Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1894-02-09
CHINESE MOCK MONEY.
Made by the CelestiaIs to Defraud
Their Departed Ancestors.
London Times

| London Times.
a correspondent of The North Chino
Herald, writing from the interior o.
klangsu province, mentions that one
OF the industries there is the manufac
ture of mock money for offering to the
dead. Formerly the Chinese burned
sham paper money, but in these days
OF enlightenment and foreign inter.
course the natives of Soongkong
Hangchow and other places have
come to the conclusion that dollars are
more handy to the ghosts than clumsy
paper money; hence they now, to a
great extent, supply their ancestors
and departed friends with mock dol
lars. These are only half the size of
real dollars, but there appears to be
no more harm in cheating the dead
than there is in cheating the living.
Besides the deceased are not supposed
to know the difference, for many of
them parted this life before silver dol
lars were imported into China. A
hundred mock carclus dollars, done
up in boxes, are sold for "a cash.
The operation OF making this money
Is interesting. First of all there are
blocks OF tin which are melted down
and then poured between boards lined
with Chinese paper, and when the
upper board is pressed down on the
lower thickness of tin remains. This
is next cut up into strips inches
long, l wide and an eighth of an
inch thick. Some 10 of these strips
are placed evenly together, one on top
OF the other, and one end is held be.
tween the fingers, when the workman
proceeds to hammer them out till he
has beaten them SO fine that they are
now 3 feet long and foot broad and
so thin that they are not thicker than
the thinest paper. This is next pasted
on common cardboard, which is then
cut with punching machine to the
size of half dollars, and this having
been done boy takes the cut out
pieces in hand and with two dies, one
representing the one side and the
other the reverse, hammers impress
sions OF dollars on them, and the
monev is ready for use.
Another very curious instance of the
practice OF cheating the gods is record.
ed in the same journal, but from
quite different part of the country
1t appears that districts of the Anhui
province have lately been ravaged by
an epidemic, 80 that in many places
the people were unable to attend to
the harvesting of the crops. An at.
tempt was then made to deceive the
gods by playing at" New Years day
and pretending that September was
the first day Of the new year. Every
preparation for celebrating the bogus
new year was made, such as burning
firecrackers and pasting happy sen.
tences in red paper on the doors
The object was to make the god ol
sickness think that he had made a
mistake in the seasons and had erred
in bringing an epidemic OH the people
at time when no epidemics in the
course of nature should appear. As
any action contrsry to nature done by
the gods is liable to punishment by
the king of heaven, the actors in thii
farce thought that the god of sickness
would gather his evil spirits back to
him for fear OF the displeasure of his
superior divinity. This child's play
received the permission and co.opera
| ton of the local authoritios