Talk:Joss paper

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What exactly does "joss" mean - what is the connection between joss paper and joss sticks? Or is "joss sticks" a misnomer?

Acording to Webster's, Joss is Chinese Pidgin English for the Portugese word for "god" or rather Deus. Sound it out, you can see it's somewhat similar. Joss sticks are essentially just incense. Maybe "joss paper" and "joss sticks" are called that because they are "paper for god" and "sticks for god"? Sjschen 07:28, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Joss a Western error

Webster's is correct. The English word "joss" is a double corruption-- a mishearing of Portugese! It really only deserves to be in Wikipedia so it can be corrected but I don't have the text to quote handy. Profhum (talk) 18:50, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Why?

The article fails to discuss the meaning behind this ritual, why they're burning money or items... Presumably it's some kind of sacrifice of wealth?

[edit] Why? A bit of anthropology

No, not a sacrifice. The "money" costs less than a church candle would. Rather, it's done in exactly the same reverent and thoughtful spirit as stopping to ligh a candle for the deceased in a Western church. It had always seemed a somewhat "materialist" custom to me until I had to do it. At my brother in law's funeral, run by a SF Chinatown firm, the next of kin were taken into a special room with a ceremonial furnace and given the "money" to slowly burn. Funerals are to console the living, it's always said. I can only say "sending" the money gave us the illogical feeling that we were doing something for him. I was surprised even as I did it. It occupied us, like all the rituals that day, until the shock could lessen. Perhaps that's why all funerals have some value, even for non-believers. The world doesn't just go on as if nothing had happened, you feel you're doing something, time passes and you can get your breath back. Profhum (talk) 18:50, 9 March 2008 (UTC)