The Offerings

The Chinese believe that by burning offerings to the dead, the dead will somehow receive these offerings in the other realm. How true is that, no one actually can explain. Maybe some who read this will say bullshit or it is just air polluting. However, Im a Chinese and I believe in this tradition. The Chinese have invented offerings like houses, cars, DVD player, jewelery, maids and lots more. Ancient Chinese burned hell notes only but as life is modernized, modern Chinese burned many different type of things for the deceased. It is believed that when offerings are being burnt, there must be silence. Not a single word is uttered and this is to avoid offending the nearby spirits. Normally, Chinese burn the offerings during Qing Ming Festival for ancestors or during Hungry Ghosts Festival. I remember my neighbour told me that a friend of hers, has a grandchild. The grandchild is very young. As you know, kids always see something that the adults cannot see. Their eyes are pure and are known as Heaven Eye. As u grow older, this ability is lost but some can retain this gift. Here it goes, the grandma was burning the offerings during Hungry Ghost Festival. Then this small kid came out of the house and went to his grandma. He asked gently 'Popo, popo, why are the uncles and aunties grab paper from the ashes and put in their pocket?' The grandma was stunned and asked the kid to keep quiet. Kids dont lie and these ghosts actually received the offerings from the burnt hell note.