The writing format of the envelope is as follows: the first line is written from right to left, the second line is written as "money from the Central Plains", the third line is written as "money received by the old official (mother)" without spaces, the fourth line is written as "money received by the old official (mother)" without spaces, and the fifth line is written as "money received by the old official (mother)".
From right to left, the sixth line reads "Knocking at the door on a certain day in a certain year", and the seventh line reads "Devotional sacrifices such as dutiful son XXX (the name of the deceased child)".
The meaning of writing an envelope in July and a half is to express the nostalgia and yearning for the ancestors and the deceased.
The significance of July half-writing package
July and a half is a festival to worship ancestors. People wrap their wallets with plain white paper and fold them into an envelope. On the front of the envelope, they wrote the names and titles of their ancestors in lowercase letters with a brush, which means "sending money" to them for the holidays. Writing in July and a half is a reflection of local culture and an emotional sustenance in people's hearts.
The custom of writing envelopes in July and a half was influenced by Buddhism, which appeared in the Southern and Northern Dynasties and became very popular in the Song Dynasty. In the old days, there was a saying among the people that "on the seventy-third day of the first month, every family inherited their ancestors", which meant to worship their ancestors in July and a half, and the wrapped money was left on the roadside for wild ghosts to enjoy.
Writing in July and a half is a traditional custom, which expresses the memory and thoughts of ancestors through the media of words and paper. Although modern society has gradually diluted this custom, the value of this traditional culture still deserves our attention and inheritance.