You must know the taboos of the Ghost Festival

The half of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is commonly known as the Ghost Festival, also known as the Ghost Festival. It is a relatively grand folk festival. The Hungry Ghost Festival is originally celebrated on July 15th, but most of us celebrate it on July 13th, and a few celebrate it on July 14th. Let’s take a look at the taboos you must know about the Ghost Festival, welcome to check them out!

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What are the taboos to wear on the Ghost Festival?

It has always been said that people who die wearing "red clothes" will turn into ghosts and are particularly ferocious, so it is rumored to be worn during the Ghost Festival. People with different colors may easily be misunderstood by other powerful ghosts that you are also a ghost, or you may be hunted by ghosts. The biggest thing is that it may scare people on the street in the middle of the night!

Then, in the traditional social concept of Taiwan, "black" has an ominous and disasterous meaning, so in some people's eyes, For people with auras in their bodies, black color makes them most uneasy and frightened. Therefore, during the Ghost Festival, especially at night, if you wear black from head to toe, even underwear and pants, there is a chance that you will be exposed to cathode energy on the street, which will bring you bad luck or even make you seriously ill.

However, "white" represents a symbol of mourning in our minds. For example, during a funeral, mourners are all dressed in white clothes, white pants, and white shoes, so "white" also has an ominous meaning. . In addition to white, hemp color, also known as "off-white", is also not suitable for use.

In addition, for some people with yin and yang eyes, ghosts such as green-shooting ghosts or people with bad luck will have "dark green" light, so during the seventh month, For example, if you wear dark green, you may be misunderstood as being possessed by a green ghost, which will cause other ghosts to attach to you. The victim may be even more unlucky, so you should try to avoid it.

Some people may find it a bit funny to talk about the next one. Some people say that "black and white" clothes are not suitable to wear; some people believe that there will be many perverted ghosts wandering around during the July Ghost Festival, and they Specifically looking for "revealing" women, especially those with "bared shoulders", the perverts will use methods to lure others to extinguish the two fires on the victim's shoulders, and then inhale the woman's essence and fragrance to satisfy them. own desires.

However, many young people in modern times like to wear clothes with "holes". In fact, this is not appropriate during the ghost month, because some wandering ghosts have no one to burn clothes for them, so they They would wear rags and come to the human world to steal the clothes and paper offerings given on the streets. If you wear these clothes, there is a chance that they will misunderstand that you are the same kind fighting for food, which may bring misfortune!

What not to do during the Ghost Festival

1. Call by name. Do not wear clothes with your own name embroidered on them at night to prevent your soul from being possessed. In addition, it is best to avoid calling other people by their first and last names. Otherwise, if your good brother (the honorific name for ghosts in Fujian and Taiwan folk) hears it, you will be angry. Take the opportunity to take away his three souls and six souls. At the same time, if you hear someone calling your name, don't look back or respond immediately.

2. Don’t tap on the shoulder. From a spiritual point of view, there are three fires on a person's body, one on the head and two shoulders. Therefore, it is best not to pat other people's heads and shoulders casually during the ghost moon, so as not to extinguish the fire on his body and let others know. Brothers have an opportunity.

3. Don’t whistle. When passing the cemetery, you should keep saying "Sorry for disturbing you!" and remain solemn and do not whistle to show respect for your good brothers.

4. Do not play in dangerous waters. According to legend, "water ghosts" will find people to be scapegoats in order to be reincarnated;

5. Do not eat the sacrifices of worship, and do not interact with others. If ghosts compete for food, they may suffer bad luck;

6. Do not hang wind chimes on the bedside, because wind chimes will attract evil spirits; do not play with the fairy.

Don’t plant a banyan tree in front of your home that is prone to getting stuck in the shade. Also, don’t hang wind chimes randomly in the house. Don’t play with fairy gods or go to Yin temples. This can reduce the possibility of Yin spirits getting involved.

7. Night tour. Don't go to the wilderness or remote places at night, as people with light horoscopes are afraid of bumping into good friends;

8. Don't pick up change and red envelopes on the ground casually; don't pick up random ones on the roadside. Money, because the money may belong to good brothers, or else it may be used to recruit brides for ghost marriages.

9. When passing by a funeral site, do not have disrespectful thoughts or words in your mouth or heart;

10. Do not step on or burn the ceremonial paper indiscriminately. The gold paper is for good brothers, and the gold paper is burned for gods. The result of burning the underworld paper will only attract more good brothers.

11. Don’t rest against the wall. Don’t lean against the wall randomly, because good brothers usually like to rest on the wall. This can easily attract ghosts.

