What is the Mid-Autumn Festival? The legendary story of Mid-Autumn Festival in July and a half.

What is the Mid-Autumn Festival? The Mid-Autumn Festival, commonly known as the Day of the Dead and July 30th, is a traditional festival in ancient China, and it is also called the three ghost festivals with Tomb-Sweeping Day and Hanyi Festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival began in the Northern Wei Dynasty and has a history of more than 1000 years. On this day, the custom of reincarnating ghosts was inherited by the times and incorporated into the characteristics of the times in the process of development.

In Buddhism's view, July and a half is a day to thank parents for their kindness in growing up. Therefore, in the Mid-Autumn Festival, a person's death, a person's life, can not only pin the grief of the deceased, but also make people remember the kindness of their parents.

The origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival in July comes from

The name "Central Plains" originated from the Northern Wei Dynasty and is a Taoist saying. According to ancient books, the fifteenth day of the first month of Daojing is "Shangyuan", and God blesses the people. July 15th is the "Central Plains", which is the day when local officials forgive sins. 1October 15 is "Xia Yuan", which is the day for water conservancy officials to help Eritrea. "The Book of Laws" records: "On the Mid-Yuan Day in July, the local officials fell, and the good and evil on earth were decided, so the Taoist priests recited scriptures at night to save prisoners from hunger." Therefore, on July 15, people will prepare rich sacrificial ceremonies to worship local officials and their ancestors.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is the product of the combination of Taoism and traditional folk customs in China, which can correspond to each other, mainly based on the same world view: the three realms of heaven, earth and water are deified into three realms of government under the jurisdiction of the officials of heaven, earth and water. The so-called "Duke of Three Realms" refers to the three gods and three officials.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty in China, Taoism in Shi Tian had integrated the world outlook of the former Taoism, and for the first time, it was necessary to put the calligraphy of the three officials in heaven, earth and water to express repentance to the three officials and pray for peace. After the development of the Six Dynasties, the three-day meeting was combined with the ternary thought. Under the official advocacy of the Tang Dynasty, the three-day festival of Shangyuan, Zhongyuan and Xia Yuan became a three-day festival to pray for Naji and worship ancestors. The emperor led hundreds of officials to attend the festival ceremony. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, Sanyuan Festival became a folk festival.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Taoist temples such as the Fire Temple in Di 'anmen and the Baiyun Temple outside Xibianmen hold the "Dojo for Blessing Auspicious" as usual every year, in order to pray for "good weather, peace and prosperity". Because of fear, people combine Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in their daily lives, and call the Mid-Autumn Festival on July 15th of the lunar calendar "Ghost Moon".

After the introduction of Buddhism, there is also a ritual of recommending ancestors in Buddhism, which is called "ULLAMBANA" (Indian word), also known as "Menglan Basin Society". Dream orchid basin means hanging upside down. The pain of life is like a bat hanging upside down from a tree, which is very miserable. In order to save all living beings from the suffering of hanging upside down, it is necessary to recite the scriptures and give food to ghosts. This coincides with the worship of ghost moon in China, and Buddhism also holds a prayer meeting on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, so the Mid-Autumn Festival and Menglan Festival are handed down at the same time.

Legends and stories of Mid-Autumn Festival in July.

According to legend, the Bodhisattva Diksitigarbha, also known as the [terrifying] in people's mouth, came to the underworld after her mother's death, was imprisoned in a cell, and was inevitably tortured by eighteen layers of hell. Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha is a very filial son, and he can't bear to see his mother suffer. On July 15, he even had an affair, letting the boy guarding the cell secretly open the cell door and let his mother go out. Who knows, it doesn't matter if this door is open, cell. In July and a half, ghosts are running around. Those ghosts who run back to their hometown ask for money from home, let them go back to life and get through their joints, hoping to support their lives as soon as possible. Later, people designated this day as the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The bonihara Festival in Buddhism originated from the story of "Mulian Saving Mother" and from the Tripitaka (Buddhism introduced from India). The story of Manglietia Manglietia saving her mother: Among the disciples of Buddha, Manglietia Manglietia, the most powerful, misses her dead mother. With his magical power, he saw that his mother was rewarded for her greed when she was alive, fell into evil spirits after her death, and lived a life without food. Mu Yulian used his divine power to turn it into food and gave it to his mother, but her mother did not change her greed. When she saw the food coming, she was afraid that other evil spirits would take her food. When the food is greedy, it immediately turns into charcoal and can't be swallowed. Although Mu Yulian has magical power, as the son of human beings, she can't save her mother, which is very painful. What about Buddha? Buddha said: "July 15th is the last day of summer, full of good dharma. On this day, the monks in the lane have a wide variety of dishes, and their merits are boundless. You can use this compassion to save his dead mother. " In accordance with the will of the Buddha, Mulian offered her mother a vegetarian meal filled with exotic fruits in a orchid pot on July 15th, and her mother finally got food. This is the origin of "good brothers" in Purdue City, Taiwan Province Province.

