Introduction to the Three Major Ghost Festivals

Introduction to the three major ghost festivals

Three major ghost festivals: Qingming Festival, July 15th, October first day

Ghost Festival precautions: avoid wearing red Ropes, bells, wind chimes and other objects that attract ghosts should be avoided as much as possible. If you encounter supernatural events such as a ghost pressing on you or a ghost hitting a wall, don't panic, concentrate all your attention and open your eyes.

Qingming Festival

Qingming Festival is an important traditional festival among Chinese people. Mid-Autumn Festival, Winter Solstice and New Year's Eve). It is generally on April 5th in the Gregorian calendar, but its festival period is very long. There are two versions: ten days before and eight days after, and ten days before and ten days after. These nearly twenty days are all Qingming Festival. The origin of Qingming Festival is said to have begun with the ritual of ancient emperors and generals offering sacrifices to each other at their tombs. Later, people also imitated the tradition, worshiping ancestors and sweeping their tombs on this day. It has been followed by generations and has become a fixed custom of the Chinese nation. Qingming Festival is closely related to the Spring Festival and Dragon Boat Festival. Qingming Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival are also known as the four traditional festivals of the Chinese Han people. Qingming Festival has been a national statutory holiday since 2008.

my country’s traditional Qingming Festival probably began in the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years. Qingming is a very important solar term at the beginning. When Qingming arrives, the temperature rises, which is a good time for spring plowing and spring planting. Therefore, there is a saying: before and after Qingming, plant melons and beans. There is no better way to plant trees than during the Qingming Festival. Later, because the days of Qingming Festival and Cold Food Festival were close, and Cold Food was a day when folk people banned fire and visited graves, gradually, Cold Food and Qingming became one, and Cold Food became not only another name for Qingming, but also became the symbol of Qingming Festival. It is a custom that there will be no fireworks on Qingming Day and only cold food will be eaten.

After the Tomb-Sweeping Festival, the rainfall increases, and the earth shows the appearance of spring and bright scenery. At this time of year, everything, whether it is the vegetation in nature or the human body that is in close contact with nature, is changing away from the filth of winter, ushering in the breath of spring, and realizing the transformation from yin to yang.

Tomb-Sweeping Festival is one of the traditional festivals of the Han people in my country and one of the 24 solar terms in China. It takes place around April 5 of each year in the Gregorian calendar. In ancient times, there was a saying that the day before the Qingming Festival was the "Cold Food Festival". According to legend, it began in the Spring and Autumn Period when Duke Wen of Jin commemorated the Jie Zitui's "cutting of the stock to satisfy hunger" event. Later, the Qingming and Cold Food Festival gradually became one. In the Tang Dynasty, the date of tomb-sweeping was generally during the Cold Food Festival, one of the attractions in Mianshan Scenic Area: Mother and Child Stone Statues. After the Song Dynasty, it was moved to the Qingming Festival. According to legend, the origin of the "Cold Food Festival" is in Jiexiu, central Shanxi Province. The origin of the name Jiexiu is to commemorate the Jiezi who pushed "cutting stock to satisfy hunger" without any intention of repaying it, and was eventually burned to death by the fire here. The place where the mountain is located was originally called "Dingyang", but was renamed "Jiexiu" by Jin Wengong, which means the resting place of Jie Zitui. Nowadays, Mianshan has been developed into a famous tourist attraction by the local people. One of the important attractions is the tall stone statue of Jie Zitui's mother and son. Jie Zitui has become a representative of the local people's allegiance to both sides.

Tomb-sweeping is popular during Qingming Festival. In fact, tomb-sweeping is part of the Cold Food Festival on the day before Qingming Festival. According to legend, Cold Food originated from Duke Wen of Jin mourning Jie Zitui. In the 20th year of Kaiyuan, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty issued an edict to the world: "Cold food should be sent to the tomb". Because cold food coincides with Qingming Festival, it gradually became known as Qingming Tomb Sweeping Festival. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, tomb sweeping during the Qingming Festival became even more popular. In ancient times, children often flew kites when visiting tombs. Some kites are equipped with bamboo flutes, which can make a sound when blown by the wind, just like the sound of a kite. It is said that this is how the name of the kite comes.

