Is the Hungry Ghost Festival suitable for traveling? Taboos on the Hungry Ghost Festival

Recently it is a traditional Chinese festival, that is, the Ghost Festival, which is a bit scary and sad. It is scary because there are always some stories and taboos told to us by the older generation. Human beings are said to be sad because they are confused between life and death. We no longer see each other and can only miss them.

So, many people have asked me, is it not good for me to travel outside on this day? Then, next, the editor will tell you about this Hungry Ghost Festival. Taboo!

Is the Hungry Ghost Festival suitable for traveling?

In fact, it is not. The key depends on whether you believe in cows, ghosts, and snake spirits. If you believe it, you will have it. If you don’t, you will not. If you believe it, it’s okay. As long as you pay attention to the taboos on the Ghost Festival that the editor will talk about next.

Origin of the festival

The Ghost Festival, commonly known as the Day of the Dead and July Half, is a traditional festival in ancient my country. It is also known as the three major ghost festivals along with the Qingming Festival and the Hanyi Festival.

In Buddhist teachings, on the half day of July, we should be grateful and repay our parents for their kindness in growing up. Therefore, on the Hungry Ghost Festival, one's death can not only express one's grief for the deceased, but also make people remember the kindness of their parents.

The Hungry Ghost Festival can be said to be a fusion of Buddhism, Taoism and secularism. Its origin can be traced back to ancient time sacrifices and the worship of ancestor spirits related to them. In ancient times, people often relied on the blessings of gods for a good harvest.

Sacrifice to ancestors occurs in spring, summer, autumn and winter, but "autumn tasting" is very important among them. Autumn is the harvest season. People hold sacrificial rituals to the spirits of their ancestors. They offer seasonal delicacies to the gods, then taste the fruits of their labor and pray for a good harvest in the coming year.

It is said that the underground palace is in charge of the gate of hell. On the Ghost Festival, the underground palace opens the gate of hell. It is also the day when hell opens. The deceased ancestors can go home for reunion. Therefore, it is also a Ghost Festival, so people have to set up dojos. , put steamed buns for the lonely ghosts to eat. On this day, people worship ancestors, visit graves, and light lotus lanterns to light the way home for the deceased.

The Taoist temple holds a grand ceremony to pray for blessings and auspiciousness, and the content is to redeem the souls of the deceased. The ancients set off river lanterns during the Ghost Festival, and Taoist priests built altars to pray. This is a traditional Chinese folk custom.

Buddhism and Taoism have different interpretations of the meaning of this festival. Taoism emphasizes filial piety; Buddhism focuses on "pudding" for the ownerless souls released from the underworld.

On the Ghost Festival, legend has it that all ghosts are released from the underworld on this day, and people generally carry out activities to worship ghosts. Whenever there is a new funeral, families usually visit new graves, and ghosts are usually sacrificed locally. Therefore, it is a festival centered on ghost worship and has become the largest ghost festival in China.

July is Xiaoqiu, when some crops are ripe. It is customary for people to worship their ancestors and use new rice as offerings to report the harvest to their ancestors.

Volume 1 of "Tokyo Menghua Lu" written by Meng Yuan of the Song Dynasty said: "On the day before the Zhongyuan Dynasty, I bought Lianye to line the table when enjoying sacrifices, and bought Magu nests, which were also tied to the table. On the feet, it means to tell the ancestors about the harvest. "

In July, crops mature in Xiaoqiu. Chinese people who pay attention to filial piety always report to their ancestors and invite them to try new things, so they routinely offer sacrifices to their ancestors in July. .

Fifteen taboos on the Ghost Festival

The seventh month of the lunar calendar is commonly known as the "Ghost Month", and the day of the Ghost Festival is the day with the heaviest gloom. There are also many taboos about the Hungry Ghost Festival spread among the people. You must not violate them in your daily home life.

1. Avoid drying clothes in the middle of the night

In the ghost month when ghosts are everywhere, hanging clothes in the middle of the night is like setting a trap to catch ghosts. If it doesn’t trouble you, who will it look for?

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2. Avoid sleeping with disheveled hair

Guiyue, there are lonely ghosts wandering around everywhere. If you have disheveled hair, be careful of them mistaking you for the same kind and forcing you to get up and chat.

3. Night travel

People with light horoscopes must not travel at night, let alone go to remote or less crowded places, otherwise they will only ask for trouble.

4. Avoid celebrating birthdays in the middle of the night

It is better to celebrate during the day.

5. Avoid saying the word "ghost"

During the Zhongyuan period, it is best to be cautious in your words and deeds. If you choose to talk nonsense, be careful that ghosts are around you!

6. Avoid stepping on the ghost paper

The ghost paper is a sacrifice to the ghosts. When it is burned, the ghosts will Gather around and grab them. If you step on and jump around while burning the ghost paper, there is no guarantee that it will not hinder their movement. When the ghosts are angry, they will naturally be disadvantageous to you.

7. Avoid patting others on the shoulders randomly

Folks believe that everyone has three fires on their bodies, which gather on the shoulders and the top of the head to prevent ghosts from getting close.

