Hell Money - The Banknotes Printed to be Burned
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ธ.ค. 2020
- The Banknotes Printed To Be Burned - A look at Chinese 'Hell' banknotes, and the traditions and customs surrounding them.
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Instagram: @halfasleepchris
The Bank of Heaven has even started using foreign currencies to counter hyperinflation!
No now there are products that mimic gold so that ancestors can receive actual gold. That will be inflation proof.
@@ric66521 I haven't thought about that.
They'll start bitcoin
Hmm i think thats indonesian flag not poland
This is the bad time to make jokes this is not funny
2:27 The 3 people Blinked.
Thanks, i always forget to look for that.
2:28
Classic Chris
@@MANGLORIOUS yep
God I thought it was a pun but I saw it and I was SOOOOOO creepy
(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
Me: I'd like the phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range.
Shopkeep: That'll be 13 vigintillion hellnotes.
Me: ...
Shopkeep: It's called hyper inflation, get used to it.
It's so true, so in my family in order to fight inflation in the underworld, my mum and I would buy gold foiled paper and fold them into sycee shape and burn them for my late grandfather.
These sycee paper are used as solid gold in the underworld, because its labor intensive and way more traditional. My mum have to fold hundreds of these every year for my grandpa, she also buy hand folded ones from old ladies in the village.
oh no
me:receives a bag of chips
My family burns more than that. There are banknotes there are valued at 1 trillion (not real money) each single paper. And we bought many many (not a double typo, had to use many 2 times) banknotes and I usually bought it in packs of hundreds (I think 500)
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
same, it is quite interesting way of GivIng MonEy to the ded
Im also i Chinese i understand why we burned it cause my grandparents are Buddhist
@@theon.953 north korea is owned by china
It’s hell because in Chinese mythology, there’s no heaven, just hell or maybe more suitable, an underground world with 18 levels. The 1st and 2nd levels are basically heaven where you can be reborn into a life of luxury while the 18th level, the deepest level, is actual hell with punishments and all that
@@unbuiltarcher4646 oh
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
Thank you!
@@HalfAsleepChris good job
你现在住哪里？
@@truthschool 你问这种问题干嘛？
@@truthschool 你是有问题吗？
Meanwhile in heaven :
"Since our chinese afterlife bills are hyperinflated we are going to utilize foreign afterlife currency from now on "
-"Which are also hyperinflated? Are you actually serious? We might as well bring back the Zimbabwean Dollar for the one's sake."
"but my decendants are too traditional to do that!"
"Too bad"
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).
Was there a 1 million note
I never knew even though I live in Hong Kong
@@liamrocksatgeography there's a lot of those actually, the first one I've been in was located in Old Town Central but where I saw the most of them was in Sham Shui Po. Funnily enough, since they offer very colourful paper items, they blend really well with toy stores that are also very common in the area.
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.
same goes for, 6, which in some dialects, sounds like “smoothly”, so when 666 is the number of devil in west, it means wishing for a smooth and easy life in the east.
and the number 4 is unlucky in china due to the chinese word for 4 sounding like the chinese word for death
@@aegeangaming8280 Yes, but in China these things are only unpleasant, they are customs.
I just burned some of these for my grandparents, what a coincidence!
I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. Is there anything you'd add or clarify that I might have missed, having first hand experience of this tradition?
Are they planning to buy a car with that
@@HalfAsleepChris well, they passed away several years ago, but thank you nonetheless! You summed it up very nicely in your video (incredible job as always). We burned some because it was the anniversary of their passing. (Not to sure if that is a real tradition) and it just felt right to us that they got more offerings. Also, not sure if this is relevant but I made my grandparents an unlimited credit card to use in heaven 😂
@@ayamspesialyeah2090 we gave them a whole a Rolls Royce so I hope it's enough for them 😅
@@ethanol1586 rolls Royce ghost
When a tourist visits Singapore during the Hungry Ghost Festival: AGH WHAT ARE YOU DOING BURNING MONEY
Ayy ABANG
Same here in Hong Kong lol
Most Chinese-Indonesians here in Indonesia do it too.
hey fellow singaporrean and sout east asian , asian
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.
haha but why travel with hell money , thats a littlle weird
@@jianxiongRavenIDK
@@jianxiongRaven you can't buy it everywhere in the world. Probably just bought a bunch to have it ready for future offerings.