There are many lost customs during the Qingming Festival, such as wearing willows, shooting willows, playing on swings, etc. that have been circulated for a long time in ancient times. According to reports, the customs of the Liao Dynasty were the most important during the Qingming Festival, ranging from the imperial court to the common people. Everyone enjoys playing on the swing, ladies gather there, and outings are very popular.

July 15th

According to legend, every year on July 1st, the King of Hell orders the gates of hell to be opened, allowing those unjust souls and ghosts who have been suffering and imprisoned in hell all year long to come out of hell. People can wander around for a short time and enjoy blood food in the world, so people call July the ghost month. This month is considered an unlucky month, and people neither marry nor move.

The 15th day of the seventh lunar month every year is the Bon Festival, also known as the Ghost Festival, Magu Festival, July Half or Ghost Festival. In the past, in addition to worshiping their ancestors on this night, people also They also prepare some dishes, wine, rice, gold, silver, clothing, paper, etc. to offer sacrifices to ghosts and gods at the intersection.

The festivals and customs included on July 15th are relatively complex. It is not only a folk ghost festival, but also a Taoist Ghost Festival, a Buddhist Bon Festival, and a combination of monks, Taoists and secular people. Taoism has the so-called Heavenly Official, Earthly Official, and Shuiguan, collectively known as the Three Officials. These three are the representatives of the Jade Emperor sent to the human world. Every year, they inspect the good and evil in the human world and report to heaven. The birthdays of the three officials are respectively the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the fifteenth day of July and the fifteenth day of October. These three days are also called Sanyuan. The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is called Zhongyuan. It is the time when local officials and school officials are pardoning sins. On this day, he will take out a thick roster and, based on the performance of gods, mortals, and animals, draw outlines and pardon sins. Exemption from prison sentence. Folks carry out some sacrificial activities on the Ghost Festival to save those lonely ghosts, which should be related to the pardon of sins from local officials. July 15th is the Bon Festival of Buddhism. The legend is that Mulian saved his mother. It comes from the Buddhist legend: Mulian (Mulian is a Buddhist figure and one of the ten disciples of Sakyamuni) whose mother fell into a hungry ghost. In the Tao, I live a life without enough to eat.

Mulian then used his magical power to turn food into food and gave it to his mother, but her mother did not change her greed. When the food arrived, she was afraid that other evil spirits would snatch it. When the food came into her mouth, it immediately turned into charcoal and she could not eat it. pharynx. Although Maudgalyayana had supernatural powers, as a human son, he could not save his mother. He was in great pain and asked the Buddha for advice on what to do. The Buddha recited the Ullambana Sutra for him and asked him to make an Ullambana Sutra on the fifteenth day of the seventh month to sacrifice his mother.

According to the instructions of the Buddha group, Mulian Liang prepared hundreds of flavors, five fruits, and various utensils on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, put them into basins, and offered them to the monks in the ten directions. Only then did his mother escape from the evil ghost world. , ascended to heaven. In view of this, the Buddha extended it and asked Buddhist disciples to practice filial piety with all their heart. Every year on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, they make Ullambana basins and give alms to Buddha and monks to repay their parents' kindness. The significance of the Buddhist Bon Festival coincides with the Confucian filial piety, and this day has become a ghost festival for people to pay homage to their deceased parents and ancestors.

July 15th of the lunar calendar is the largest festival in the underworld. The Ghost Festival, also known as the Ghost Festival or the Bon Festival, is one of the three important festivals in the underworld in my country. There is a folk legend that the Lantern Festival is celebrated in the human world and the Ghost Festival is celebrated in the underworld. It is said that the King of Hell will also dress up in costumes and celebrate the festival with the ghosts on that day, and let us living people bless them together, wishing that people in the other world will realize their wishes and enjoy the happiness that they have not had time to enjoy in this world. Therefore, many local communities in our country will hold activities such as offering sacrifices, visiting Buddha, cleaning tombs, reviewing flowers, appreciating flowers, and fishing to celebrate.