12. Keep your clothes to prevent ghosts from "borrowing" them. Before going to bed at night or before dark, you should take away clothes that have been exposed to the outside to avoid being borrowed by ghosts. Do not dry clothes in the middle of the night (the shadows of clothes in the middle of the night are very scary);

13. Don’t take random photos. It is best not to take random photos when you are out at night, otherwise your good friends will take photos with you in the mirror, and do not shine your flashlight into the trees to avoid disturbing your good friends who like to cling to the treetops.

14. Put the chopsticks in the middle of the rice. Don't stick chopsticks on the rice bowl when eating. The shape is like sticking incense on the incense burner. It will attract good friends to share the food with you.

15. Hang a wind chime by the bedside. Wind chimes can easily attract good friends, and sleeping is the most vulnerable time to be "invaded".

16. Play with the Disc Fairy. Things can easily happen when playing Die Xian in normal times, let alone during this ghost festival.

17. Stealing sacrifices. These are foods that belong to good brothers. If you use them without their consent, you will only bring yourself unsolvable misfortune.

18. Stay up late. It's late at night when the popularity is at its weakest, and it's also late at night when the ghost energy is at its strongest. Who will win in comparison?

19. Plucking the hair on the feet. As the saying goes: "A hairy foot can control three ghosts", so the more hairy your feet are, the less likely people and ghosts will come near you.

20. If you encounter supernatural events such as ghosts pressing on you or hitting walls, don’t panic, concentrate all your attention and open your eyes.

There are many taboos that the clan cannot keep in mind. In fact, as long as it does not affect normal life and rest, I would rather believe that it is there than that it is not. For many people, whether it is effective or not, at least they can find peace of mind.

Some people are accustomed to carrying around items that bring good luck and ward off evil spirits, such as amulets and prayer beads obtained from temples, coarse salt, glutinous rice and other evil spirits; crosses or ores with special energy, etc.

Of course, these taboos are just legends and have no scientific basis.

What is the significance of the Hungry Ghost Festival sacrifice?

People use the opportunity of the Hungry Ghost Festival to burn paper to offer sacrifices to their deceased ancestors and chant sutras for salvation. The tradition of ancestor worship has a long history in China. The ancients regarded sacrifice as the most important among all rituals and customs. Worshiping ancestors on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month has a special seasonal meaning. July is originally Xiaoqiu, when some crops are ripe. People worship ancestors as a rule, use new rice as offerings, report the success of autumn to ancestors, and invite ancestors to taste the new rice to show filial piety. "Disciple Rules" says, "When it comes to eating, drinking, sitting or walking, the elders go first and the younger ones last." This means not only serving your parents during your lifetime, but also maintaining your filial piety after your death. You always honor your ancestors, your parents, and your descendants everywhere. Favor, repay kindness.

According to China's traditional urban layout, there is generally a Li altar in the north of the city, and "Li" refers to the evil ghost. In the past, people had a belief that after death (especially men), their descendants would come to sacrifice them in the family tree. But the problem is that some people die "accidentally", that is, they die in accidents, such as during wars, or they die in accidents in other places. People don't know who his descendants are. These ghosts cannot receive normal sacrifices, and they will become lonely ghosts, or even fierce ghosts, disrupting the order of the human world.

Therefore, in addition to each family offering sacrifices to their own ancestors, a public ceremony is needed to sacrifice and appease those lonely ghosts and fierce ghosts. As for those lonely souls who have no owners and no sacrifices, according to Taoist tradition, food and relief will be given to them on the Hungry Ghost Festival so that they can be full and not make trouble.

Can the time of offering sacrifices on the Hungry Ghost Festival be brought forward or postponed?

It is best to visit the graves on the same day during the Hungry Ghost Festival, and it is not advisable to go ahead or postpone it.

On the Ghost Festival, it is a day to worship ancestors and remember the ancestors. On this day, all the ghosts will be released from the underworld, allowing them to return to the earth to be reunited with their relatives. Therefore, people generally carry out ghost worship activities on this day. , visit graves, burn incense, and burn paper. If you burn paper, offer incense, and visit graves in advance, then the ghosts of your loved ones have not yet returned to the world and will not be able to receive your wishes. Therefore, according to general folk rules, you cannot visit graves, offer incense, or burn paper in advance during the Ghost Festival.

Legend has it that all ghosts are released from heaven and earth on the Ghost Festival, 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 it is the largest ghost festival among Chinese folk.

What are the four major ghost festivals in China?

1. March 3rd

In the Jianghuai and Jiangnan areas, the third day of the third lunar month is called the Ghost Festival every year. Legend has it that ghosts appear on this day. At night, every household sets off firecrackers in each house to scare away ghosts and drive them away.

2. Tomb-Sweeping Festival

Tomb-Sweeping Festival usually falls on April 4th, 5th or 6th in the Gregorian calendar, and is a traditional Chinese festival.

