Why is there the Ghost Festival? What is the origin of the Ghost Festival? What are the legends about the Ghost Festival?
In Taoism, the 15th day of the seventh lunar month is called the Zhongyuan Festival. Want to know more about the Ghost Festival? Every day has good and bad days, auspicious and inauspicious days. If you want to know more about the auspicious and inauspicious days in the seventh month of the lunar calendar in 2021, please pay attention to the relevant articles about the seventh month of the lunar calendar in 2021 compiled by Shuimo.com!What is the origin of the Ghost Festival?The Zhongyuan Festival originated from the earlier "Mid-July Festival", which is a festival to celebrate the harvest and worship ancestors in autumn.The origin of "Mid-July Festival" can be traced back to the ancient ancestor worship and harvest festivals. In ancient times, people often relied on the protection of gods for a good harvest. Ancestor worship takes place in spring, summer, autumn and winter, but the "autumn tasting" in early autumn is particularly important. Autumn is the harvest season. People hold ceremonies to offer sacrifices to the spirits of their ancestors, first offering seasonal delicacies to the gods, then tasting the fruits of their labor and praying for a good harvest in the coming year. It was not until the Eastern Han Dynasty (around the Northern Wei Dynasty) that Taoism began to call the "Mid-July" the Zhongyuan Festival. Among the Taoist gods there are the Heavenly Official, the Earthly Official, and the Water Official, collectively known as the "Three Great Officials". They are the representatives sent by the Emperor of Heaven to the human world. They inspect the merits and demerits of the human world on the "Three Yuan Days" to determine rewards and punishments: "The Heavenly Official bestows blessings on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Earthly Official pardons sins on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, and the Water Official relieves disasters on the fifteenth day of the tenth lunar month." The Earthly Official is in charge of the underworld, and naturally the focus of his inspections is the ghosts. The Zhongyuan Festival, Shangyuan Festival and Xiayuan Festival are collectively called the "Three Yuan Festivals". It is said that on the day of the Zhongyuan Festival, the underground palace opens the gates of hell, which is also the day when hell opens. All ghosts have to leave the underworld and be tested. Ghosts with owners go home, while ghosts without owners wander around the human world, looking for food everywhere. Therefore, it is also called the Ghost Festival. Activities to worship ghosts are generally held, and lotus lanterns are lit to light the way home for the dead souls. The Taoist temple held a grand ceremony to pray for good fortune, and Taoist priests held a ceremony to pray for the souls of the deceased to be liberated. In addition, the Zhongyuan Festival is called the Yulan Festival in Buddhism. Although it is similar to the Zhongyuan Festival, it is a different festival. People generally call this day the Ghost Festival. What are the legends about the Ghost Festival?In the ancient Ghost Festival, there was a legend about "paper money".It is said that after Cai Lun of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) invented papermaking, his business flourished and he made a lot of money. His brother Cai Mo and sister-in-law Hui Niang were very envious when they saw this. Hui Niang asked Cai Mo to learn papermaking from Cai Lun. But Cai Mo lacked perseverance, and he hastily opened a papermaking shop before he had mastered the skills. As a result, the paper they produced was of poor quality and no one was interested in it. The couple was left worried about the room full of paper. Finally, Hui Niang came up with a clever plan and whispered it to Cai Mo. That night, the neighbors suddenly heard loud crying coming from Cai Mo's house. When everyone rushed over to ask, they found out that Hui Niang had died suddenly last night. The next morning, Cai Mo cried bitterly in front of Hui Niang's coffin in front of his neighbors. Crying and burning paper. As the fire was burning, I suddenly heard a noise coming from the coffin. After a while, Hui Niang's voice was heard again, "Open the door, open the door quickly, I'm back." Everyone was stunned, and finally they mustered up the courage to open the coffin lid. Hui Niang jumped out and told her neighbors that after her death she went to the underworld, where the King of Hell made her suffer by turning a millstone. Because Cai Mo burned a lot of paper money for her, the little ghosts all vied to turn the mill for her. She gave the money to the King of Hell again, and he let her go. Cai Mo deliberately asked: "Didn't I give you any money?" Hui Niang pointed to the burning fire and said: "That's money! The underworld uses paper as paper." When Cai Mo heard this, he immediately went to get two large bundles of paper to burn, saying that it would reduce the suffering of his parents in the underworld. When the neighbors saw this, they realized that paper money was so useful, so they all paid money to buy the paper made by Cai Mo. After the news spread, within a few days, all of Cai Mo's paper was sold out. Since Hui Niang returned to life on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, people would burn incense and paper for their ancestors every year on this day. This custom has been passed down to this day. Do you want to know your own Bazi? Want to figure out where your golden marriage is? Click on the [Premium Calculation] below to calculate your horoscope and fortune! |
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