Hell Money - The Banknotes Printed to be Burned

The Banknotes Printed To Be Burned - A look at Chinese 'Hell' banknotes, and the traditions and customs surrounding them.

Instagram: @halfasleepchris

[clash]

(Me in the afterlife)
-Oh hey my family sent me a thousand dollars. This means so much to me.

some other guy
receives 15 quintillion dollars

[alusias]

As someone of chinese descent who burns these at least once every year, I am very impressed by this video. Very well explained, better than my parents ever explained to me. I salute you chris

[xbananaxanna]

Im chinese and weve burned these whenever I had to attend a funeral. I know what theyre for but never understood why it said "hell" on it lol

[eatingcereal]

The Bank of Heaven has even started using foreign currencies to counter hyperinflation!

[almaz.]

Meanwhile in heaven :
"Since our chinese afterlife bills are hyperinflated we are going to utilize foreign afterlife currency from now on "

[descalzitao]

When I was in Hong Kong, I accidentally walked in a shop that selled only paper objects with the intent of being burn during ancestor worship ceremony. It was very interesting to see the diversity of different paper objects existing (as I said, the whole shop was devoted to this very purpose).

[CallieMasters]

I remember watching an episode of an airport customs show (I think it was Dubai) and they opened a bag containing a lot of fake cash. The show made it seem like a big bust of illegal currency, but the customs officers quickly explained that it was hell money and very obviously fake, so they didn't seize it and let the guy go on his way.

[moritzl]

Notice at 3:03 both the fake US Dollars and British Pound have lots of 8s on their serial numbers. That's no coincidence. 8 is pronounced "Bā" in Chinese, which has a similar pronunciation to "Fā", which means gaining wealth. It's also why 8 is considered a lucky number in China.

[LorienInksong]

sorry I'm a bit emotional right now but this is just so sweet and touching. Your loved ones and ancestors are still thought of, heck you're sending them money to use. Given how hard my ancestors worked and how little they had I wish my culture had a tradition of sending them things. If I could I would want to share my treasures and comforts with them.

[eranovablack]

When a tourist visits Singapore during the Hungry Ghost Festival: AGH WHAT ARE YOU DOING BURNING MONEY

[OrigiName]

Now Tom and Reggie can get all the cat treats they could ever want

[ethanol]

I just burned some of these for my grandparents, what a coincidence!

[EarMaster]

Without joking: Very considerate of you, not having a giveaway. I think the most important part about learning other culture's traditions is to pay attention to the little details that may go unnoticed.

[immytv]

Dyam I never knew this. But now that I think of it I can remember seeing this in old kung fu movies and in terms of Greek tradition I saw this in the Troy movie

[ZaphodJan]

You know there's a classic Chinese horror story in which a taxi driver picks up a stranger passenger at night, then all strange things happen. After the driver returns home, they find out that the passenger payed with hell money, hinting that they're a ghost

[ErnestJay]

Imagine in the afterlife "Sorry but we only accept US Dollars or Euros, your money is worthless now !"

[kevinjati]

My family still uses this tradition
We not only burn money but also we burn houses(that comes with heavenly servants), cars, yatch, helicopters, iphones, gold, silver, and anything that is considered treasure or expensive and the thing they'll need like clothes shoes etc. Of course we don't burn the real stuffs

[armandmeintjes]

Hi I am south African and you helped me learn alot from your Chanel you are the best

[thepennypaws]

I'm fifty six Chris and you are still teaching me new interesting facts. I first watched and subscribed to your channel when I saw Reggie and you only had around 300+ subscribers. I love it!

[aetrebecca]

I learned about this at college once, in a class about religion in China, we look at the different gifts that are burnt: Tea sets, technology (fake laptops or phones), houses of varies sizes etc
Very interesting topic, great to hear about it again!