hell money

May 5, 2005 2:26 AM

Hell Money "the Chinese believed Hell was the English term for the Afterlife. The word was incorporated and printed on the traditional Chinese Afterlife Monetary Offerings, otherwise known as Hell Bank Notes."
posted by dhruva (17 comments total)

In Viet Nam I saw locals burning paper models of TVs, cars and washing machines - seems there's a need for consumer goods in the afterlife too.
posted by the cuban at 2:36 AM on May 5, 2005

posted by fixedgear at 2:57 AM on May 5, 2005

Interesting. Cheers
posted by ZippityBuddha at 4:03 AM on May 5, 2005

From either the market or from ladies toting around cane baskets, you can buy stacks of photocopied $US100 bills in Hanoi to be lit for the fortnightly ancestral burn-a-thons. As you say, consumerism is the rage in the afterlife.
dhruva, you trawl the net's inscrutable lintlined underbelly. Goodonyamate!
posted by peacay at 4:21 AM on May 5, 2005

I first ran across Hell Money years ago via Archie McPhee's, who used to sell bundles of the stuff. Looks like they no longer carry it, though.

(And isn't this the site of an ex-MeFite?)
posted by mkhall at 4:57 AM on May 5, 2005

There was a karaoke bar in Toronto on Balmutto street (behind where the late Uptown theatre used to be...sniff) that was called the Hell bar, it always puzzled me. I wonder if you could get change for some of those large denomination bills at a Walmart. Good link dhruva.
posted by phirleh at 5:06 AM on May 5, 2005

You mean these guys are right?
posted by TimothyMason at 6:00 AM on May 5, 2005

TimothyMason, the real scary thing about that link is that it took a little while to find out whether it was a joke/satire site or not. It's a toss up with these folks. It was the Jesus Thong ads that gave it away!

I'm a chinese-american and I grew up in an Old Italian neighborhood in NYC. I wouldn't put it past them to have a real site with those type of sentiments. But the younger generation is generally more tolerant since they're gotten more exposure to different people.
posted by pez_LPhiE at 7:16 AM on May 5, 2005

I remember burning this over my grandmother's grave in Taiwan after we cleared it of various weeds and brush. As part of the ceremony my cousins and I got to see and touch her skull in its urn. Then I managed to singe my hand on some lit incense. Not sure if she was trying to tell me something.
posted by Mercaptan at 7:30 AM on May 5, 2005

I wondered what Hell Money was for. I got some $1,000,000,000 dollar bills in Chinatown and usually put them in Christmas cards.
posted by bendy at 11:08 AM on May 5, 2005

When I visited home last November, I was surprised to see some old ladies in the neighborhood sitting outside folding up origami Yuan Bao - gold or slilver ingots used in the old days as hard currency. I used to do that with my grandmother.
posted by of strange foe at 12:53 PM on May 5, 2005

Ex? Someone's not paying attention.

This content has been on my site for a long time, but only recently someone sent it to BoingBoing.

Since then people have been "discovering" it.

It was a lot of fun walking into local shops to browse their selections of Hell Money. I got some strange looks.
posted by bwg at 4:55 PM on May 5, 2005

Kalessin, your experience sounds so festive. I've never been able to do this at any actual gravesite because all the sites are overseas. My immediate family celebrates at home... the "hell money" is definitely peripheral. Your ancestors and your living family are what it's about.
posted by halonine at 9:54 PM on May 5, 2005

Ex? Someone's not paying attention.

Mea culpa. I hadn't noticed your name for a while, nothing personal. I've spent many happy, non-productive hours on your site.
posted by mkhall at 10:11 PM on May 5, 2005

If only we had hell credit cards, the air would be a lot cleaner.
posted by Poagao at 2:00 AM on May 6, 2005

No worries, mkhqall, I was teasing.

Poagao, that's a Hell of an idea! (you may commence groaning ... )

The Bank of Hell Visa or Mastercard: apply today!

Those would be perfect in Hong Kong — deceased debt collectors would have the perfect job in the afterlife if the dead relatives default on their payments.
posted by bwg at 4:12 AM on May 6, 2005

kalessin, do you know how the term 'hell money' originated? The story given in the post sounds like a folk-tale to me; the concept of differentiation between a 'heaven' and a 'hell' existed in Chinese culture before the arrival of Christian missionaries so far as I know. Perhaps it was a joke at the missionaries' expense.
posted by TimothyMason at 6:10 AM on May 6, 2005