Beijing guardian of public morals even in afterlife

One thing I like about Chinese culture is the sometimes more realistic and honest approach towards human nature thanthe one of Western tradition. Whereas in Christianity everybody becomes a saint when dead (or goes to hell), in China the dead still are considered humans who just went somewhere else.

As in earthly life demonic bureaucrats rule in the afterworld and as in earthly life the dead have lusts and desires.

But this sometimes immoral afterlife seems not to be tolerable for some earthly bureaucrats who try hard to keep up public morals even when it's not in their field of responsibility. But as it’s hard to rule over the afterworld from here even for a Communist Party the only solution is to cut of the supply with those sinful materials from earth:

Those who burn these things will be punished, the Huaxi Metropolis Newspaper reported, citing Dou Yupei, vice minister of civil affairs, without elaborating.

Dou was attending a national meeting on funeral services in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, on Sunday.

Burning such articles will be prohibited in the funeral services regulations that the State Council, China's Cabinet, is revising, Dou said.

Around the Qingming Festival, which falls on April 5, people traditionally burn fake coins and banknotes at a cemetery in the hope that their ancestors and deceased relatives have enough money in the after world.