|
'Hot' Chinese Festivals
 Ghost
Festival
The 15th day of the seventh lunar month is the Chinese Ghost Festival, also
known as the Zhongyuan Festival and Yu Lan Pen Festival. (It falls on August 30
on the Gregorian calendar this year.)
Once a religious ceremony in India, Buddhists observed the Yu Lan Pen Festival
in memory of their forefathers. According to a sutra tale, a monk named Mulian
saved his mother from eternal suffering in hell as instructed by Buddha on the
15th day of the seventh lunar month with the Yu Lan Pen Canon (compiled to
encourage Buddhist piety). The ceremony was developed into the Chinese custom of
commemorating their ancestors and became popular in many Chinese regions.
In addition to fasting practiced by the monks, the current festival features
special sacrificial ceremonies, like the sacrificial altars
and chairs built for Buddhist ceremonies at street entrances or in front of
villages. Many people also burn paper money for ghosts on this day.
At night, lotus-shaped lanterns are brightly lit in front of each household.
In some places, people float water lanterns, which are made by setting a
lotus-shaped lantern on a board in water. On this day, lanterns are used to
direct ghosts, so, the more lanterns, the better. Ghosts find their way back
when the lanterns go out. During the Ghost Festival, all shops are closed to
leave the streets empty for the ghosts.
|
|
E-Mail
This Article 
Print
Friendly Format 