Why burn paper by the river or at the intersection? Although young people don't know the rules of burning paper now, the older generation likes to burn paper by the river or at the intersection. This is a custom long ago. Let me give you a brief understanding of why it is good to burn paper by the river or at the intersection.
Why is it better to burn paper by the river or at the intersection? There is a little story about this.
It is said that after Cai Lun invented paper, the difficulty of writing was solved, and papermaking became a profitable business. Sister-in-law Cai Lun's heart itched, forcing her husband Cai to go back to Cai Lun to learn how to make paper. Cai Hui couldn't stand his wife's urging and rushed back to the village to open a paper mill without learning technology.
Without good technology, you can't make good paper naturally, so it's difficult to sell it. The couple looked at the piles of unsalable paper and were very anxious. After a while, Cai Hui and his wife came up with a clever plan. In the dead of night, the neighbors suddenly heard Cai Hui crying, and everyone came to ask what had happened. Cai Hui said sadly: My wife and I had a few quarrels about papermaking, and she hanged herself.
Cai Hui knelt in front of his wife's coffin and cried her eyes out. Neighbors also came to help. "It's all these broken papers!" At this time, Cai Hui, who was crying her eyes out, burned paper and cried in front of everyone, and the coffin made a noise. He pretended not to hear, but burned and cried.
I heard my wife shouting in the coffin: open the door, I'm back! This is shocking. Everyone looks at me, and I look at you. Finally, they got up the courage to open the coffin lid. Cai Hui's wife sat up and sang eloquently: Money makes the mare go? Fortunately, paper turns into money to do business in the underworld; Who wants me to go home if my husband doesn't burn paper? Then he said: I was a ghost just now, and now I am a man. I gave Yan the money my husband gave me, and he gave me another sum.
Cai Hui said deliberately: But I didn't send you money? She pointed to the pile of burning paper and said, that's the money you sent. The world takes copper as money, and the underworld takes paper as money. Everyone knows that burning paper is still so useful that everyone is rushing to buy it. Cai Hui gave everyone a big bag for free.
As soon as the news spread, it spread to hundreds of families. Within a few days, customers flocked to buy all the newspapers in the room. Since the day when his wife returns to Yang is the first day of the lunar calendar, people burn incense and paper for ghosts on this day, and this custom has been passed down to this day. "Later, I thought that the intersection was the place where ghosts traveled from south to north. At the intersection, it is for the convenience of mailing, because there are postmen in the underworld.
From the Taoist point of view, water is dark and muddy, and the river extends in all directions. China attached great importance to river transportation in ancient times, and the great Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is the best annotation of this matter.
However, I miss the sincerity and kindness of my ancestors. If one does more good deeds in Shi Yang, it will also be good for relatives in the underworld. And a person who burns paper is dishonest and bad. No matter how many ancestors you burn, you can only be implicated in hell because of your evil deeds.
Why is it better to burn paper by the river or at the intersection? From the superstitious point of view, the intersection is where ghosts go from south to north, and it is convenient to post at the intersection because there are postmen in the underworld. Intersections, especially positive intersections, are positive in the southeast and northwest. No matter how far away the deceased relatives are, they can receive the banknotes of their living relatives.
Metaphysics believes that when burning clothes bags and paper money for deceased relatives, you should try to choose the side of the crossroads or the side of the fork in the road. One of the reasons is that it is convenient for ghosts in the underworld to run around and deliver clothes bags and paper money to your ancestors as soon as possible. Another moral is to prevent other ghosts from harassing the paper burner.
There is also a saying that there is a strong wind of burning paper at the intersection, which can be blown clean soon, so there is no need to sweep the street specially. This statement still makes sense. In any case, pay attention to fire prevention and traffic safety.