3. July 14th/Fifteenth

According to legend, every year from July 1st, the King of Hell orders the gates of hell to be opened, allowing those who have suffered and been imprisoned in hell all year round. The innocent ghosts come out of hell and wander around for a short period of time, enjoying blood and food in the world, so people call July the ghost month. This month is considered an unlucky month, and people neither marry nor move. On this night, in addition to worshiping their ancestors, people also prepare some dishes, wine, rice, gold, silver, clothes, paper, etc. to worship ghosts and gods at the intersection.

The festivals and customs included on July 14th and 15th are relatively complex. It is not only a folk ghost festival, but also a Taoist Ghost Festival, a Buddhist Obon Festival, and a combination of monks, Taoists and seculars. 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 Buddhist Obon Festival.

It is said that Sakyamuni had a disciple named Mulian. Although his mother was young and beautiful, she had no good words and deeds, loved money and was stingy, and especially hated monks. After her death, she was cast into the ranks of evil spirits. According to the instructions of the Buddha group, Maudgalyana prepared hundreds of flavors and five fruits, as well as various utensils, into basins, and offered them to the monks in the ten directions on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. Only then did his mother escape from the evil ghost world and ascend 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.

Therefore, July 14th/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. It is one of the three important festivals in the underworld in my country. There are folk legends about celebrating the Lantern Festival in the underworld and the Ghost Festival 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 14th/15th is the day when the door of hell opens. 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, "People who are alive should cherish every day they are alive, and don't be ashamed of society and friends, and don't be ashamed of relatives who have left forever. Because one day we will meet them, and when the time comes, you can be proud It is said that if you are a hero in the human world, you will also be a ghost hero in the underworld!"

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, and Chinese Taoism believes that the three elements that nourish all things in the world are The basic elements are sky, 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 " "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 the "Xiayuan Festival". The three elements of upper, middle and lower constitute the Taoist trinity system understanding of the world.

4. The first day of October

It 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 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.

The story of Mu Lian rescuing his mother from evil is widely circulated among the people

"The Monk Mu Lian has great magical power. His mother fell into the realm of hungry ghosts, and food turned into flames when he entered it. The pain was too great. Mu Lian could not save his mother, so he asked the Buddha for advice on how to make an Ullambana Sutra on the 15th day of the seventh month to save his mother. The Master's Seat and Shigu Terrace were set up in front of Jiekou Village. 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, each household placed whole pigs, whole sheep, chickens, ducks, geese and various cakes, fruits, melons, etc. on Shigutai. The person in charge put 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 to recite various mantras and mantras. Then serve, scatter a plate of noodles with peaches and rice in all directions, repeat three times. This ceremony is called "flaming mouth".

Butian: At night, every household will burn incense at the door of their house and put the incense on the ground. The more the better, which symbolizes a good harvest.

Flood and drought lanterns: 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 lotus, which is called "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.

Shi Geer: All the shops were closed that day, leaving the streets to ghosts. In the middle of the street, an incense table is placed every hundred steps, with fresh 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".

Shangyuan Festival and Zhongyuan Festival: The Shangyuan Festival is the Lantern Festival in the world. People put up lanterns and colorful decorations to celebrate the Lantern Festival. "Zhongyuan" comes from Shangyuan. People believe that the Ghost Festival is a ghost festival, and lanterns should be put up to celebrate the festival for ghosts. However, humans and ghosts are different, so the lighting of lanterns in Zhongyuan is different from the lighting of lanterns in Shangyuan. Humans are yang, ghosts are yin; land is yang, water is yin. The mysterious darkness under the water reminds people of the legendary hell, where ghosts sink. Therefore, the lanterns were lit on land during the Shangyuan period, and the lanterns were lit on the water during the Zhongyuan period.

When going out during the Ghost Festival, you should avoid bringing red strings, bells, wind chimes and other objects that attract ghosts, and try to avoid going out. If you encounter supernatural events such as a ghost pressing on you or a ghost hitting a wall, don't panic, focus all your attention and open your eyes.

10 things not to do in the middle of the night during the Ghost Festival

1. Do not comb your hair

Combing your hair is taboo. According to the situation in ancient times At twelve o'clock in the evening, people go to bed. People think that is the time when ghosts are active. If you comb your hair at that time, that is to say, if you comb your hair when the ghost just wakes up, you will comb it at the same time as the ghost. Therefore, you must not comb your hair now.