The Chinese worship their ancestors because China is a settled nation, not a nomadic nation. The old man plays a great role in maintaining stability and unity of the family
Now Tom and Reggie can get all the cat treats they could ever want
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.
I love what you do, the research you put in the videos you make really shows and it’s always a joy to find your green mat on my subscriptions feed
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!
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.
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
do you have a link to the story?
It's a classic horror story, the original source is untraceable. If you're interested, you and google 出租车(taxi), 冥币(hell money) and 鬼故事(horror story) and see for yourself
Imagine in the afterlife "Sorry but we only accept US Dollars or Euros, your money is worthless now !"
There is the traditional version, the one which you have to fold.
That one has a value in it. Using hard work to create it. Hence, theoretically, you can began to craft your own cars/house to be burned.
Use bitcoin instead
@@markhylis9561 Theoretically possible, since we have technology in the afterlife.
Practically, no, since the creator might still be alive.
@@edryctan672 dang i didnt know that.
@@markhylis9561 Well, no one is sure about that.
Bitcoin creator is Satoshi Nakamoto(it's a pseudonym). It's unsure whether it's just a guy or a group of people. The person/people is very secretive.
People who are suspected to be Satoshi Nakamoto is still alive AFAIK.
2:29 I NOTICED IT AGAIN! YOU MADE THE BANKNOTES BLINK! ANYONE ELSE NOTICE THAT WITH THE BANKNOTES FROM INDONESIA TOO? You can’t hide it from us anymore Chris!
I SAW IT TOO! How does he do that?
I think you’re seeing things...
@@HalfAsleepChris Alright....I’ll go see my psychiatrist
Edit: He said nothing was wrong 🤔
@@HalfAsleepChris probably my eyes...(I wear glasses)
@@HalfAsleepChris If this happens one more time....
I actually don’t know what I would do.... maybe I should get your cats to agree with me, and then my cats, and my dog! I will raise an army of cats and a German Shepherd to prove you wrong! I’m not the only one who sees it!
Thanks for the nod to Chinese culture - this clip was great intro to "hell money" and other funerary offerings in an educational, entertaining and respectful manner! 👍💸
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
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!
This is also widely practiced in South East Asia, actually.
Hi I am south African and you helped me learn alot from your Chanel you are the best
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
Yeah in Hercules cartoon too
That's why I lov this channel.
In Greek mythology it's not about bribing Charon, though. Charon couldn't be bribed, but you had to pay for the transport into the underworld (yes, not even death was free in ancient Greece). Charon refused to transport those dead that weren't burried (and therefore didn't have a coin, which was part of the funeral rites). They had to wait for 100 years as shadows to regain their honour or something like that, before Charon would allow them to cross into the afterlife.
You research your videos very well to make them interesting and informative!
Finally some FIRE on this channel! (great vid as always HAC)
Awesome video Chris you amaze everytime
I just love how he said the mandarin pronounciation of DiYu (地獄) as a swear word in Cantonese… XD
吊
o
tiu
Good video! Not really a surprise because your vids are always good!
During my uncle’s funeral we burned a paper car for him-
This. Without context.
Maleeka oof you mean context right?
@@robertanimations5423 Autocorrect ruined the joke... :(
@@UnsightlyThinker hhhhh you fixed the comment now my comment makes no sense!
for everyone to know originally she wrote “content” then when i informed her she fixed it to “context”!
Good video Chris thanks for the information!
I'm in awe on how much detail and effort you put into your videos.
