| Ghost Festival | |
|---|---|
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| Official name | |
| Also called | Spirit Festival |
| Observed by | Buddhists Taoists |
| Significance | To commemorate the opening of the gates ofHell and Heaven, and spiritual realm permitting all spirits and souls to receive sustenance, money, and other offerings. |
| Observances | Ancestor worship, offering food, burningjoss paper, chanting of scriptures |
| Date | 15th day of the 7th Chinese lunisolar month |
| 2024 date | 18 August |
| 2025 date | 6 September |
| 2026 date | 27 August |
| 2027 date | 16 August |
| Related to |
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| Ghost Festival | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Food offerings for the Ghost Festival | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中元節 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中元节 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | mid-origin festival | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 盂蘭盆節 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 盂兰盆节 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Second alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 七月半 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Part ofa series on |
| Chinese folk religion |
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TheGhost Festival orHungry Ghost Festival, also known as theZhongyuan Festival inTaoism and theYulanpen Festival inBuddhism, is a traditional festival held in certainEast andSoutheast Asian countries. According to thetraditional Chinese lunisolar calendar, the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in parts of southern China).[1][2]: 4, 6 [note 1]
InChinese culture, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the traditional Chinese calendar is calledGhost Day or (especially in Taiwan)Pudu (Chinese:普渡;pinyin:Pǔdù;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Phó͘-tō͘)[3] and the seventh month is generally regarded as theGhost Month, in which ghosts and spirits, including those of deceased ancestors, come out from thelower realm (Diyu orPreta). Distinct from both theQingming Festival (or Tomb Sweeping Day, in spring) andDouble Ninth Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, during Ghost Festival, the deceased are believed to visit the living.[4]
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open, and bothTaoists andBuddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month isveneration of the dead, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths. Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burningincense, and burningjoss paper, apapier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold, and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors. Elaborate meals (often vegetarian) would be served with empty seats for each of the deceased in the family, treating the deceased as if they are still living. Ancestor worship is what distinguishes Qingming Festival from Ghost Festival, because the latter includes paying respects to all deceased, including the same and younger generations, while the former only includes older generations. Other festivities may includebuying and releasing miniature paper boats andlanterns on water, which signifies giving directions to the lost ghosts and spirits of the ancestors and other deities.[5]
The name relates to the concept of thehungry ghost, the Chinese translation of the termpreta inBuddhism. It plays a role inChinese Buddhism andTaoism as well as inChinese folk religion, and represents beings who were originally living people, who have died, and who are driven by intense emotional needs in ananimalistic way.[6][7][8]
As a Taoist festival: Taoism has the "Three Yuan" theory (representing theThree Great Emperor-Officials), which the name "Zhong Yuan" comes from.[9]: 195–196 The festival flourished during theTang dynasty, whose rulers were partial to Taoism; and "Zhongyuan" became well established as the holiday's name.[10]
As a Buddhist festival: The origin story of the modern Ghost Festival, ultimately originated fromancient India, deriving from theMahayanascripture known as theYulanpen or Ullambana Sutra.[11]: 301, 302 [note 2] The sutra records the time whenMaudgalyāyana achievesabhijñā and uses his newfound powers to search for his deceased parents. Maudgalyayana discovers that his deceased mother was reborn into thepreta or hungry ghost realm. She was in a wasted condition and Maudgalyayana tried to help her by giving her a bowl of rice. Unfortunately as a preta, she was unable to eat the rice as it was transformed into burning coal. Maudgalyayana then asks the Buddha to help him; whereupon Buddha explains how one is able to assist one's current parents and deceased parents in this life and in one's past seven lives by willingly offering food, etc., to thesangha or monastic community duringPravarana (the end of the monsoon season orvassa), which usually occurs on the 15th day of the seventh month whereby the monastic community transfers the merits to the deceased parents, etc.,[12]: 185 [note 3][11]: 293 [note 4][13]: 286 [note 5]
TheTheravadan forms of the festival inSouth andSoutheast Asia (includingCambodia'sPchum Ben) are much older, deriving from thePetavatthu, ascripture in thePali Canon that probably dates to the 3rd century BC.[14] The Petavatthu account is broadly similar to that later recorded in theYulanpen Sutra, although it concerns the discipleSāriputta and his family rather thanMoggallāna.
