“Shou Wei Qian” is the money held in the hands of the deceased. It symbolizes the last wealth left by the deceased for the family members. This has been a known tradition passed down for generations.

According to a senior Cantonese Taoist priest relate, Cantonese funeral customs in the 1950s and 1960s, were mostly burials.

The “Shou Wei Qian” was used by the deceased family members to pay for certain ritual expenses after the burial and mourning period.

On the third day after the burial, family member has to return to the cemetery to pray and the “Shou Wei Qian” is used to buy offering. Similarly, for the first seven days to the last seven days, the offering mostly comes from “shou Wei Qian” and so on. As for the reason why family members used the “Shou Wei Qian” to buy offering is not known.

As to the present time, this “Shou Wei Qian” has evolve to symbolizes the last fortune left by the deceased.

According to the customs of the Cantonese, only the deceased eldest son’s and grandson can share the “Shou Wei Qian”. Daughter is considered as outsider after marriage, they are not given a share of the “Shou Wei Qian”. Today, the custom had also evolved to every family member can have a share of this “Shou Wei Qian”.

‘Shou Wei Qian’ ceremony
Usually, funeral staff will ask the family members of the deceased to prepare a red envelope with certain amount of money. There is no restriction on the amount but the total figure should end with a digit ‘8‘ to symbolize wealth. eg, $188, $288. When the Taoist priest finish his chanting, the funeral staff will remove the red envelope from the deceased hand and return it to the deceased’s family for distribution.

手尾钱 – 广东人俗称揸手红包

手尾钱 – 广东人俗称”揸手红包” ，也就是逝者手中所拿着的钱。它象征着逝者在阳间留下的最后一笔财富给后代子孙。

从一位资深广东老道长口述得知，在新加坡五六十年代，手尾钱的意思不是所谓的把财富留给后人。五六十年代的新加坡殡葬多是以土葬为主，而手尾钱的用途是用来买拜祭品拜祭逝者。如下葬前，和下葬后的第三天回墓地拜祭。还有头七至七七 等等，拜祭品都是用手尾钱来付。其中的解说是这代表逝者是用自己的钱给自己买食物而不需要家人掏钱资助。真正的解说就不得而知。

时至今日，这手尾钱的意思已转变成代表逝者在阳间留下的最后一笔财富给后代子孙。而按照广东人的习俗，这手尾钱只有长子嫡孙和儿子每人一份平分。女儿因为是外嫁女是不能分这手尾钱。不过现时今日已经不分内娶外嫁，凡是家人都能分得一份。

手尾钱的仪式
殡葬人员会吩咐逝者家人准备一个带有好意头数目的红包钱。数目不拘，越多越好和数目要有八（发的意思）好让殡葬人员把红包放在逝者手里。当道长诵经完毕，殡葬人员会把红包从逝者手中取下交还给逝者家人分配。