Hungry Ghost Festival (Zhongyuan)

About Hungry Ghost Festival (Zhongyuan)

In the seventh lunar month, called Ghost Month, the dead are believed to be released and to wander among the living, and the fifteenth day is the peak. Families and street associations lay out food, burn joss paper and incense, and hold chanting and street opera, with the front row of seats left empty for unseen guests. The offerings aim to feed hungry ghosts, spirits with no descendants to tend them, so that they do not trouble the living. Many people avoid swimming, moving house, weddings and travelling at night during the month. Taoist tradition calls the day Zhongyuan, and Buddhist communities link it to the story of Mulian saving his mother, so the same night carries two sets of reasons.

Entries tied to it

Ghost FestivalThe festival and its Taoist and Buddhist strands.PretaThe hungry ghost of Buddhist cosmology.Joss paperBurned to supply the dead with money and goods.

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