The Ghost Festival is held during the seventh month of theChinese calendar. It also falls at the same time as a full moon, the new season, the fall harvest, the peak of Buddhist monastic asceticism, the rebirth of ancestors, and the assembly of the local community.[15] During this month, the gates ofhell are opened up and ghosts are free to roam the earth where they seek food and entertainment. These ghosts are believed to be spirits of those without descendants (or, traditionally, without descendants in the male line) or whose descendants did not pay tribute to them after they died.[16][17] They are desperately hungry, thirsty, and restless as a result.[16][17] Family members offer food and drink to the ghosts and burnhell bank notes and other forms ofjoss paper.[18] Joss paper items are believed to have value in the afterlife, considered to be very similar in some aspects to the material world. Families pay tribute to wandering ghosts of strangers so that these homeless souls do not intrude on their lives and bring misfortune. A large feast is held for the ghosts on the day of the ghost festival or thereabouts, when people bring samples of food and place them on an altar or outside a temple or house, to please the ghosts and ward off bad luck.[17][9]: 196–197 Lotus-shaped lanterns are lit and set afloat in rivers to symbolically guide lostsouls to theafterlife.[19]
In some East Asian countries today, live performances are held and everyone is invited to attend. The first row of seats are always empty as this is where the ghosts sit. The shows are always put on at night and at high volumes as the sound is believed to attract and please the ghosts. Some shows includeChinese opera, dramas, and in some areas, evenburlesque shows. Traditionally Chinese opera was the main source of entertainment but the newer shows, concerts, dramas, wars, and so forth are referred to asGetai.[20] These acts are better known as "Merry-making".[21]
For rituals,Chinese Buddhists andTaoists hold ceremonies to relieve ghosts from suffering, many of them holding ceremonies in the afternoon or at night (as it is believed that the ghosts are released from hell when the sun sets). Altars are built for the deceased and priests and monks alike perform rituals for the benefit of ghosts. Monks and priests often throw rice or other small foods into the air in all directions to distribute them to the ghosts.[21] An example of such a ritual is the Chinese BuddhistYujia Yankou rite, which is performed to facilitate the physical and spiritual nourishment of allsentient beings insaṃsāra, including the hungry ghosts.[22]
During the evening,incense is burnt in front of the doors of households.[19] Incense stands for prosperity in Chinese culture, so families believe that there is more prosperity in burning more incense.[21] During the festival, some shops are closed as they want to leave the streets open for the ghosts. In the middle of each street stands an altar of incense with fresh fruit and sacrifices displayed on it.[21]
Fourteen days after the festival, to make sure all the hungry ghosts find their way back to hell, people float water lanterns and set them outside their houses. These lanterns are made by setting a lotus flower-shaped lantern on a paper boat. The lanterns are used to direct the ghosts back to the underworld, and when they go out, it symbolizes that they have found their way back.[21]
During the 1800s to 1980s inSingapore, temples and various organisations would hire opera troupes to performstreet opera for the wandering ghosts and residents alike.[23]Malaysian Chinese would also celebrate the festival with street opera. With the decline of street opera in both Singapore and Malaysia, modern concert-like performances became a prominent feature of the Ghost Festival. Those live concerts are popularly known asGetai inMandarin (simplified Chinese:歌台;traditional Chinese:歌臺;pinyin:gētái) orKoh-tai (HokkienChinese:歌臺;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:ko-tâi) meaning song stages.[24] They are performed by groups of singers, dancers, entertainers, and opera troops or puppet shows on a temporary stage that is set up within a residential district. The festival is usually funded by the temples or organisations of each individual district. During theseGetai the front row is left empty for the special guests—the ghosts.[25] It is known to be bad luck to sit on the front row of red seats, if anyone were to sit on them, they would become sick or similarly ailed.
