The origin of the Ghost Festival: Ghost Festival taboos and legends should not be underestimated

The 15th day of the seventh lunar month is commonly known as the Ghost Festival. On this day, a large number of ghosts will appear. In order to appease these dead souls, people will burn money and set out meals for them to eat, in order to pray for their own safety, and also to let their deceased family members rest in peace. The origin of the Zhongyuan Festival, the taboos and legends of the Ghost Festival should not be underestimated.

The Origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival

The name "Zhongyuan" originated in the Northern Wei Dynasty and is a Taoist term. According to ancient records: Taoist scriptures regard the fifteenth day of the first lunar month as the "Shang Yuan", the day when the Heavenly Official bestows blessings; the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is the "Zhong Yuan", the day when the Earthly Official pardons sins; and the fifteenth day of the tenth lunar month is the "Xia Yuan", the day when the Water Official relieves disasters. According to the "Record of Cultivation", "On the Mid-Autumn Festival in July, the God of Earth descends to determine the good and evil in the world. Taoists recite scriptures that night, and prisoners on the Starving Festival are freed." Therefore, on the 15th day of July, people will prepare rich sacrificial offerings to worship the God of Earth and their ancestors.

The Zhongyuan Festival is the product of the combination of Taoism and traditional Chinese folk customs. The two correspond to each other mainly because they are based on the same cosmology: the three realms of heaven, earth and water, which are deified into the three realms offices governed by the Heaven Official, the Earth Official and the Water Official. The "Three Realms God" commonly known among the people refers to the Three Officials as a general term for all the gods in the three realms.

By the end of China's Eastern Han Dynasty, the Tianshi Dao had integrated the cosmology of the pre-Taoist period. When committing a sin, one had to submit a "Three Officials' Handwritten Letter" and throw it into the sky, the earth, and the water respectively, to express one's repentance for one's sins to the Three Officials and to pray for peace. After the development during the Six Dynasties, the Three Meeting Days were combined with the Three Yuan Thought. Under the official promotion of the Tang Dynasty, the Three Yuan Days, namely Shangyuan, Zhongyuan and Xiayuan, were standardized and became the Three Yuan Festivals for praying for good luck, worshiping ancestors and gods. The emperor led all officials to participate in the festival ceremonies. After the Tang and Song dynasties, Sanyuan Day became a folk festival.

During the Ghost Festival, Taoist temples, such as the Di'anmen Fire God Temple and the Xibianmen Baiyun Temple, hold "prayer ceremonies for good weather, peace and prosperity for the country and the people" as usual every year. Because of the fear of evil spirits, people combined Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in their daily lives and called the Ghost Festival on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month the Ghost Festival and the seventh month of the lunar calendar the "Ghost Month".

After Buddhism was introduced into China, there was also a ritual for commemorating the souls of ancestors, called "Ulamana" (Ullambana in Hindi), which is also called "Monk's Ben Festival". The meaning of Menglanpen is hanging upside down. The pain of life is like a bat hanging upside down on a tree, hanging there and suffering unspeakably. In order to save all living beings from the suffering of hanging upside down, it is necessary to chant scriptures and distribute food to wandering ghosts. This action coincided with China's Ghost Month worship, and Buddhism also held a memorial service on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, so the Zhongyuan Festival and the Mulan Festival were passed down at the same time.

The 15th day of the seventh lunar month is commonly known as the Ghost Festival. On this day, a large number of ghosts will appear. In order to appease these dead souls, people will burn money and set out meals for them to eat, in order to pray for their own safety, and also to let their deceased family members rest in peace. The origin of the Zhongyuan Festival, the taboos and legends of the Ghost Festival should not be underestimated.

Legends of the Ghost Festival on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month

The Mid-Autumn Festival refers to the fourteenth day of the seventh lunar month. In the calendar and Yi Shu, this day is the day when yin and yang meet in the year, and the midnight on the fourteenth day of the seventh lunar month is the time when yin energy is the strongest in the year. There is also a folk legend that the gates of hell will open at the midnight on the fourteenth day of the seventh lunar month. The midnight refers to the time from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. There are two legends about the Ghost Festival on the Mid-Autumn Festival in the folk.

The first statement:

The 14th day of the seventh lunar month every year is the Zhongyuan Festival, also known as the Ghost Festival or the Yulan Festival. It is a major festival to worship lonely ghosts.

