The offerings that accumulate in Chinese cemeteries on Tomb Sweeping Day often look less like gifts for the dead than mini manifestations of the desires of the living. Tiny, folded paper outfits folded up (later burned and sent to ancestral spirits) betray the sartorial ambitions of their living relations. Lavish paper houses symbolize the security of home ownership. Stacks of colorful banknotes in denominations of ten thousand and joss paper credit cards with limits of 1,000 billion USD come across as elaborate jokes orchestrated by the bereaved and ignited with ironic solemnity. In April 2023, The Bangkok Post reported on Tomb Sweeping Day activities at a Chinese cemetery in Thailand, where a three-day film festival was held “for the entertainment of the spirits.” Regardless of whether these gestures please the dead, they certainly please the living.
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