The Story of Joss Paper

Nguyen Bao Phuc (Vietnam)
Samsung Engineering Prize

Joss paper is a special part of the Vietnamese spiritual culture. They are sheets of paper or papercrafts made into burnt offering. Vietnamese people believe, joss paper being burned ensures that the spirit of the deceased has a lot of good things in the afterlife. This belief has been embedded in the mind-sets of millions of Vietnamese throughout thousands of years of history, making joss paper burning become a normal thing to practice.

Cultural speciality of a nation is important and should be held in veneration. Nevertheless, along with the development of the world and its awareness of environmental protection, it should be time for societies to ponder on a cultural facet that is doing harm to their environment at the same time. In Vietnam, such a concern is burning ghost paper, or also known as joss paper.

There is a true story of a Vietnamese couple who flied to Michigan, USA bringing more than 4.5 million dollars of joss money. They were surprised to be temporarily arrested by the policemen at the airport, wondering what crime they committed. They were not aware that the Eastern practice of outdoor burning was prohibited in the country for the sake of the environment. Much as cultural preservation is what to be praised for, ignorance of its tragic effect on the environment is also a concerning matter.

Burning joss money while violating the law is a serious issue in Vietnam and many countries that consist of a large number of Vietnamese. The effects of it can include forests, residential houses or even the entire neighbourhood being burned down. In Vietnam while the government doesn't put a complete ban on burning joss money, there are certain areas where such a practice is not allowed, yet people still do it out of the sense of superstition or lack of environmental awareness. Such acts of violation result in hazardous air roaming around  big cities and small villages, particularly during special holidays when joss paper is traditionally required to be burnt. Accidentally, the burnt joss paper can be spread along with the wind and set fire to nearby houses or forests. Burnings lead to a high amount of carbon dioxide which poses huge threat to people's respiration system. Trees are sources of oxygen, them being burned down by the burning of joss paper means that the amount of oxygen is consequently cut down. Furthermore, a grave fact is that parents are ignorant of their children while burning the paper. Inhaling smog poses serious health threat to a young child. Surprisingly not many mom and dad pay attention to such a concern. An example of such lack of awareness can be found in my parents. They get used to burning everything ranging from tree leaves to joss paper. While there are scores of children around the neighbourhood, little attention is paid to.

The causes of such tragic consequences are mostly due to the lack of education concerning environmental protection. While there are policies stating that burning joss paper in particular areas such as city downtown is prohibited, people still do it because of the unawareness of the law. Nevertheless, there are those who have an understanding of the law yet still secretly do it, out of the sense of superstition. It is an issue since most Vietnamese are more concerned about national traditions than environmental preservation. Not until do we educate them on prioritizing what’s more important, which is the environment surrounding us, can they eventually learn to do the right thing.

There's one question that is stuck in my head: burning joss paper is believed to bring the deceased a better 'life'. Then why are we gradually 'killing' those who are still living to better the lives of those who aren't even ensured to receive such a thing that we burn. This is a question that everyone needs to ponder on. Is it more important to protect the lives of our children, of our homes, our neighbourhoods and our environment? Or is it more important to violate the law and put ourselves and other people into danger?

The air that we are breathing is a gift from God, which means we cannot treat it in anyway that we want to. Air pollution is a grave matter due to the fact that people are greedy, selfish and careless, choosing to be ignorant of the consequences that they are leaving for later generations. Burning joss paper and polluting the air in different ways that are hindering us from better preserving our environment, need to be eliminated. Our bare eyes aren't able to see the air, thereby many are taking it for granted. It’s not a good idea to wait until the earthly air is completely polluted then begin to take action. While it is out of the question to prevent people from completely producing pollution to the air, education can be applied to raise society’s awareness and limit the pollution degree.

There's one quote that I greatly favour: "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed". If wealth or tradition are all we can see, then environment has no choice but becomes a secondary topic in what we think and do. Let's protect the air while we still can and allow our current and later generations to live in a fresh world.