July 15th is the day when the gates of hell are opened. Whether it is burning paper money to send blessings, holding daisies to express condolences, or offering sacrifices to ancestors on the Internet, or setting off river lanterns, people alive today miss the people in the past together, and send blessings to their ancestors together. Spiritual spontaneity is an extension of emotion and the most basic belief. And at the same time, the living should cherish every day they are alive, and should not be ashamed of society and friends, nor should they be ashamed of their relatives who have left forever. Because one day we will meet them, and when the time comes, you can proudly say that you are a hero in the world, and you will also be a ghost hero in the underworld!?

Taoist? Zhongyuan Festival?

According to the cultural logic of Taoism, the time and space of a year should be divided into upper and lower yin and yang halves. Moreover, Chinese Taoism believes that the three basic elements that nourish all things in the world are heaven, earth, and water. Therefore, Taoism regards the first half of the year as the Heavenly Official and the second half as the Earthly Official. What needs to be explained here is that the "official" mentioned here does not refer to the "official" of human officials, but refers to the segments in the flow of time and space, similar to the "official" in the Chinese Go game. official?.

Chinese Taoism mainly originated in areas with developed agricultural civilization in China. Therefore, Chinese Taoism has always believed that the sky is mysterious and the earth is mysterious, and the earth is mysterious. That is to say, because Chinese agricultural civilization pays attention to the important role of the two elements of earth and water in all human beings, the Chinese Taoist cultural concept has always contained the "ontology" and "epistemology" of observing the world with the earth as the center, and its Methodology?. According to the Taoist worldview, Taoism customarily calls the fifteenth day of the first lunar month of the Tianguan period (the first half of the year) the Shangyuan Festival; the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the Diguan period in the second half of the year is called the Shangyuan Festival. "Hungry Ghost Festival"; Because the earth contains water and water affects the earth, October 15th in the middle of the second half of the year is "Xiayuan Festival". The three elements of upper, middle and lower constitute the Taoist trinity system understanding of the world.

Chinese Taoism is different from many religions in the world. Many religions in the world are the unity of God and man, or like Christianity, they focus on the incarnation of the Trinity, which makes religious communicators often highly deified. The purpose of Taoist missionary work in China is very clear. The communicators of Taoist teachings are not gods but human beings. Therefore, the moral ethics of Taoist teachings are "teaching students in accordance with their aptitude". For people with high intelligence, the principles of the "Tao Te Ching" are clearly explained. For those who are not intelligent enough or do not have much time to deeply reflect on their own moral and ethical construction, they write stories to explain the truth. "Education and entertainment" is the source. Taoist missionary methods in China.

The "Hungry Ghost Festival" of Chinese Taoism is actually a festival to spread moral ethics, that is, to encourage people to pay attention to moral cultivation on this day. On the Hungry Ghost Festival, people who have thoughts and time will gather together to study Laozi's "Tao Te Ching", communicate with each other, meditate and reflect on themselves. For ordinary believers, Taoism has created some stories to "educate and entertain". For example, Taoism invented a story about a man named Chen Ziqin who married the Dragon King's daughter and gave birth to three children - Tianguan, Diguan and Shuiguan - on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the fifteenth day of the seventh month and the fifteenth day of the tenth month respectively. This child, these "three officials" are in charge of the three tasks of blessing, pardoning sins, and relieving misfortunes in the human world. They have boundless power. They have to patrol the human world during these three days to examine whether people's moral character is good or bad. For those moral They will bless those with good qualities, otherwise they will punish them. However, Chinese Taoism is a very tolerant religion that always gives people the opportunity to change and renew themselves. Therefore, the "Hungry Ghost Festival" is not just a festival to reward the good and punish the bad, but mainly a "Pardon Festival". Therefore, the "Hungry Ghost Festival" is also the "Shrovetide" and "Atonement Day" among Chinese festivals. People who have sinned during the year can use various rituals to review themselves and ask for forgiveness from heaven and earth on this day. forgive.

