Photos

The above photo is showing the celebration of Hungry Ghost Festival. At the right is fire, the ceremony is going on, Chinese believe that paper made items are able to send to the ghosts through burning. In the background, the paper made large statue is the "Minister of Hell" .

Workshop Photo 1 : Another Photo

Workshop Photo 2 : The paper made items

Ghost Festival, Chinese traditional Celebration:-

Activities along the month of this festival would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors. Elaborate meals (often vegetarian meals) would be served with empty seats for each of the deceased in the family treating the deceased as if they are still living.

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Folks dubbed it as Hungry Ghost Festival (鬼节), for Taoism it is dubbed as Zhong Yuan Festival (中元节), and for Buddhism it is dubbed as Yu Lan Festival (盂兰节), and its have three versions of origin too.


Buddhists from China and Taoists claim that the Ghost Festival originated with the canonical scriptures of Buddhism, but many of the visible aspects of the ceremonies originate from Chinese folk religion, and other local folk traditions (see Stephen Teiser's 1988 book, The Ghost Festival in Medieval China).

This process of syncretism is not limited to China: the ghost festival has parallels in Theravada Buddhism, such as the Cambodian Pchum Ben festival, reflecting the same assumptions about an annual opening of the gates of hell, and with the same (ultimately canonical) role of King Yama. In Tang Dynasty China, the Buddhist festival Ullambana (see below) and the Ghost Festival were mixed and celebrated together.

The Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrate on the 15th day of 7th Month in Chinese Calender. For the Chinese at South region, they celebrate this festival one day early since Song Dynasty to avoid the invading of the Mongolian army.



Taoism Origin : Zhong Yuan Festival

In Taoism, they have three "Yuan".

The first Yuan is The God Of Heaven
The Second Yuan is refer to the God Of Land / Hell
The Third Yuan is The God Of Water / Sea

The God of Heaven is celebrate his birthday dubbed The Shang Yuan Festival(上元节) on the middle of first month according to Chinese Calander.

The God of Heaven is celebrate his birthday on the middle of Seventh month in Chinese Calender， dubbed Zhong Yuan Festival (中元节), where "Zhong" is mean middle.

Finally, The God Of Sea is celebrate his birthday on the middle of Tenth month in Chinese Calender, dubbed Xia Yuan Jie (下元节)


While the God of Hell celebrate his birthday, the door of the Hell is open up, and temporary release the ghosts to our world.


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During this month, the gates of hell are opened up and ghosts are free to roam the earth where they seek food and entertainment.

These ghosts are believed to be ancestors of those who forgot to pay tribute to them after they died, or those who were never given a proper ritual send-off.

They have long needle-thin necks because they have not been fed by their family, or as a punishment so that they are unable to swallow.

Family members offer prayers to their deceased relatives, offer food and drink and burn hell bank notes and other forms of joss paper. Joss paper items are believed to have value in the afterlife, considered to be very similar in some aspects to the material world, People burn paper houses, cars, servants and televisions to please the ghosts.

Families also pay tribute to other unknown wandering ghosts so that these homeless souls do not intrude on their lives and bring misfortune.

A large feast is held for the ghosts on the fourteenth day of the seventh month, when people brings samples of food and places them on an offering table to please the ghosts and ward off bad luck.

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 include Chinese opera, dramas, and in some areas, even burlesque shows. These acts are better known as "Merry-making".

For rituals, Buddhists and Taoists 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.

During the evening, incense is burnt in front of the doors households. Incense stands for prosperity in Chinese culture, so families believe that there is more prosperity in burning more incense.

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.

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.

Source : Wikipedia - Hungry Ghost Festival, Chinese & English Version.