A city in northeastern China has taken aim at a thousand-year-old Chinese custom of burning joss paper to provide for the dead.

给死者烧纸钱是中国数千年的习俗，中国东北的一座城市盯上了这一习俗。

The paper, also known as ghost money, is set alight during funerals and other ceremonies, and is intended to symbolize¹ currency for the deceased person in the afterlife. But the municipal government of Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, said Wednesday that it is a "feudal² superstition³" that is causing air pollution.

纸钱，也称冥币，是葬礼和其他祭拜仪式上用来焚烧的一种纸张，代表着黄泉路上死者使用的货币。但黑龙江省省会城市哈尔滨市政府15日表示，焚烧纸钱是一种导致空气污染的“封建迷信”。

In a statement on its website, the government banned the burning, production, and selling of joss paper for the 9.6 million people who live in the city and its surrounding rural areas. The ban will "eradicate⁴ bad funeral practices, advocate civilized⁵ ancestor worship, and purify the urban environment," the statement said.

哈尔滨市政府在其官网发声明称，政府禁止居住在市区及周边农村地区的960万居民燃烧、生产和销售纸钱。该禁令将“根绝不良殡葬习俗、倡导文明祭祖、净化城市环境”。

Any individuals caught burning joss paper will receive fines of at least 200 yuan ($29), and those caught producing or selling the paper will be fined 500 yuan or more. The ban comes just three weeks ahead of the traditional Tomb-Sweeping Festival holiday, when many Chinese visit the graves of their forbears and perform rituals such as burning joss paper.

焚烧纸钱的个人将被处以200元以上的罚款。生产或销售纸钱将被处以500元以上罚款。禁令在清明节假期前3周出台，许多中国人会在这一传统节日期间拜谒祖先，并有烧纸钱的传统。

"The prevention of atmospheric⁶ pollution is one of the factors that led to the government order," Yang Xiaodi, head of the environmental publicity⁷, education, and information center of the Harbin Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, told Sixth Tone. The burning of ghost money, which is commonly made of recycled yellow paper, creates very fine so-called PM 2.5 particles, according to Yang.

哈尔滨市环保局环境宣传教育及资讯中心负责人杨晓迪（音译）对《第六声》表示，“防治空气污染是政府采取这一禁令的原因之一。”据杨晓迪介绍，纸钱一般由回收利用的黄色纸张制成，焚烧纸钱会产生极细微的PM2.5颗粒。

According to the city's air quality reports issued by the environment bureau, PM 2.5 particles, which are especially damaging because they can enter the lungs and bloodstream, are the primary air pollutant⁸ in Harbin during the winter. Compared to the same period of last year, the first two months of 2017 saw nine more days with heavy air pollution.

根据哈尔滨市环保局发布的城市空气质量报告，PM2.5颗粒是该市冬季的主要空气污染物。因为这种颗粒可以进入肺部和血液，所以对健康的损害尤其大。与去年同期相比，2017年1月和2月的重度污染天气增加了9天。

"In the past four years, the environmental protection bureau has been continuously advocating civilized funerals and ancestor worship with alternatives to [burning] joss paper, such as [placing] flowers," Yang said. "The burning of joss paper is a tradition, but whether today's society inherits it should be up to the considerations of today's people."

“在过去4年里，环保局一直在倡导文明殡葬，用献花等方式替代烧纸钱的祭奠习俗。烧纸钱是一种传统，当今社会是否应该继承这一传统应该取决于当代人的考量。”

Huang Wenfang, an associate professor with the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering at Fudan University in Shanghai, told Sixth Tone that, as far as she is aware, it has not yet been scientifically researched whether the burning of joss paper contributes to air pollution in any meaningful way.

上海复旦大学环境科学与工程系副教授黄文芳（音译）告诉《第六声》，据她所知，目前还没有就烧纸钱对空气污染的任何实质影响进行过科学研究。

Cities in northern China, including Harbin, are more likely to suffer from air pollution caused by PM 2.5 particles during the winter because coal is the main fuel used for central heating. In addition, Harbin is an industrial center and the biggest city in Heilongjiang, with about a quarter of the province's population living within the city's administrative⁹ limits.

哈尔滨等中国北方城市在冬季更容易发生PM2.5颗粒造成的空气污染，这是因为用于集中供暖的主要燃料是煤。此外，哈尔滨是黑龙江省的工业中心及最大城市，该省约1/4的人口居住在哈尔滨市管辖范围内。

The government should control rather than ban the burning of joss paper, said Tian Zhaoyuan, deputy dean of the School of Social Development at East China Normal University, also in Shanghai.

上海华东师范大学社会发展学院副院长田兆元称，政府应该控制而不是禁止焚烧纸钱。

The act is a spiritual medium through which Chinese people communicate with their ancestors, Tian added. "The decision for a compulsory¹⁰ ban will likely be a problem," he added, "and damage cultural traditions."

烧纸钱的习俗是中国人与祖先进行精神交流的寄托。田朝元表示，“强制禁止很可能会成为问题，且破坏文化传统”。