Chinese to burn iPads in upcoming celebrations
Fondleslabs go up in smoke in honour of ancestors
Chinese people will burn paper replicas of iPads next week at an annual ceremony called the tomb-sweeping ritual during the Qingming (Pure Brightness) Festival, which celebrates the dead.
During the tomb sweeping ritual, which falls on 4 April this year, Chinese people honour their ancestors by burning paper replicas of earthly things that the deceased might like in the afterlife.
In historical times it was traditional to take sacrificial roosters to the dead. But times have changed and the deceased seemingly prefer tablet computers to chickens now, so iPads are the new best offering for departed love ones.
Paper replicas of money, food, cars, chopsticks, clothes and servants are also burned at the tombs of ancestors, as are replicas of LCD TVs and smartphones. Paper iPads sell for about HK$25 ($3.20, £2) in Hong Kong.
The tradition of honouring the dead on QingMing day was apparently started by the king of Qi Stephen Fry Chong'er, around 600BC. It comes after a faithful servant of Chong'er helped feed him while he was in exile, by cutting out some of his own thigh to make Chong'er a meat soup.
The humble soup-maker – Jie – had no desire for thanks when Chong'er regained power so wandered off to live quietly in the forest. Determined to thank him, the King burned down the forest in the hope of smoking him out so he could find him. Sadly Jie and his elderly mother died in the fire. The King instituted a day of tomb-sweeping and libations to the dead in honour of the loyal Jie.
And people think the tradition of waiting outside Apple stores is weird. ®
COMMENTS
Re: @JDX
It's really funny how people who blame religion forget what human beings have always been capable of with or with out faith. Religion doesn't cause wars, people use religious ideas to further their political ideas. Using a powerful lever is a powerful way to energize people to do what you want. No church or human institution is free from evil. Try judging religion by the people who don't get in your face and you may find it much more appealing. After all these are the majority of people in religious institutions. It is the people who don't seek the limelight, and practice their faith as a means of personal growth who truly keep human society on its tracks. Even atheists, who work to improve themselves through prayer, have found that it helps them. And yes I do know of more than one atheist who prays daily and finds the practice helps him change himself.
You feel like people who believe in God are something you should be afraid of. In fact, you are the one who is selling fear, not the people who are honestly praying to do better each day by living according to their best understanding of God's will for them. Are there charlatans out there who use others belief in god to manipulate them? Of course there are. Do you believe that Desmond Tutu, Mahatmas Ghandi, Martin Luther King, or the Dhali Llama are all charlatans who simply used people for their own ends? Could it be that sometimes or even lots of times, people gain wisdom and strength from faith? Maybe you have it backwards. Maybe those who truly live in dangerous places, full of fear and doubt, are unable to live productive lives with out religious ideals and ideas to uplift them and support them. Perhaps religion is not the opiate of the masses, but that atheism is the luxury of the rich, safe, and unburdened.
What about all the benefits that have come from religion. You know like the idea that there is an objective truth. One god and one truth are actually the same idea. Science did not arise in separate from religion or simply against religion. It arose out of religion. If you look back to the Founding Fathers of the American Constitution, you will see that they believed in God, but not naively in religious institutions. Ultimately, your life will always be based upon faith. You may have some passing understanding of the electricity that runs your house. You do not, nor could you test all the equipment, tools or ideas you believe in by yourself. You trust that the power will work without knowing how Quantum Mechanics really works. Having faith that even if your plans fail that something good will come out of your actions, is not a naive or silly idea. It is fully profound and freeing.
Please accept this comment in the spirit in which it was made: not to correct or demand belief, but to honestly question the assurance that all that is religious is merely a lie meant to manipulate you.
@Khaptain
I love it when people show their total ignorance of a subject whilst calling others ignorant. It's almost poetry.
Re: Voodoo its all voodoo
Why would their dead want Steve Jobs?
They've Been Offering iThingies for Years
The trade in fake travelling money, imitation worldly goods is amazing. The more expensive items are extremely well crafted, one might even say they appear realistic.
Lat year when I visited HongKong I thought the knock-off iPad was a little cheap even for the Chinese but when I picked one up I realised it was too light in weight to be real.
If you think this celebration is expensive, you should take in a Chinese funeral. I have seen hundreds of dollars worth of the finest food put into the grave, along with other expensive items. They also pour many bottles of expensive wine or cognac on the grave to ensure the late departed will have enough for their journey.
People shouldn't knock it, it's tradition. Even people in the West have been buried with worldly goodies including cars.
The Asian cultures respect their forebears far more than do Western cultures, so perhaps they are on to a worthwhile tradition. When did other readers visit their parents or grandparents graves last?
It's symbolic
The idea is that the fake items in this world translate to the real thing in the spirit world. So the luck money becomes legal tender to the gods, and all those paper iPads become fully functional iPads in the afterlife. Of course, they still can't get a 4G signal, but I suppose nothing is perfect.