Therefore, if you randomly tap someone on the shoulder during the Zhongyuan period when there are the most ghosts, wouldn’t you want to extinguish the other person’s fire and let the ghosts cause trouble for you?

8. Avoidance Putting chopsticks on the bowl

This is the mode of worship, just like putting incense on the incense burner. This will only attract good ghosts to share the food with you.

9. Avoid hanging wind chimes on the bedside

Because wind chimes will attract evil spirits.

10. Avoid eating sacrifices secretly

Competing with ghosts for food may lead to bad luck.

11. Don’t look back easily

When walking in the wilderness or a sparsely populated place, and you feel “as if” someone is calling you, don’t look back easily, otherwise you will be in trouble.

12. Avoid swimming in water

Do not play in dangerous waters. According to legend, "water ghosts" will find people to be their dead ghosts in order to reincarnate.

13. Avoid whistling

Whisting at night can easily attract the attention of ghosts.

14. Don’t call out your name when going out at night

Don’t call out your name when you go out at night. Try to use code names to avoid ghosts remembering your name.

15. Don’t pick up money on the roadside casually

This money is used to buy the bullheads and horses. If you infringe on their things, they will easily cause trouble.

The Hungry Ghost Festival is also called the Ancestor Worship Festival

The Ancestor Worship Festival falls on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, so it is referred to as "July 15th". At this time, midsummer has passed, and autumn has just begun. Folks believe that ancestors will return home to visit their descendants at this time, so ancestor worship is necessary.

The worship ceremony is usually held in the evening before the end of July and is not limited to a specific day. On ordinary days, we have to pay homage to our ancestors, and generally our ancestors’ tablets are not touched. When worshiping ancestors in the "half-month period of the seventh month", the ancestors' tablets should be taken out one by one.

Put it respectfully on the altar table specially used for worship, and then put incense in front of each ancestor’s tablet. Tea and rice will be served three times every day, morning, noon, and dusk until July. It will be sent back on the 30th day. Those who have portraits of their ancestors should also be asked to hang them up.

When worshiping, kowtow to each ancestor in order of seniority and age, pray silently, report to the ancestors and ask the ancestors to review their words and deeds this year, and bless themselves with peace and happiness. When sending back, burning paper money and clothing is called burning wrappings, or it is a Buddhist or Taoist ritual of salvation.

In some areas of Jiangxi and Hunan, the Hungry Ghost Festival is a more important ancestor worship day than the Qingming Festival or the Double Ninth Festival.

The legend of the Ghost Festival

The story of Mulian rescuing his mother from evil is widely circulated among the people:

“The man who has Mulian monk has great magical power. His mother has fallen. In the Hungry Ghost Realm, food turned into flames when entering the mouth. The hunger pain was so severe that Mu Lian could not save his mother, so he asked the Buddha for advice and taught him how to make an Ullambana Sutra on the 15th day of the seventh month to save his mother. "

China began to follow this example from the Liang Dynasty, and it became the Zhongyuan Festival. However, later on, in addition to setting up fasting for monks, activities such as worshiping, repenting, and setting off flames were also added.

On this day, the Master's Seat and Shigu Terrace were set up in front of Jiekou Village in advance. In front of the mage's seat is the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva who has saved the ghosts of "hell", and below is a plate of peaches and rice. There are three spiritual tablets and soul-calling flags standing on Shi Gutai.

After noon, every household placed whole pigs, whole sheep, chickens, ducks, geese and various cakes, fruits, melons, etc. on Shigutai. The person in charge placed a handful of triangular paper flags in blue, red, green and other colors on each sacrifice, and wrote words such as "Bon Lan Festival" and "Ganlu Gate Opens".

The ceremony began with a burst of solemn temple music. Immediately afterwards, the mage rang the bell and led the monks in the audience to recite various mantras and mantras. Then serve, scatter a plate of peaches and rice in all directions, repeat three times. This ceremony is called "flaming mouth".

At night, every household will burn incense at the door of their house and put incense on the ground. The more the better, symbolizing a good harvest. This is called "cloth field". In some places, water lanterns are released. The so-called water lantern is a lamp tied on a small wooden board. Most of them are made of colored paper into the shape of a lotus, which is called a "flood and drought lantern".

According to traditional saying, water lanterns are used to lead the way for ghosts who have died unjustly. When the light goes out, the water lantern completes its task of luring the innocent souls across the Naihe Bridge. The shops were also closed that day, leaving the streets to ghosts. In the middle of the street, an incense table is placed every 100 steps, with fresh melons and fruits and a kind of "ghost buns" on it.

There was a Taoist priest behind the table singing ghost-sacrifice songs that no one could understand. This kind of ceremony is called "Shi Geer".

From the legends about the Hungry Ghost Festival, we can deeply realize that the sacrifices on the Hungry Ghost Festival have dual meanings. One is to carry forward the filial piety of remembering the ancestors, and the other is to carry forward the spirit of recommending oneself to others and being charitable. A righteous act.

This is all from the perspective of compassion and is very humane.

Therefore, while celebrating Zhongyuan, we should escape from the perspective of ghosts and encourage mutual love