The origin of the Mid-Autumn festival

Mid-Autumn Festival, alias July 30th and July 14th, includes ancestor worship, Arahara Festival and local officials' day, mainly including ancestor worship, setting off river lanterns, worshipping the dead, burning paper ingots and offering sacrifices to the land. "Mid-Autumn Festival" is the name of Taoism, which is called "July 30th" (or "July 14th") in folklore. Its appearance can be traced back to ancestor worship and related festivals in ancient times. Festivals are related to the cycle of yin and yang in ancient culture. In the Book of Changes, "seven" is a changing number and a resurrected number. July is auspicious month and filial month, and July 30 is a festival for people to celebrate the harvest and repay the earth in early autumn. Some crops are ripe, so people need to worship their ancestors and report Qiu Cheng to them with new rice and other sacrifices. This festival is a traditional cultural festival to remember the ancestors, and its cultural core is to respect the ancestors and do filial piety.

"July 30th" was originally an ancient folk festival to worship ancestors, but it was called "Central Plains Festival" and originated from Taoism after the Eastern Han Dynasty. Taoism has a "ternary theory", and the name of "Zhongyuan" comes from "Heaven officials bless Yuan, local officials forgive sins in Yuan, and water officials slow down in Yuan". Buddhism calls July and a half the "Kasahara Festival". In the Tang Dynasty, the rulers respected Taoism, and the Taoist Mid-Autumn Festival became popular, and gradually fixed the "Mid-Autumn Festival" as the name of the festival, which was set on July 15 and has continued to this day.

July 14/15 is a traditional cultural festival popular in Chinese cultural circle countries and overseas Chinese areas, and it is also a traditional festival to worship ancestors together with New Year's Eve, Tomb-Sweeping Day and Chung Yeung Festival. 20 10 in may, the "mid-autumn festival" declared by the Ministry of culture in the hong kong special administrative region was selected into the national intangible cultural heritage list.

Historical origin

In the Book of Changes, "seven" is a changing number and a resurrected number. I ching: "repeat the same thing and come back in seven days. It will be fine." Seventh, yang number and days. After the sun between heaven and earth is extinguished, it can be resurrected after seven days. This is the way of heaven and earth, the principle of yin-yang cycle. "Seven" also has mysterious colors, such as the seven stars in the sky, the seven emotions on earth, the seven colors of color, the seven tones of music, the seven rhymes of poetry and the seven senses of human body. "Seven" is also a human life cycle. Education began at the age of seven, puberty began at the age of fourteen, and the body was fully mature at the age of twenty-one. Seven figures are staged in time among the people, and "July 7th" is often regarded as the final and resurrected game when calculating time. "July is an auspicious month, a filial month, and fourteen (erqi) is the cycle number of' seven'. The ancient people chose to worship their ancestors on July 14 (July 30), which was related to the resurrection number of "Seven".

This festival originated from the "July and a half" harvest in early autumn to worship ancestors. The appearance of "July 30" can be traced back to ancient ancestor worship and harvest festival. In ancient times, people often relied on the blessing of the gods to obtain a bumper harvest in agriculture. Worship ancestors in spring, summer, autumn and winter, but the "autumn flavor" in early autumn is very important. Autumn is the harvest season. People hold ceremonies to sacrifice the souls of ancestors, first offering the best seasonal products to the gods, and then tasting the fruits of these labors themselves, hoping for a bumper harvest in the coming year.

Connotation fusion

The custom of ancestor worship in July and a half has existed since ancient times. It was originally a folk festival to worship ancestors, not a "ghost festival" ("ghost festival" was later said, probably evolved from the Taoist thought of opening the gate of hell in Yuan Dynasty). The ancestor worship festival in July and a half is called "Zhongyuan Festival", which originated from Taoism after the Eastern Han Dynasty (about the Northern Wei Dynasty). Among Taoist immortals, there are heavenly officials, local officials and water officials, which are collectively called "three officials and emperors". They are the representatives sent by the Emperor of Heaven to the world, and they respectively check the merits and demerits of the Emperor of Heaven on the "Three-Yuan Day" to determine rewards and punishments: "Heaven officials are blessed with 15 yuan in the first month, local officials are exempted from punishment in the middle of July 15, and water officials are exempted from punishment in the next yuan on October 15." The magistrate is in charge of the underworld, and the focus of inspections is naturally all kinds of ghosts. The middle element, the upper element and the lower element are collectively called "ternary". It is said that on that day in the middle of the Yuan Dynasty, the underground palace opened the door of hell, which is also the day when hell opened its door. All ghosts have to leave the underworld to take the entrance exam, and some masters have to go home. Those who have no owners wander around the world looking for food. Therefore, it is also known as the Ghost Festival, and generally holds activities of offering sacrifices to ghosts and lights lanterns to show the way home for the dead. The Taoist temple held a grand ceremony to pray for the auspicious Dojo, and the Taoist priest built a prayer, the content of which was to cross over the soul of the deceased.

