Disclaimer: I am a fellow Chinese who is a Buddhist. For a long time, I have questioned our culture and tried making sense of whether it is still relevant and its significance behind doing it. Hence, I decided to write about this to shed light on how regardless of culture and race, we can all think critically and improve our actions. Otherwise, the traditions and culture that we are following now would be brought forward to our future generations and the pollution that comes along with it will continue to impact our environment and health.

Take a look at this interesting video below where a monk busts some myths and explain why some Chinese culture exists. It will then make us rethink whether our culture is relevant today and whether we should still keep them.

From the video, it was mentioned that the Chinese culture of burning joss paper originates from the 17th century, where it became popular because of two reasons. The first is due to a scholar who wanted to sell his paper well and came up with the idea that we need to offer joss papers to the deceased. It is clever of him as the deceased isn’t able to dispute that they don’t actually need it. The second reason started from the dynasties where they used to place shells which were currencies and some jewelry to reflect how affluent the family is. However, it was substituted with colored papers on top of tombs to ward off tomb raiders who are after jewelry. Also, what the dynasties did, the commissioners followed without critically thinking about it. From these two reasons, it is clear to me that although culture is unique and distinguishes each culture apart, it has to be of relevance to the present and serves a true meaning. Otherwise, we will just be blindly following which serves no true meaning. Furthermore, in this day and age, we have seen the impact of climate change. Henceforth, it is high time that we should really reflect on the cultures that we continue practicing such that we minimize its impact on our environment and our health.

In my opinion, based on the two reasons above, I think that it has no true meaning and relevance to today. Instead of totally abandoning this culture, we can still keep it in museums, temples, or exhibitions where it would be an interesting place for our future generations to learn about how some Chinese culture comes about. While we recognize and save it as part of our history, we can also perform alternative ways that are beneficial to our environment and health.

Photo of joss sticks burning

Photo of candle lights

Though it is mentioned that offering incense is to remind ourselves of virtue while lighting candles reminds us of wisdom, I personally feel that we can remind ourselves through ways like constant reflection and self-awareness. Otherwise, if it doesn’t come naturally, we can also set it as our phone or computer lock screen to remind us. This will be a greener way which doesn’t pollute our air as much. Apart from providing offerings such as incense and lighting of candles, how can we practice filial piety if we don’t burn joss paper? In the video, the monk mentioned that people often think that the more we offer, the more merits we get. In fact, the more we offer, the more bad things we get as fumes are produced, causing more parts of the earth to be destroyed. Thus, we could substitute the burning of joss paper with other greener forms like chanting which are said to have a multiplier effect. It would be a win-win situation where we are able to express our gratitude towards our ancestors and also ensure that our environment’s health isn’t compromised.

What I am getting at is that we should always be curious and question the things we do and the things that are passed down by previous generations which still exist. Ask if they are really necessary and whether we can do things better such that it doesn’t put our environment at risk as well as our health. Nevertheless, I understand the challenge of changing mindsets, especially for the older generations. Most of us still have decades on this earth and it is in our hands to make the change for our own benefit. Moreover, think about our future generations who depend on our efforts today as well. If we start to think more critically and change our ways to reduce the pollution that comes with it, we’ll all be able to enjoy cleaner air, cleaner water, and cleaner land. Thus, I urge all of you to take some time to reflect. That’s all from me and I don’t intend to offend any religion or culture.

Last but not least, I would also like to hear your thoughts on how the younger generations can appreciate our culture yet still protect our environment and health from pollution. Look forward to reading your comments below! 😁

Your environmental buddy,
Zhi Yong

References: 

MothershipSg. (2020, September 21). Why do people burn offerings in Singapore? | Experts Explain. [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/UzI5zxVMzRE