The origin of burning paper money.

The original custom of ancestor worship was to mourn the spirits of ancestors and pray for their blessings on the family. Traditionally, there was a concept of 'serving the dead as one would serve the living', and when a person died they were to be served as they had been in life, so money was given to them for their enjoyment. At first, real money was used to accompany the burial, but due to grave robbing, it was changed to fake money made of pottery or other materials, and finally, paper money was burned to accompany the burial.