Definition of "paper money"
paper money2
noun
uncountable
A type of joss paper resembling banknotes burnt to venerate the deceased, ancestor spirits, deities, etc.
Quotations
Moreover, you say that serving Fuh is a profitable service; that if you burn paper money, present offerings, and keep fasts before the face of your god Fuh, he will dissipate calamities, blot out your sins, increase your happiness, and prolong your age!
1848, Samuel Wells Williams, The Middle Kingdom: A Survey of the Chinese Empire and its Inhabitants, page 558
People had also begun to burn paper money (it was believed that burning transformed it into real money that could be used by the departed souls in hades) instead of placing actual coins in the tombs.
1931, United States National Museum, Proceedings of the United States National Museum, volume 80, page 75
Built in the early 19th century by the first Hokkien and Cantonese settlers in Penang, the temple isn’t so impressive architecturally, but it’s very central and popular with the Chinese community, and seems to be forever swathed in smoke from the outside furnaces where whorshippers burn paper money, and from the incense sticks waved around inside.
2017, Lonely Planet, Lonely Planet Discover Malaysia & Singapore: Top sights, authentic experiences, page [unpaginated]