The Cold Clothes Festival in Chinese culture is a day for visiting tombs and honoring ancestors. Therefore, many places have the custom of burning paper offerings during the Cold Clothes Festival. So why do people burn paper on the Cold Clothes Festival? What are the time considerations for burning paper on this festival? Huayi Network has prepared all the information about October 2019 in the lunar calendar. You can click on Huayi Network to learn more about all matters related to the lunar month of October.

Why Do People Burn Paper on the Cold Clothes Festival?

Burning paper on the Cold Clothes Festival is to send it to the afterlife, so that the deceased ancestors can be given warmth and suffer less in the underworld;
The first day of the tenth lunar month is a day for preparing wine, burning paper, incense burning, and offering sacrifices to the deceased. This custom has been passed down through generations, and in rural areas, people often visit tombs to pay respects on this day.
On the first day of the tenth lunar month, it is known as the "Cold Clothes Festival." On this day, people focus on paying respects to their deceased relatives, which is called "sending cold clothes." Along with the Qingming Festival in spring and the Zhongyuan Festival in autumn, it is considered one of the three major "ghost festivals" of the year.
The origin of the Cold Clothes Festival is most widely attributed to the story of Meng Jiangnü. After her marriage, her husband was taken away to build the Great Wall. As autumn turned to winter, Meng Jiangnü traveled a long distance, enduring hardships, to deliver warm clothes to her husband. However, her husband had died on the construction site and was buried under the wall. Overcome with grief, Meng Jiangnü cried out to heaven, moved the heavens, and caused the Great Wall to collapse, allowing her to find her husband's body and rebury him with the warm clothes she had brought. Therefore, since this event occurred on the first day of the tenth lunar month, it became known as the "Cold Clothes Festival."

What Are the Time Considerations for Burning Paper on the Cold Clothes Festival?

Time for Burning Paper
It is best to burn paper around 6:00 in the morning, adjusting according to sunrise time.
According to tradition, the Cold Clothes Festival is the most suitable day to send warm clothes to deceased relatives and friends. If you cannot go to pay respects on the day of the festival due to some reasons, you can do it a few days earlier. Just like how people set off firecrackers on New Year's Eve, it shows that you are thoughtful. However, you must not delay beyond the Cold Clothes Festival. That is to say: you can burn paper early, but not late! It is generally acceptable to burn paper 2-3 days in advance.
Choosing a Location for Burning Cold Clothes
In some places, cold clothes are burned in front of the deceased's tomb, and it is customary to visit the tomb before sunrise. In other places, people burn the offerings in front of their homes. For those who are away from home, it is recommended to burn the paper at a crossroads facing the direction of their hometown, drawing a circle with chalk and leaving an opening facing the hometown.
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