Papercraft and everyday life
Papercraft is closely related to our everyday life. While many people associate papercraft with funerals, it can be used in both happy events and funerals.
”Happy events” are held in order to pray for blessings and dispel disasters. It is commonly seen in festivals for worshiping gods held by temples. There are a variety of papercraft art works in this category. It is required to pick an auspicious time to draw the eyes for paper figurines depicting gods, representing the entrance of the spirit into the papercraft artifact.
Funeral worship rituals are held to release the deceased from purgatory (break away from the suffering of being judged by gods after death). Papercraft for funerals refer to various kind of artifacts used in funerals. They are often burned for the deceased, representing the care of their families. The type is relatively simple.
When burning papercraft, title deeds with the name of the deceased and the seal of a god is required to ensure the process is perfectly safe. Besides, when burning papercraft sacrifices, the priest would require the families to form a circle and invite some gods to support the ritual. Papercraft is a culture of filial piety. In fact, we don’t have to burn too many papercraft artifacts in funerals. It is more important to cherish the time spent with families when they are still living.