Wow, this was really interesting, thank you for sharing the information. Seems like something that might be kind of neat to collect, but then again, I don't know that I would want any hanging around, haha. Very interesting and incredible history lesson, thank you Chris!!
I'm not gonna pretend that I somehow watched the video even though it came out 2 minutes ago, but I can already tell this is gonna be great.
I know hes the best youtuber
@@mtzcat3792 yes one of the informative channels that you would *want* to watch. Like his voice and stuff makes you so engaged that u can't leave
I love your content mate, I bought your merch and it is incredible, hope you are doing well in these times
you are one of if not the best you tubers in the world your funny when you need to be funny, and your informative when you need / want to be
(also your really creative)
Hi Chris! You will probably never see this but you inspired me to start a collection and now I watch you religiously. Thank you!
Just needed this today
So if I wanted some of these notes I would buy them. If someone tried to give me one I should runaway quickly.
Or burn the person who tried to give them to you
(pls don't)
there's a loophole: it's not a gift if the recipient pays or exchange something for it, then it's considered business.
@@mfaizsyahmi pro gamer move
what if I found one… is that bad?
Thank you for sharing this it was interesting to learn about and there is such a variety of these printed and burned. That is what is interesting. Thank for sharing.
Nice! Im excited to watch!
YESS NEW UPLOAD!
I never knew this, so cool!! I can’t wait for toms time machine from your mech store! I hope to get the coloring book too
You CAN actually give those to someone, Chris.
Somebody you hate.
Those gangsters in our Asian regions (Southeast Asia, HK, etc.) in the past did that.
I do this all the time I kinda forgot about them and you making a video about them kinda suprised me as I don't think much abt them
I burn hell money for my passed relatives every year except this, even the ones I’ve never saw because they left the world so long ago. Hope they’re living a rich afterlife
Lol
Rich dead people
how does this dude post GOOD quality vids SO quick? KEEP IT UP!
this series is so cool
2:28 How did you make them blink? AMAZING DETAIL! I love your channel so much. Keep up the good work!
Hi Half Asleep Chris I just wanna say that I love your cat and keep making your videos!!!
Hey Chris I just ordered the tattoos from your store those are amazing just like this video !
This video made me remember a short story that I read when I was younger. It was part of a horror story anthology.
The guy in the story was having nightmares about his mother crying in hell, poor and destitute. So he burns hell money for her. But he continued to have nightmares, no matter how much he burned. Then, during one of the nightmare, he asked her what he needed to do. His mother asked to burn real money for her. Naturally, he debated about it. But at this point, he would do anything so he burned real money for her. That night, he dreamed of his mother driving around in a car, rich.
Disclaimer: 1) I was like 10 when I read the story so I don’t remember the name of the book. The gist of the story had just reminded with me because of the unique premise.
Damn
Happy 100th Video, Chris!
I have a few Chinese bills that I have always believed to be hell notes, however I cannot find anything that looks like them online to find out! Either way, this video was really fun since I knew generally what they were, but had no details. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Thanks!
Throw it away quickly! Very unlucky! If someone gives you ghost money either he is a ghost or he is cursing you!
Great video, I did see the eyes blinking moment too :-) I didn't know about the burning of the banknotes, every day's a school day on this channel :-)
Like the short snappy video, and that you were very careful to not be disrespectful. Overall great video Chris!
Cant wait to receive my colouring book!
Woah, I forgot about this video coming out. Amazing and interesting video Chris! I’ll have to find some and make a bonfire
I’ve learned so much about money, travel and cats from you. Always entertaining too. 😃
Thanks for doing this :) as a kid I remember stealing notes and keeping it so I could show it to my friends and flex having a thousand dollars lol. We also burn paper silver and gold ingots and there's some sheets of faces that are supposed to be servants. Me and my siblings sometimes snuck letters and origami into the pile thinking it would go through to our ancestors
Wow that’s so interesting I never knew that I can’t decide wether your history and religious videos are better or if I prefer the videos about Ralph
very unique information. thanks chris
Great video as always, and kudos, your Mandarin Chinese pronunciations were pretty accurate (without the tones)!
