Vietnamese people have a special custom of burning votive paper objects for dead people and ancestors. Burning votive paper or paper models of houses, clothes, vehicles and now even iphones, or other modern material things is a tradition believed to have originated in China to show the living people’s hope that the objects will be sent to their relatives in the afterlife. This expresses the spiritual culture of Vietnamese people and the ethic of gratitude to ancestors.
The profession of making votives has very long tradition in Vietnam, appeared along with customary ancestors worshiping, and its progenitor is yet still unknown.
Votive paper soldiers and horses: one of the rare colorful photos taken by a National Geographic correspondent in 1931.
Huế is condered as the land of rituals and religious ceremonies and in Hue there are a lot of traditional votive workshops, passed down from generation to generation. We can stop at a votive workshop near Kim Long Village to listen to the story of their traditional profession and learn how they make votive paper items.
Some votive paper items of modern accessories for men. |
