Burning Devotion: The Art and Craft of Chinese Paper Offerings

by Stanley Yap (Photographer), Low Jat Leng (Text Contributor)

Chinese believers burn paper replicas as offerings so that deceased kin and wandering spirits do not become “hungry ghosts” with no food, money and material comforts. But this folk tradition is fading away as more Singaporean Chinese adapt customs or adopt other religions. Makers and sellers of paper offerings are also retiring or have departed without passing on their skills and knowledge.

Burning Devotion offers a fascinating photographic window on paper offerings and their last surviving artisans – before the craft is gone and all forgotten.

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2014

Reviews

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed poring through this book. My only gripe is that I would have liked more text, more story, more cultural explanation, though I accept that there are other places I can read such things, and I have done so. The pictures speak a thousand words. The book is essentially a photo journal, a visual documentary of the local practice of burning paper representations of everyday items as gifts to the deceased, to provide what they may lack and to alleviate their suffering. Here in Singapore this practice is particularly evident everywhere through the month of the hungry ghost festival, but it is also an act of devotion for recently departed kin, as part of Chinese gong de funeral rituals. I am grateful to the craftspeople who allowed their work to be photographed - it is a privilege to see inside their workshops and to see such fascinating examples of their talent. I also really liked the aesthetic of the book, that it was produced and wrapped in such a way that echoes the style and quality of the items it presents - a nice holistic touch. I think this book is an important cultural record, in an environment where this folk practice is declining and the craft is maintained by fewer and fewer skilled workers.