What needs to be pointed out here is that burial and burning are two different concepts. Paper money may not have been used for burning when it was first produced. Burying, throwing, hanging, etc. may have preceded burning. However, because the image of paper money turning into smoke when burned can make people imagine entering the underworld, burning immediately became the most commonly used method. way of handling paper money. From this point of view, the upper limit of the origin of the legend of burning paper money can theoretically be traced back to the same era when paper money was produced - the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Ming coins have also been unearthed at Buddhist national sites such as the former site of Gaochang Kingdom in the Western Regions.

Chinese silk was also introduced to India. The earliest records are found in ancient Indian books. In the Indian politician and philosopher Kautilya's Arthashastra (also translated as "The Art of State Administration"), there is the word cinapatta, which means "bundles of Chinese silk". Kautilya is said to have been born in the fourth century BC. He was a courtier of King Yue of the Mauryan Dynasty (the dynasty of Magadha in ancient India, founded in 321 BC and replaced by the Sunga Dynasty in about 187 BC). This shows that Chinese silk had been imported into India as late as the fourth century BC. In addition, it can also be seen from many words in Sanskrit that the ancient Indian people had a much more accurate understanding of silk than the Greeks and Romans, because they knew that silk was spun by worms and that silk was drawn from cocoons (old n). .

Before silk was introduced to India, the ancient Indian people’s clothing materials were only cotton, wool, deerskin, etc. There may have been wild silk in ancient India, but until the Tang Dynasty, silk was rarely used. The introduction of Chinese silk added new clothing materials to the ancient Indian people. By the Song Dynasty, Indians near the trading ports between the two countries could already wear silk clothes. Of course, ancient China imported not only silk fabrics to India, but also raw silk. The Indians then dyed and woven the raw silk into damask and silk fabrics. Brocade, silk. Indian silk is as thin as cicada wings and extremely exquisite.

In addition to silk, paper and papermaking were also introduced to India from ancient China and had an important impact on Indian culture. In ancient India, writing materials sometimes used wooden boards and bamboo slices, and more often used bark and bay leaves. The word "birch bark" is often seen in classical Sanskrit works. It originally meant writing material. After the import of Chinese paper, people used this word to refer to paper, which shows the wide application of birch bark; Bay leaf is a Plant palm leaves, which are large and long. Ancient Indians wrote and copied scriptures on the leaves. In the past, it was generally believed that paper was brought to India in South Asia by Muslims in the 12th century, but the actual situation is not necessarily the same. Since paper was introduced to the Western Regions and Central Asia in large quantities soon after Cai Lun's papermaking reform, and the people who used paper to write were not limited to the Han people, then from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Indians who frequently moved here because of the spread of Buddhism may have something to do with India. The peoples of Central Asia must be exposed to and use paper, because paper is far superior to the bark and leaves of local traditional writing tools.

According to Hong Xiqing's "Dialect of Du Shi": "Hunhou of Qidong was fond of ghosts and gods. He cut paper into paper and used it to bind silk. This became popular in the Tang Dynasty." This can be seen from the poem "Han Shi Xing" by Wang Jian of the Tang Dynasty, "If there is no fire for three days, paper money will be burned, and the paper money will lead to the underworld." "Qing Yi Lu" written by Tao Tuan of the Song Dynasty said: On the day of Zhou Shizong's funeral, Chai Rong was burned with symbolic gold and silver. The paper money was shaped like the mouth of a bowl and had seals on it. The yellow one was called "Quantai Bao", and the white one was called "Quantai Bao". The name of the paper "Mingyou Yabao" shows that paper money was mass-produced by engraving printing during the Five Dynasties. From the Wei and Jin Dynasties, paper money began to be used for funerals. In the Tang Dynasty, from the princes to the common people, it was popular to burn paper money for funerals. "Piling money into mountains, adding carvings and decorations, and using it to guide coffins... Paper money has been around since the Wei and Jin Dynasties." "[3]. There is a poem that goes: "Who made paper money? People can't use ghosts to enjoy themselves. A trace of it hangs in a barren grave, and the pear blossom wind raises sad and cold clouds" [1]. The change from burying money to burning money may be related to Buddhism. Scholars believe that with the introduction of Buddhism, money-burning also became popular. Therefore, it can be seen that the origin of burning paper money should be influenced by Indian or Central Asian customs. People in India or Central Asia believe that fire can be used to deliver sacrifices to ghosts and gods. For example, Agni, the god of fire in Brahmanism, has the ability to deliver objects. Changes in religious beliefs and corresponding consciousness concepts are the ideological premise for the emergence of paper money. The root of Mingcoin is rooted in the Chinese nation's custom of burying people with real money. It was originally a product of China's local culture. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, with the spread of Buddhism from India, Buddhist ideas and ancient Indian social customs were also introduced to China.