In the seventh month of the lunar calendar, there are Zen Seven and Pure Seven in Buddhism, and even 7749 also means infinity-"Seven" is a number with endless changes and implications. According to Buddhism, on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, monks and nuns made great achievements. On that day, Buddhist disciples held the "Yulan Benfa Meeting". According to the records in the Tripitaka, Eupatorium is Sanskrit, and "Eupatorium" means "upside down"; "Basin" means "rescuer". The meaning of "eyeworm basin" is an object used to save suffering, which comes from the meaning that a basin is filled with various fruits to support Buddhists and monks to save suffering beings in hell. This ceremony was first popularized from the method of saving mother by Manglietia.

The ancients attached great importance to sacrifice since ancient times. This festival originated from three cultures: folk secularism, Taoism and Buddhism. Its sacrificial culture has been circulating for a long time and has a wide influence on this area. "Seven" is an odd number in Chinese figures: seven clever, seven stars, seven colors and seven methods; I ching: "repeat the same thing and come back in seven days. It will be fine." Seventh, yang number and days. After the sun between heaven and earth is extinguished, it can be resurrected after seven days. This is the way of heaven and earth, the principle of yin-yang cycle. However, for a long time, some places in our country thought that July was a ghost month and an unlucky month. Presumably, it evolved from the Taoist thought of opening the door of hell in the Yuan Dynasty. Because of misinformation, some places regard July as a month when nothing is appropriate, such as not going out, not having surgery, not getting married, not buying a house, not moving, and so on. In fact, July is an auspicious month.

In folklore, "July 30th" is a traditional cultural festival in memory of ancestors, and its cultural core is to respect ancestors' filial piety and never forget their roots. In Buddhism, July is also called "Happy Month", "Happy Buddha Day", "Lucky Month" and "Thanksgiving Month". Buddhism and Taoism have different interpretations of the significance of this festival. Taoism emphasizes filial piety; Buddhism, on the other hand, focuses on the "Purdue" of ghosts and ghosts released from the underworld. The late "July and a half" custom can be said to be a fusion of secularism, Taoism and Buddhism.

Unity of three customs

It is generally believed that Mid-Autumn Festival is also called "Orchid Festival"; In fact, there is a big misunderstanding in this understanding. Accurately speaking, the festival of ancestor worship, Mid-Autumn Festival and Yulan Festival on July 14 belong to folklore, Taoism and Buddhism, and they are juxtaposed, not three different names of a festival. Since the rise of Taoism, the word "Zhongyuan" in Sanyuanshuo has been officially designated as the name of the festival, and the date of the festival is set at July 15th. This festival is a combination of three customs.

Before the Mid-Autumn Festival was formed, July 15th had been requisitioned by Buddhism. July in Buddhism was originally a festive month of Buddhism, not a "Ghost Festival". But why did the Kasahara Festival in July become the "Ghost Festival"? Euglena basin, a transliteration of Sanskrit Ulambana, originally meant to "save the upside down", that is, to save the ghost suffering in hell. During the Western Jin Dynasty, the Buddhist sutra Lanjing was translated and introduced into China. The story of "turning a blind eye to save the mother" in Buddhist scriptures coincides with the concept of filial piety that still existed at that time. Later, Liang Wudi and Xiao Yan in the Southern Dynasties advocated the theory that "the three religions are of the same origin", making it a folk festival. At that time, its main function was to worship Buddha. It didn't change until the Song Dynasty, and it developed into a ghost that recommended death. I don't know if it's a coincidence, or if the Bonin Festival, Zhongyuan Festival and Bonin Festival of Taoism affiliated to Buddhism are all scheduled for July 15. So that later generations thought that these two were two names of a festival. At the same time, because its meaning and customs have long been difficult to distinguish, the customs of the two festivals began to be confused.

(1) The custom and origin of Mid-Autumn Festival (2) The origin of Mid-Autumn Festival (3), interesting talk about Mid-Autumn Festival (4), making sentences about Mid-Autumn Festival-making sentences with Mid-Autumn Festival (5), 202 1 collection of talking short sentences about Mid-Autumn Festival (6), collection of talking short sentences about Mid-Autumn Festival (7) are discussed with a funny character.

Ethnicity

According to historical documents, autumn ancestor worship activities existed in the pre-Qin period. The custom of ancestor worship in July and a half is the product of local culture, and inclusive festivals are more complicated. It is not only an autumn festival for ancestor worship, but also the Mid-Autumn Festival of Taoism and the Bonin Festival of Buddhism. The folk, Taoism and monks are integrated. People have a tradition of pursuing the future cautiously, so it is necessary to worship their ancestors. The worship ceremony is usually held in mid-July. For example, Qing Qianlong's "Puning County Records" said: "The ancestors return to the soul, and there are salty clothes and wine recommendations. Although poor, I dare not lack it. " Clothes are indispensable in the sacrifice. Because of the heat in July, it is necessary to change clothes to prevent cold, and "July is a fire, and clothes are given in September." In the old days, the Mid-Autumn Festival was not only significant in the belief dimension, but also a festival with high mass participation and distinctive entertainment functions in the secular level.