Mid-Yuan Festival, commonly known as Ghost Festival, shi gu, and July 3, is called the Bonin Festival in Buddhism. New Year's Eve, Tomb-Sweeping Day and Chung Yeung Festival are traditional festivals for ancestor worship in China, and they are also traditional cultural festivals popular in various countries in the Chinese character cultural circle. The Mid-Autumn Festival has the custom of setting off river lanterns and burning paper ingots.
According to legend, all ghosts will be released from the underworld on the day of the Yuan Festival, and people generally carry out ghost worship activities. Anyone who has a new funeral will go to a new grave as an example, but generally, ghosts and ghosts will be sacrificed at the local level, which has become one of the biggest folk festivals in China.
Origin of the festival:
The Mid-Autumn Festival is on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, commonly known as July and a half. Legend has it that all ghosts were released in the underworld on that day, and people generally carried out activities of offering sacrifices to ghosts. Where there is a new funeral, people will go to a new grave, but generally they will sacrifice ghosts and ghosts in the local area. Therefore, it is a festival centered on ghost worship and has become the biggest ghost festival among the people in China.
July used to be a small autumn, and a number of crops were ripe. As a rule, people should worship their ancestors, offer sacrifices such as new rice, and report to their ancestors about Qiu Cheng. The first volume of Song Mengyuan's "Tokyo Dream of China" said: "The day before the Middle Yuan Dynasty, I bought exercise leaves to line the table when I enjoyed the sacrifice, and I bought a Magu nest, which was also tied to the foot of the table, which was the intention of my ancestor Qiu Cheng." China people who pay attention to filial piety have to report to their ancestors and ask them to taste new things, so they make a ritual sacrifice to their ancestors in July.
It is said that the underground palace is in charge of the gates of hell. On the Mid-Yuan Festival, the underground palace opens the gates of hell, which is also the day when the deceased ancestors can go home for reunion. Therefore, it is also the Ghost Festival. Therefore, the people should set up an Dojo and give steamed bread to the ghosts. On this day, they should worship their ancestors, go to the grave and light lanterns to light the way home for the dead. Taoist temple held a grand ceremony to pray for auspicious Dojo, the content of which was to cross over the soul of the deceased.
Zhongyuan ritual is to forgive sins for the dead, but it can't completely relieve sins, but it just lightens them. I hope they can rest in peace as soon as possible. In the ritual, they not only turned over the dead souls, but also saved their friends from those who died for their country and died in battle. The sesame oil money obtained in the ritual is mainly used to buy sacrifices.
According to Buddhist allusions, there is the following story about the origin of the "Yulan Festival": It is said that when Buddha Sakyamuni was alive, he received ten disciples, one of whom was a yogi named Mulian, whose parents died before he attained the Tao. Because Mulian was very concerned about his dead mother, he used his eyes to see how her mother lived in the underworld. It turned out that they had become hungry ghosts, with no food or drink. Mu Lian felt very sad after reading it, so he used his magic power to bring some food to his mother. Unfortunately, as soon as the food was delivered to his mouth, it immediately turned into a flame. Mu Lian was very sad after seeing this situation, so he told Sakyamuni about it. The Buddha taught him that his mother planted a lot of sins when she was alive, so she fell into the hungry ghost road after her death, and she was beyond redemption. This evil barrier was not something he could solve alone, so she had to gather. Later, this legend has been passed down to later generations, and gradually formed a folk custom. Every year in the middle of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, people will kill chickens and ducks, burn incense and clothes, and worship hungry ghosts who come out of the underworld to resolve their grievances and avoid harming the world. Over time, the custom of Ghost Festival has been formed.