2:28 blink
Thank you for sharing this video ❤️👍
I thought i was cheeky when i found there's paper debit & credit cards to burn for the ancestors, then a few months later i found out that there's some place who burn literal paper version of ATM or bank buildings like "here ancestors, print your own money and deposit other's in yours"
I actually burned these things when I visited my grandpa's grave who had passed away back in December. It was probably the first time I saw fire in real life besides the usual gas stove my mom has.
Well!
I learned something today. Thank you!
I found one when I was shopping with my family for the QingMing festival, I've thrown one into the basket with 18 zero.
Really common to see them in Malaysia, Singapore and sometime Indonesia with the hyperinflated one.
I remember being taken to the local temple by the ocean. Grandma always took the family there to burn some hell money for my granddad when he passed
But I used to just sit around with my little sister eating oreos. Parents were worried we'd get sick from inhaling the ashes
Very interesting Chris :)
I don't like learning in school...but im happy to be taught by Chris 😆
Cool! I found one of these printed to look like a US $100 bill on the floor at my local library, and thought it was meant to be counterfeit until I saw the pink Chinese characters printed over the reverse.
0:32 Oh no it’s war!
Just a quick explanation, if the blue part is on top, the country is currently ok and peaceful. But if you flip the flag over and the red part is on the top, WARRRRRRRRR!
(Philippine Flag)
Thank you Chris! It's one of the most accurate pronunciation of yan luo wang!!
2:29 yeah they are blinking
Nice
You guys are masters at finding hidden stuff
Hello love your stuff
Omg I have not watch you in ages
Coool vid did you keep any banknotes? also will there be a video on christmas day because for the last couple years theyve been some of your best!
I kept one of each design :) possibly... :)
Thank for the lesson
I never even knee these existed and now I know about them and why there used thx Chris
I would make infinity bank note for them. Lol
Yea
Thanks
Now my grandpa will stay in heaven forever as an king
My family rarely use the money paper, we usually use gold paper. But we did use it at my grandma's funeral and also the clothes paper, house, and tv, phone, and many more
Fascinating!
2:29 note:*blinks*
Chris, can you do video about the Khmer Riel. The new bank note is just as colourful and unique as any other currency especially the new 20000Riel and the new 50000 Riel.
These! When I went to China and visited my grandmother we burnt a whole bunch of paper gold for her.
Oh and we also had to wear real gold, go out at 4am ish, carry lighters, and be quiet. I don't know what those are about though.
Serious 1920s vibes here.
I remember my great grandmother telling me how they used the overinflated German low denomination bills to start the fire in the oven.
Didn't know that Papiermarks were used to start oven fires! I knew they were used for children's building blocks, note paper, and other purposes in which they would be more useful as than as actual money, but I didn't know that they were used as fire-starters too!
Thanks for the history! These Hell Notes really resemble Papiermarks in this instance, both in the absurd hyperinflation and the usage!
Thanks for expressing Asian culture, we really enjoyed it
love this
I literally thought I was going insane or hallucinating from lack of sleep when I saw the guy on the banknote blink. omg
Chris makes good Cash Videos
the video length is epic
There's a version with a Manila paper with gold or silver square on the middle which means gold or silver I guess and my grandmother fold them into boats before burning
It’s could also just be burned any time you go tomb sweeping, my family usually does it during Chinese New Year cause that’s when everyone is back for the festival.
Ah yes, my grandma would always offer this currency to my ancestors during the full moon to my ancestors or in chinese 初一十五
2:28 they blinked!
Oml I did not see that before
I love how he knows so much. He probably dedicates so much time researching
Yeah, Chris puts in insurmountable effort into his videos. Not enough creators are on his level.
I once bought some of these from an asian shop and had no idea what that was...
Tanks Chris now i know more
I find the music choice, absolutely hilarious