices are within reach of many ordinary islanders.
Pet houses, slot machines, racing cars, villas and even private jets go for anywhere between NT$4,000 (US$125) and NT$25,000. "Everything is handmade," said Sky Home owner Huang Chih-kuo. "A car has a steering-wheel and seats that may be made of paper but actually look like genuine leather."
Huang said he takes special orders, including those for pistols and rifles complete with paper ammunition to allow weapons collectors or gangsters to continue their lifestyle as ghosts.
SKEA, another Taiwan company in the business, got its start in 2007 after the widow of a sumo wrestling fan requested a paper sumo platform for her dead husband.
"We saw how the gift brought a smile to the aging widow who had been crying her heart out," said Frank Han, SKEA's manager.
SKEA is also making an iPhone, complete with charger. Han, tongue in cheek, said the company was marketing a communications center so iPhone calls can reach beyond the grave.
Instead, many on this island of 23 million people now opt to provide ancestral ghosts with more elaborate paper gifts -- models of everything from Ferraris to iPhones, private jets and even villas. Many Taiwanese believe that burning a paper model makes a version of the item available to the dead in the spirit world.
For centuries, fake money was the primary gift for the island's dead. The first week after someone died was reserved for burning thick wads of yellow-colored paper cash -- usually at relatives' homes.
Recently, novelty-seeking islanders have increasingly turned to sophisticated paper models. They reflect a new desire to ensure that the dearly departed take with them what they need, rather than what may be useless wads of bills in a place where buying opportunities have never been convincingly documented.
Burning paper products for the dead reflects the importance of ancestor worship in Chinese culture, as well as the belief that spirits can influence the fate of the living.
Taiwan firms making the new-style paper gifts report booming business ahead of Monday's Qingming Festival, or tomb-sweeping day, when millions in Chinese communities in Asia and beyond pay respects to ancestors and dead relatives.
The Sky-Home Shop -- one of several advertising on the Internet -- looks like an up-market salon for billionaires, but its prices are within reach of many ordinary islanders.
Pet houses, slot machines, racing cars, villas and even private jets go for anywhere between NT$4,000 (US$125) and NT$25,000. "Everything is handmade," said Sky Home owner Huang Chih-kuo. "A car has a steering-wheel and seats that may be made of paper but actually look like genuine leather."
Huang said he takes special orders, including those for pistols and rifles complete with paper ammunition to allow weapons collectors or gangsters to continue their lifestyle as ghosts.
SKEA, another Taiwan company in the business, got its start in 2007 after the widow of a sumo wrestling fan requested a paper sumo platform for her dead husband.
"We saw how the gift brought a smile to the aging widow who had been crying her heart out," said Frank Han, SKEA's manager.
SKEA is also making an iPhone, complete with charger. Han, tongue in cheek, said the company was marketing a communications center so iPhone calls can reach beyond the grave.
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