Why is the midyear festival called the Ghost Festival Why is the midyear festival called the Ghost F

The midyear festival is a traditional Chinese sacrificial festival, and the midyear festival is also known as the Obon Festival and the Ghost Festival.

The festival customs mainly include worshipping ancestors, releasing river lanterns, worshipping the souls of the dead, burning paper ingots, sacrificing land, etc. Its production can be traced back to the worship of ancestral spirits in ancient times and related time sacrifices.

July is the auspicious month, filial piety month, July and a half is the folk early autumn celebration of the harvest, reward the earth of the festival, there are a number of crops ripe, the folk according to the routine to worship the ancestors, with new rice and other sacrifices, to the ancestors to report the autumn success.

The midyear festival is a kind of cultural traditional festival to remember the ancestors, and its cultural core is to respect the ancestors and fulfill filial piety.

Every year on the 15th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is the "Bon Festival", also known as the "Midyear Festival" (in a certain sense, the Midyear Festival belongs to Taoism, and the Obon Festival belongs to Buddhism), and in some places it is commonly known as the "Ghost Festival", "Shi Gu", also known as the Day of the Dead, and the half of July.

Halloween", popularly known as "July and a half" (thirteen or fourteen in some areas). It is said that the ancestors who passed away were released by the king of Hades for half a month in early July, so there is a custom of receiving ancestors in early July and sending ancestors in half of July. When sending to the ancestors, a lot of paper money and wealth are burned so that "the ancestors can enjoy it".

At the same time, money paper is placed in a paper envelope with the name of the person who enjoys it, and it is burned during the festival, which is called "burning bag". Those who have passed away within the year will burn new bags, and those who have passed away for more than a year will burn old bags.

Rich and poor, they should prepare wine, food, and paper money to pay tribute to the deceased to show their remembrance of their deceased ancestors. The mid-year festival is generally seven days, and there are new dead and old dead. Those who died within three years are called new deceased, and those who died three years ago are called old deceased.

Superstition says that the old and the new should go home to see during this time, and it is also said that the time for the new and old dead to come back is not the same, the new dead will return first, and the old dead will return later. Therefore, they should be sacrificed separately. The time to burn paper money is chosen in the dead of night, first sprinkle a few circles in the yard with lime, saying that it is to burn the paper money in the circle and the lonely ghosts dare not come to rob it, and then burn it in a pile, and keep chattering in the mouth when burning:

So-and-so came to collect the money. "In the end, I have to burn a bunch outside the circle, saying that it is for lonely souls and wild ghosts. On the day when the deceased go back, whether rich or poor, they must cook a good meal to honor the deceased, also known as "sending the dead".

July 15 is the Midyear Festival. It is mainly used to worship ancestors, so it is also called Ghost Festival.

Varies from place to place The north wind is generally called that.

Why is the Midyear Festival called Halloween?

The festival is called the Ghost Festival because folklore has it that the seventh half of the month coincides with the alternation of summer and autumn, and it is also the node of the alternation of heaven and earth, when the heaven and earth palace will open the gates of hell and release ghosts, who will return to the sun to forage for food and enjoy people's sacrifices. There are many customs related to ancestor worship during the midyear festival, such as burning paper, burning incense, lighting cannons, jumping into the sky and shouting celebration lanterns, etc.

The Midyear Festival is called the Ghost Festival because July happens to be the time when spring and autumn alternate, and this time also happens to be the node of the alternation of yin and yang of natural enemies. On this day, the gates of hell open the ghosts, and these spirits go to the sun to feed and enjoy the sacrifices of the people.

Zhengzhengzhou is called the Ghost Festival because of the Midyear Festival, so there are many customs about sacrificing ghosts on this day, such as people will hold folk activities such as ancestor worship, paper burning, incense and cannons. At the same time, Guangxi has the custom of jumping sky lanterns, and the old sky dancing lanterns are to expel epidemic ghosts.

Another name for the Midyear Festival

In addition to being called the Ghost Festival, the Midyear Festival is also called the Seventh Half and Obon Festival. The name of the Zhongyuan Festival comes from the Taoist saying after the Eastern Han Dynasty, so the Zhongyuan Festival belongs to Taoism. The half of July is the ancestral festival of the people in ancient times, so the half of July belongs to the folk secular.