In Indonesia, the festival is popularly known asChit Gwee Pua (HokkienChinese:七月半;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Chhit-goe̍h-pòaⁿ) orChit Nyiat Pan (HakkaChinese:七月半;Pha̍k-fa-sṳ:Chhit-ngie̍t-pan),Cioko, orSembahyang Rebutan inIndonesian (Scrambling prayer). Observers gather around temples and bring an offering to a spirit who died in an unlucky way, and after that, they distribute it to the poor. The way people scramble the offerings is the origin of the festival name, and the festival is mostly known inJava Island. Other areas likeNorth Sumatra,Riau, andRiau islands also conduct live concerts known asGetai (Mandarinsimplified Chinese:歌台;traditional Chinese:歌臺;pinyin:gētái) like those in Malaysia and Singapore, and there are also times when observers conduct Tomb sweeping known asSembahyang Kubur to respect ancestor spirits and garner luck. This is done by buyinghell notes orKim Cua (HokkienChinese:金紙;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:kim-chóa) and paper-based goods like paper house, paper horse, paper car, etc., which will end up being burned as it is believed that burned goods will be sent to help the spirits feel better in afterlife.
In thePhilippines, the occasion is more popularly known asGhost Month, as it affects the entire seventh lunisolar month of theChinese calendar around August to September (which coincided with the month of theImmaculate Heart of Mary). The month-long observances are mostly traditionally practiced and originated byChinese Filipinos which its observance has since spread to other Filipinos that have become aware of it, since it reverberates economically through thestock market as a sizable amount of investors stop investing and put off their investments for later dates past the occasion.[26] Generally, those who observe it find it to be a very unlucky time of the year, as traditional belief states that the souls of dead relatives, wandering souls or vengeful spirits roam the earth during the month-long occasion. This means that practitioners take extra precautions and caution others of making important decisions when it comes to relationships, professions, businesses, and finances. People avoid practices like, making life-changing decisions, getting married or engaged, starting new businesses, moving to a new home, traveling, signing contracts, making impulsive major financial decisions, committing to big professional projects, inaugurations, buying or selling off high priced possessions such as cars, phones, or real estate properties, staying late out at night especially kids and elderlies, making noise or whistling at night, leaving food or hanging clothes out after sunset and leaving them overnight since their human-like shape may invite spirits, or even taking pictures at night, wearing black clothes, tapping people on the head or shoulders as it may affect their luck, picking up coins or strange items you find since these may belong to the dead, or even constantly talking to oneself, or going to cemeteries alone, or answering unknown whispers or sobbing, or being constantly close to bodies of water, or constantly talking about ghosts or death. Besides these many avoidances, practitioners also make offerings and prayers for the souls of the dead, such as burningspirit money, lightingincense, and laying out food like fruits and drinks on home or temple altars or cemetery tombs or graves or mausoleums of deceased relatives that people during this month also start to visit. Some people also start to hold memorial services to deceased relatives or ancestors held either at home or at a Chinese temple, a church orfuneral home.[27][28][29][30]
Traditionally, it is believed that ghosts haunt the island ofTaiwan for the entire seventh lunisolar month, when the mid-summerGhost Festival is held.[31] The month is known asGhost Month.[32] The first day of the month is marked by opening the gate of a temple, symbolizing the gates of hell. On the twelfth day, lamps on the main altar are lit. On the thirteenth day, a procession of lanterns is held. On the fourteenth day, a parade is held for releasing water lanterns. Incense and food are offered to the spirits to deter them from visiting homes andspirit paper money is also burnt as an offering.[33] During the month, people avoid surgery, buying cars, swimming, moving house, marrying, whistling, and going out or taking pictures after dark.[34][35][36][37]
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This festival is known asTết Trung Nguyên[38] and is viewed as a time for the pardoning of condemned souls who are released from hell. The "homeless" should be "fed" and appeased with offerings of food. Merits for the living are also earned by the release of birds and fish. The lunisolar month in which the festival takes place is colloquially known asTháng Cô Hồn - the month of lonely spirits, and believed to be haunted and particularly unlucky.
Influenced byBuddhism, this holiday coincides withVu Lan, the Vietnamese transliteration for Ullambana.
In modern times, Vu Lan is also seen as Parents' Day.[39] People with living parents would bear a red rose and would give thanks while those without can choose to bear a white rose; and attend services to pray for the deceased.
