Chinese teenager loses it over hell money featuring her Korean pop star idol Song Joong-ki
The 19-year-old, infuriated that her idol was being ‘humiliated’, chases after hawker trying to attack him
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 06 April, 2016, 6:03pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 06 April, 2016, 6:06pm
Celine Ge
[email protected]
An angry teenage girl in eastern China chased after a religious goods hawker, trying to attack him on Tuesday, after finding her idol’s photo featured on hell notes the man was selling, Chinese media reported.
The 19-year-old, identified only by her surname Wu, had been shocked to find South Korean pop star Song Joong-ki’s face printed on the joss paper and being sold by the hawker in Xiamen, Fujian province, local newspaper Dongnan
Kuaibao reported.
Song had gained massive popularity in China after he starred in South Korean melodrama Descendants of the Sun.
South Korean actor Song Joong-ki (left) with actress Song Hye-kyo at an event in Hong Kong on Wednesday. Photo: Sam Tsang
Hell money is a symbolic currency that is used as burnt offerings to the deceased in Chinese religious customs.
The notes – bearing a picture of boyish-looking Song in a pair of sunglasses and military fatigues – came in denominations of 50,000 yuan. Characters printed them were in Korean.
The notes might have been designed for those who believe their late loved ones can travel abroad in their afterlife.
They were being sold alongside other types of hell money portraying popular characters from Chinese mythology, such as the Jade Emperor, the presiding monarch of heaven in Taoism, and Yanluo, the King of Hell.
Wu had been strolling along the city’s seafront on Tuesday afternoon when she spotted the hell money being sold by the middle-aged hawker.
Infuriated that her idol was being “humiliated” in such a manner, the girl tore up the notes in front of the hawker and tried to attack him.
The astonished hawker left his stall, fleeing, as Wu gave chase.
The commotion drew the attention of local police officers on patrol, who stopped the angry teenager.
“It was a stunning image of Song Joong-ki in his drama. But it appeared on hell note of 50,000-yuan denomination!” the newspaper quoted Wu as saying.
The teenager said she became a big fan of the Korean superstar after watching him in Descendants of the Sun, which had aired in China over the past two months.
Song had appeared in the romantic military drama, starring a special forces officer.
In China, late prominent foreign figures such as John F. Kennedy and Albert Einstein have also previously been printed on hell money.
But this was a rare case as images of living people are seldom used.