Buddhism advocates that "the four elements are all empty" and there is no private wealth. After the death of believers, their bodies are burned in order to seek salvation and their souls can be transferred to the paradise world. With the widespread popularity of Buddhism in China, these Buddhist customs and ideological understandings have to a certain extent diluted the Chinese people's traditional awareness of using real money for burial. "Incineration", which is full of Buddhist color and is said to have the effect of " The new concept of "the real world" transferring into the "underworld" has gradually been accepted by people, which has greatly promoted the transformation of ancient artifacts, including underworld coins. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, the most common metal or ceramic utensils in foundation burials in the past were greatly reduced. The popular pottery houses, pottery barns, pottery carts, pottery stoves, pottery figurines, and pottery livestock were burned in funerals. Replaced by paper utensils such as paper houses. Paper ghost coins, which are derived from hard ghost coins, can formally meet people's psychological needs of sacrificing money. On the other hand, through sacred burning, they are transformed into the treasures enjoyed in the ghost world in the minds of relatives through sacred burning. money.

The earliest known physical object of paper money was unearthed from the Astana Tang Tomb in Xingu Turpan. Issue 9 of 1990 (Cultural Relics) published in detail the paper ghost coins found in Zhou's tomb in De'an, Jiangxi. The paper Ming coins in Zhou's tomb are packed in an unfolded butterfly-shaped purse. The Ming coins are cut from yellow paper and have round square holes. Some of them are printed with the word "卍". The pronunciation of "卍" is "万", which is a symbol of Buddhism. As a symbol of good fortune and good luck, this kind of money may be what the literature calls "Brahma Yin money". "Brahma Yin money" is said to be a currency popular in Buddhist countries.

Buddhism has been popular in China since the Wei and Jin Dynasties. The theories of karma, rebirth, reincarnation and hell brought by the spread of Buddhism to the east have enabled people to understand the various aspects of the other side of the world and enriched their understanding of death. The imagination of Houjun's world. Buddhists who came to China advocated the immortality of the soul and the retribution of karma. Paper money was used during funerals to transcend the moment of death and to pay homage to the deceased. In addition, the influence of Buddhism has produced a large number of works that specifically depict the underworld and the conditions of hell, such as supernatural novels since the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. The production of such novels, coupled with the propaganda of a large number of storytellers and Buddhists, caused everyone from common people to emperors and generals to believe deeply in Buddhism and the existence of the other side of the world.

“Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, due to the introduction of Buddhism, Buddhist burial customs have also begun to spread among the people. Buddhism proclaimed the tea cremation method, so it was changed to burning paper money.” ④ Qing Fu Cha Dunchong's "Qingming Festival in Yanjing Years": "Qingming is the cold food festival, also known as the no-smoking festival, which was the most important to the ancients. Today, people do not observe festivals, but children wear willows to offer sacrifices and sweep the tombs. The ancestors of the family sacrifice the sweepers, In addition to the sacrifices, five-color paper money was made into a flag cover and placed on the left side of the tomb. After the sacrifice was completed, the descendants held it outside the tomb door and burned it, which was called "Buddha"."