The first day of October

The first day of October is called the "October Dynasty", also known as the "Ancestor Worship Festival". Since ancient times, our country has had the custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors during harvest time to show filial piety and not forgetting our roots. Therefore, people also use millet to worship their ancestors on the first day of October. On the first day of October, ancestors are worshiped, including family sacrifices and tomb sacrifices, both in the north and the south. Today in many areas in Jiangnan, there is still the custom of offering sacrifices to new graves on the first day of October. The first day of October is also the first day of winter, and since then the climate has gradually become colder. People are afraid that the souls of their ancestors in the underworld will lack clothing and clothing. Therefore, in addition to general offerings such as food, incense candles, paper money, etc., there is also an indispensable offering - underworld clothing. During sacrifices, people burn Mingyi to their ancestors, which is called "sending cold clothes". Therefore, the first day of October is also called the "Shaoyi Festival".

Later, in some places, the custom of "burning cold clothes" underwent some changes. Instead of burning cold clothes, people "burned baggage." People sealed many ghost papers in a paper bag and wrote The names and corresponding titles of the recipient and sender are called "baggage". It has the name of cold clothes, but not the reality of cold clothes. People think that the underworld is the same as the earth, and you can buy many things with money.

Regarding the Ancestor Worship Festival, there is also a story about Cai Lun making paper and Cai Mo burning paper. When Cai Lun first invented paper, business was very good. Cai Lun's sister-in-law Huiniang asked her husband Cai Mo to learn papermaking from Cai Lun. They came back and opened a paper mill, but the paper produced by Cai Mo was of poor quality and could not be sold. The two of them were very worried. Later, Huiniang thought of a way to get out of the predicament. In the middle of the night, Huiniang pretended to die of a sudden illness. Cai Mo was heartbroken and mourned in front of her coffin. He burned the paper and cried: "I learned to make paper from my brother, but I didn't pay attention. The quality of the paper I made was so bad that it made you sick. I want to burn this paper." After burning it, he brought some paper and burned it. After burning it for a while, he heard Hui Niang shouting from the coffin: "Open the door, I'm back." This shocked everyone. , people opened the coffin, and Huiniang sang in a pretentious manner: Money can travel everywhere in the world, and paper is doing business in the underworld. If it weren’t for my husband who burned the paper, who would let me go home?

Hui Niang sang it many times and said: "Just now I was a ghost, now I am a human, don't be afraid. When I get to the underworld, the King of Hell will I was asked to grind the mill and suffer. My husband gave me money, and many little ghosts helped me. Money really makes ghosts grind the mill. The third official also asked me for money. I gave him all the money, and he started working. The back door of the underworld, let me come back." Cai Mo pretended to be confused: "I didn't give you any money?" Hui Niang said, "The paper you burned is the money of the underworld." After saying this, Cai Mo hugged me again. A few bundles of paper to burn for his parents.

When the people present heard this, they thought that burning paper had great benefits, and they all bought paper from Cai Mo. Hui Niang generously gave it to the villagers, which spread from ten to ten. Villagers from far and near came to buy the Cai family's paper and burn it for their deceased relatives. In less than two days, the backlog of paper was sold out. The day when Hui Niang "returns to Yang" falls on the first day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar. Therefore, future generations worship their ancestors on the first day of October and burn paper at their graves to show their memory of their ancestors. On the first day of October, some places still have the custom of offering sacrifices to the Ox King. According to legend, this custom originated in the Spring and Autumn Period of Qin. One day, Duke Wen of Qin ordered someone to cut down a catalpa tree, which suddenly turned into a cow. Duke Wen of Qin ordered people to hunt him down. The cow jumped into the water and never came up again. People built the "Nute Temple" to worship the cow god. Nute is a tall, strong and majestic bull. Such bulls, in people's minds, have the function of driving away diseases and evil spirits and protecting cattle.

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