In AsianTheravadin Buddhist countries, related traditions, ceremonies, and festivals also occur. Like itsUllambana Sutra-origins in Mahayana Buddhist countries, the Theravada scripture, thePetavatthu gave rise to the idea of offering food to the hungry ghosts in the Theravada tradition as a form of merit-making. In stories published in thePetavatthuMaudgalyayana, who also plays the central role in the rise of the concept in the Mahayana tradition, along withSariputta also play a role in the rise of the concept in the Theravada tradition.[40][41][42] Similarly to the rise of the concept in Mahayana Buddhism, a version ofMaudgalyayana Rescues His Mother, where Maudgalyayana is replaced by Sariputta is recorded in thePetavatthu and is in part the basis behind the practice of the concept in Theravadin societies.[43] The concept of offering food to the hungry ghosts is also found in early Buddhist literature, in theTirokudda Kanda.[44]
In Cambodia, a fifteen-day-long annual festival known asPchum Ben occurs generally in September or October. Cambodians pay their respects to deceased relatives up to seven generations. The gates of hell are believed to open during this period and many people make offerings to these hungry ghosts.[45]
In Laos, a festival known as,Boun khao padap din usually occurs in September each year and goes on for two weeks. During this period, it is believed that hungry ghosts are freed from hell and enter the world of the living. A second festival known asBoun khao salak occurs directly after the conclusion ofBoun khay padab din. During this period, food offerings are made to the hungry ghosts.[46]
In Sri Lanka, food offerings are made to Buddhist monks as a way for indirectly offering them to their relatives who might have been born as a hungry ghost. This is typically offered on the seventh day, three months and one year after the death day of a deceased person. It is a ceremony conducted after death as part of traditional Sri Lankan Buddhist funeral rites and is known asmataka dānēs ormatakadānaya.[47][48][49] The offerings that are made acquiremerit which are then transformed back into the equivalent goods in the world of the hungry ghosts.[47] The offering that is offered on the seventh day, comes a day after personalized food offerings are given in the garden to the spirit of the deceased relative, which occurs on the sixth day.[50][51] The deceased who do not reach the proper afterworld, theHungry Ghost realm, are feared by the living as they are believed to cause various sicknesses and disasters to the living. Buddhist monks are called upon to performpirit to ward off the floating spirits. The rite is also practiced in Thailand and Myanmar and is also practiced during the Ghost Festival that is observed in other Asian countries.[52]
In Thailand, a fifteen-day-long annual festival known asSat Thai is celebrated between September and October in Thailand especially in southern Thailand, particularly in the province ofNakhon Si Thammarat.[53] Like related festivals and traditions in other parts of Asia, the deceased are believed to come back to earth for fifteen days and people make offerings to them. The festival is known asSat Thai to differentiate it from the Chinese Ghost Festival which is known asSat Chin in theThai language.[54]
Chūgen (中元), alsoOchūgen (お中元), is an annual event in Japan on the 15th day of the 7th month, when people give gifts, especially to their superiors.[55][56] Originally it was an annual event for giving gifts to the ancestral spirits.
One of the three days that form thesangen (三元) ofDaoism, it is sometimes considered azassetsu, a type ofseasonal day in theJapanese calendar.
Obon (sometimes transliteratedO-bon), or simplyBon, is the Japanese version of the Ghost Festival.[57] It has since been transformed over time into a family reunion holiday during which people from the big cities return to their home towns and visit and clean the resting places of their ancestors.[58][59]
Traditionally including a dance calledBon Odori,[57] Obon has existed in Japan for more than 500 years. In modern Japan, it is held on July 15 in the eastern part (Kantō) and on August 15 in the western part (Kansai).
InOkinawa and theAmami Islands, it is celebrated as in China, on the 15th day of the 7th lunisolar month. This festival is known asBun/Usjooroo.
The performance ofShraddha by a son duringPitru Paksha is regarded as compulsory byHindus, to ensure that the soul of the ancestor goes toheaven. In this context, the scriptureGaruda Purana says, "there is no salvation for a man without a son". The scriptures preach that a householder should propitiate ancestors(Pitris), along with the gods(devas), ghosts(bhutas), and guests. The scriptureMarkandeya Purana says that if the ancestors are content with the shraddhas, they will bestow health, wealth, knowledge and longevity, and ultimately heaven and salvation (moksha) upon the performer.[60]
InBali and some parts of Indonesia, particularly among theindigenous Hindus of Indonesia, ancestors who have died and cremated are said to return to visit their former homes. This day is known asHari Raya Galungan and celebrations typically last over two weeks, often in the form of specific food and religious offerings along with festivities.[61][62] The festival date is often calculated according to theBalinese pawukon calendar and typically occurs every 210 days.[63]
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