Whereas, Obon is a traditional festival of Buddhism.

The Zhongyuan Festival is commonly known as the Day of the Dead, and the July Qin Ji Finger Half, which is an ancient traditional festival in China, and is known as the three major ghost festivals together with the Qingming Festival and the Winter Clothes Festival.

The Zhongyuan Festival, which began in the Northern Wei Dynasty, has been more than a thousand years old, and on this day, the custom of putting out lamps to allow ghosts to be reincarnated has been inherited from the times, and the characteristics of the times have been integrated into the development process.

In Buddhism, on the day of the seventh and a half months, we should be grateful to repay our parents for their growth and nurturing. Therefore, on the day of the Midyear Festival, a life of death can not only express the sorrow for the deceased, but also make people remember the kindness of their parents.

Introduction: Midyear Festival, commonly known as "Ghost Festival", "July and a half", Buddhism called "Obon", Midyear Festival in the lunar calendar on the 15th day of July, some also have on July 14th, on the day of the festival, people bring sacrifices, to the grave to pay tribute to the ancestors, similar to the tomb on the Qingming Festival.

Reasons: 1. The traditional "Zhongyuan Festival" is July 15 of the lunar calendar. Originated from Buddhist classics, it is said that Mu Lian saw her deceased mother in the underworld who was entangled by hungry ghosts and could not eat, so she asked the Buddha for help, and the Buddha felt his filial piety and granted the "Obon Sutra", allowing him to set up a vegetarian feast for his mother on July 15 every year, and then passed it on, so it became the tradition of "Obon".

2. Buddhism originated in India, but "Mulian saves her mother" is obviously a legend after sinicization, because Mulian's mother's surname is "Liu".

3. The "Bon Festival" existed in the time of Emperor Wu of Liang, and it was finalized and matured in the Song Dynasty. This festival was later used by Taoism, and became the "Earth Official Festival" in the Three Officials (i.e., Heavenly Officials, Earth Officials, and Water Officials) Festival, and the Earth Officials were in charge of hell, so people wore and said: This day is a day when the leaders are on holiday, and Hell is unguarded, so the deceased in the underworld will return to the world along the light of the Milky Way.

Therefore, every household puts river lanterns, in order to continue the road of the Milky Way in front of people and welcome the heroic spirits of their ancestors.

Therefore, the Midyear Festival is also called the "Ghost Festival".

Zhongyuan Festival, commonly known as "Ghost Festival", the legend is that the cave of the house is opened, ghosts come out in all directions, and there is a folk proverb that "in the middle of July, ghosts run around". Those who have worshippers go home to be worshiped by their descendants, and those who do not worship should ask Buddhism and Taoism to do things and not make them wander. It can be said that the Zhongyuan Festival is the Day of the Dead in ancient China.

The Midyear Festival originated from the belief in the dead and ancestor worship. "All things are from heaven, and people are from their ancestors", and worshipping heaven and ancestors has become the two major priorities of ancient religious life. For the common people, ancestors are connected with their own flesh and blood, and their emotions are connected, and worshipping ancestors is particularly meaningful.

The midyear festival was developed on the basis of the ancient autumn festival customs.

In ancient society, people originally only had the concept of spring and autumn, and the year was divided into spring and autumn. Due to the low level of agricultural science and technology, people often pinned their hopes on the gods, and gradually formed the habit of reporting in spring and autumn. Although there were four festivals in spring, summer, autumn and winter, the most important one was still the spring and autumn sacrifice.

At first, the festival date was not fixed, but gradually it was fixed around July 15. Because this day is the first day of the second half of the year, and it is generally the first full moon night after the beginning of autumn, it is an excellent choice to sacrifice to the dead on the occasion of the new arrival of autumn and the increasing yin energy.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Buddhism flourished, and the story of "Muren Saving Mother" was widely spread, and finally evolved into the Bon Festival. Taoism also has the saying of "three officials and three yuan", which will be May.

Ten. May, July.

Ten. 5. October 15 is designated as the upper, middle and lower three yuan, which are the birthdays of heavenly officials, earth officials, and water officials, and become the three-yuan festival for heavenly officials to bless, earth officials to forgive sins, and water officials to relieve misfortune. As a result, the Midyear Festival has become a common festival for monks, Taoists, and laymen.