2. You must not hold an umbrella

Holding an umbrella is also taboo. Feng Shui says that if you open an umbrella at home, it will easily attract people from the underworld. Therefore, according to Feng Shui, it is absolutely forbidden to hold an umbrella at home, not on weekdays, and even less so during the Ghost Month. And during the Ghost Festival, when the yin is the strongest, it is even more forbidden to hold an umbrella at home, otherwise it may bring bad luck to the home. Luck with disaster

3. Do not look in the mirror

Looking in the mirror is also one of the taboos. Old people say that there is another world in the mirror. If you look in the mirror in the middle of the night, you will wake them up. , if you take a photo, you must immediately cover the mirror downward to suppress the evil spirit. This is the most mentioned of the 10 things not to do in the middle of the night.

4. You must not look into the eyes of strangers

When you meet strangers in remote places, do not look at them, especially do not look directly into their eyes; when you encounter someone who shouts to give way, do not Get out of the way immediately.

5. Taking out the garbage is also very taboo

Taking out the garbage at night means that the home is empty and the money is gone. There is also a saying that if you go out to take out the trash at night, you will come back with dirty things. For example, the bucket you use to take out the trash. Because it is dirty, it is easy to bring unclean things home.

6. You must not whistle.

Whistling is also one of the very taboos. Whistling is very easy to attract the souls of the guilty who are unwilling to die.

7. You must not look back

According to legend, there are three fires on people's shoulders, namely divine fire, flexibility, and heavenly fire. When yin is strong and yang is weak at night, it is the time when ghosts are rampant. , if you look back at night, you will touch the brow of a ghost and you will get sick. The ghost's yin energy will expel your yang energy from your body, and eventually you will have a bad year.

8. You must not count the stairs

It is said that if you count, there will be half an extra step, and the body will be buried under the extra step. Of course, this statement has no basis, it is just to scare yourself.

9. You must not walk at the crossroads

Old people often say that dark places are easy to be touched by ghosts, but there is one place that is more powerful, that is the crossroads, and the ghosts at the crossroads At most, it is also a place where strange things happen, so there is also a saying that you should never pick up the change at the intersection.

10. You must not pick up or kick things

In the middle of the night, do not pick up things on the roadside or kick bottles and cans on the ground. Legend has it that at this time, it is very likely that it will It is a temporary shelter for ghosts. It is looking for a suitable person to take possession of. As soon as you kick it, it will come out and take possession of you immediately.

Customs of various places during the Ghost Festival

1. Hebei

Botou City and Nanpi County carry fruits, preserved meat, wine, and money on July 15th Waiting to go to the ancestor’s cemetery to pay homage. And holding the grain to the field stalks is called "recommending new things". During the Ghost Festival in Guangping County, people worship their ancestors with fresh food, and prepare fruits, vegetables, and steamed sheep to give to their grandchildren, which is called "giving sheep." On the 15th day of the seventh lunar month in Qinghe County, people visit the graves to offer sacrifices and present steamed noodle sheep to their daughters.

2. Shanxi

Scholars in Yonghe County worship Kuixing on this day. Shepherds in Changzi County slaughter sheep to compete with the gods on the Hungry Ghost Festival. According to folklore, this can increase sheep production. Meats were also given to relatives. Those who were poor and had no sheep would be replaced by steamed noodles in the shape of sheep. Farmers in Yangcheng County make wheat scraps into the shapes of cats, tigers and grains and offer sacrifices in the fields, which is called "Xingtian". During the Ghost Festival in Mayi County, people make wheat flour into the shape of children, named "moodle people", and give them to each other's relatives' children. Farmers in Xin County hang five-color paper on field stems during the Ghost Festival.

3. Henan

When Zhongyuan in Shangqiu County worshiped local officials, paper flags were hung at the door. Legend has it that they can prevent insects. Kite flying during the Ghost Festival in Mengjin County. On the 15th day of the seventh lunar month in Qixian County, a circle of ash is drawn in front of the door and paper balls are burned inside the circle to worship ancestors.

4. Shandong

Changdao fishermen made small boats out of wooden rafts, and put a note on them "For ×. , clothes, hats, shoes and socks and other utensils, then light candles, and the married man puts the boat into the sea. Every family in Zhanhua County collects hemp and fresh grass leaves to build a shed, called a "hemp house", and invites ancestors' tablets to be placed in it for worship. Duling County calls the Hungry Ghost Festival the Festival of Pinch-mouth, and every family eats simple meals.

5. Hunan

People in Shaoyang "receive old guests" around the 12th day of the 7th lunar month, and burn paper bags and burn incense to pay homage to their ancestors on the 15th night of the lunar month. Regular customer". There is an inch-thick paper money wrapped in the paper bag. The name of the ancestor is written on the front of the paper bag. After wrapping, the word "seal" must be written on the back. On the night of the 15th, the more packets are burned and the bigger the fire is, the more prosperous the family becomes.

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