Why is July 14th the Ghost Festival?

The fourteenth day of the seventh lunar month, also called July Half in our rural areas, is the traditional festival of the Ghost Festival, and the Ghost Festival is also called the Ghost Festival. It is another traditional sacrificial festival after the Qingming Festival. In the evening of this day, people will burn paper money to express their condolences to their deceased relatives.

On the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, these two days are called the Hungry Ghost Festival, which is also the middle of the year. There will be a large number of sacrificial activities during these two days. For us rural people, we will choose to burn paper on the roadside, while people in the city will choose to burn paper money at the crossroads.

When I was a child, I was most afraid of these two nights, because the ritual activities of burning paper money everywhere would make the night extremely dark. I usually sleep alone, but on these two days every year, I choose to sleep with my mother. Maybe it's because of my timidity, or maybe because of my random thoughts, that I don't dare to stay alone at night.

When I grew up and understood that this was a traditional sacrificial activity, the fear in my heart disappeared. On the one hand, because I have grown up and become more courageous than before; on the other hand, because I have learned more knowledge, I understand that this is just a traditional sacrificial activity, and there is nothing like the old man at home said. That happens.

Nowadays, with the emergence of civilized sacrifices, many people express their longing for their loved ones on the Internet. The frequency of such uncivilized sacrifices offline is becoming less and less.

I think it is also a very good practice to open a dedicated website for sacrifices on the Internet; it can not only convey your feelings of longing, but also leave corresponding traces of sacrifices during the sacrifices. . The next time you open the webpage, you can clearly see your sacrifice status.

So the 14th day of the seventh lunar month is also our traditional sacrificial festival. Its scientific name is the Hungry Ghost Festival. As the Hungry Ghost Festival is approaching, I still hope that everyone can worship in a civilized manner.