The Zhongyuan Festival originated from Taoism, and was later changed to the Ghost Festival commonly known as Buddhism. The meaning of Yulan Festival in Hindi is "hanging upside down". "Hanging upside down" refers to the fact that the mother of Mulian, one of the ten great disciples of Sakyamuni, suffered from the pain of hungry ghosts after her death and could not eat. Later he received help from Sakyamuni. Offer hundreds of flavors and five kinds of fruits to the gods and Buddhas of the ten directions and use the merits to save your mother. Therefore, in order to commemorate the lonely souls, a general festival is held in the seventh month of the lunar calendar in the ghost month, which is now called the Ghost Festival. Generally speaking, people in ancient times were reluctant to hold important events such as marriages in this month.

The second statement:

Regarding the origin of Ghost Festival, it is said that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, also known as the King of Hell, had his mother die and go to the underworld. She was locked up in a cell and suffered all kinds of tortures of the eighteen levels of hell. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was a filial son, and he could not bear to see his mother suffer, so on the fifteenth day of July, he gave in to his private feelings and asked the little ghost guarding the cell to secretly open the cell door to let his mother out. Unexpectedly, as soon as the cell door was opened, the little ghosts swarmed out and ran to the human world to harm the people. That's why there is a saying that "On the fifteenth day of July, ghosts run around." Those ghosts who ran back to their hometowns asked their families for money so that they could use it to live and to open up their joints in the hope of being reborn as soon as possible. Later, people designated this day as "Ghost Festival".

The 15th day of the seventh lunar month is commonly known as the Ghost Festival. On this day, a large number of ghosts will appear. In order to appease these dead souls, people will burn money and set out meals for them to eat, in order to pray for their own safety, and also to let their deceased family members rest in peace. The origin of the Zhongyuan Festival, the taboos and legends of the Ghost Festival should not be underestimated.

Taboos of Ghost Festival on July 15th

If you want to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival safely, you must know some taboos. It is always better to take precautions than to do nothing. Friends who do not believe in ghosts and gods should not be against traditional festivals. It is always beneficial to follow the regulations.

1. Hang a wind chime at the head of the bed

Wind chimes can easily attract ghosts, and sleeping time is the time when they are most likely to be "invaded".

2. Night Tour

People with weak horoscopes should never travel at night, otherwise they will only bring trouble to themselves.

3. Pulling out leg hair

As the saying goes: one leg hair controls three ghosts, so the more leg hair a person has, the less likely ghosts will dare to approach him.

4. Burning paper money for the dead on non-specific occasions

Ghost paper is burned for ghosts, and gold paper is burned for gods. Burning ghost paper will only attract more ghosts.

5. Stealing the Offerings

These are foods belonging to ghosts. Using them without their consent will only bring yourself difficult-to-solve misfortunes.

6. Drying clothes at night

When a ghost thinks your clothes are nice, he will borrow them to wear and leave his scent on the clothes.

7. Call your name

When wandering at night, never call out your name. Try to use code names to avoid the ghost remembering your name.

8. Swimming

At this time, the ghost will play the game of "ghost lifting feet" with you. If you are not careful, your life will be taken away.

9. Place a banyan tree at the door

Because the banyan tree is a yin-gathering plant and is also a favorite of ghosts, unless you want your good brothers to come and visit you at home.

10. Staying up late

The time when human popularity is the lowest is late at night, and the time when ghost energy is the strongest is also late at night. In comparison, who will win?

11. Lean against the wall

Ghosts usually like to rest on cold walls, and this can easily lead to possession by the ghost.

12. Pick up money on the roadside

This money is used to bribe the Ox-Head and Horse-Face. If you infringe on their things, you will easily be taught a lesson by them.

13. Look back easily

When you are walking in the wilderness or in a sparsely populated area and you feel as if someone is calling you, do not turn back easily.

That could be.

14. Don’t hang out with your partner anywhere.

There are three fires on a person's body, one on the top of the head and one on each shoulder. If one of them is extinguished, it is easy to be possessed by a ghost.

15. Wear your slippers facing the bed

Ghosts will look at the direction of the shoe toe to determine where the stranger is. If the shoe toe is facing the bed, then the ghost will get on the bed and sleep with you...

16. Stick the chopsticks in the middle of the rice

This is a mode of worship, just like sticking incense in an incense burner, which will only attract them to share food with you.

17. Take photos at night

This action makes it easy to capture friends from the spirit world and bring them home.