[Chinese] "Folded paper" in Macau and Hong Kong and Guangdong village-Cantonese, though this phrase's Putonghua equivalent seems to mean nothing in modern mainland Chinese, perhaps because of recent government suppression of traditional religion. Dzi dzat is the generic name for the paper grave goods and ancestral sacrifices burnt to make a comfortable life for the dead. Photographs and written accounts of sacrifices before World War II illustrate that paper and bamboo mansions were burnt at funerals and at regular festivals. These dwellings for the spirits of the dead were filled with paper representations of everything the ancestors knew or had wanted in life: favorite food, books, signs of rank, a pleasure boat or a young mistress, all in painted and folded paper. Nowadays (1997) dzi dzat is most frequently smaller than the 3-meter-long paper Ford automobiles of 70 years ago, or the 10-meter high paper houses. Perhaps that is for ease of transport in the crowded cities. Perhaps it is to ...
Read more ...