Do we need to visit graves during the Ghost Festival? Should we visit graves on the Ghost Festival in advance or on the day itself?

Do we need to visit graves during the Ghost Festival? Should we visit graves on the Ghost Festival in advance or on the day itself?
Tomb sweeping also requires choosing a suitable time. So, let’s take a look at whether we need to visit graves on the Ghost Festival? Should we visit graves on the Ghost Festival in advance or on the day itself? July is also called Qiao Yue, Gua Yue, Orchid Autumn, Zhao Qiu, New Autumn, First Autumn, Xiang Yue, Meng Qiu and Early Autumn. Come to Mr. Shui Mo's website to learn more details about the seventh month of the lunar calendar in 2020.

Do we need to visit graves during the Ghost Festival?

Whether or not to visit graves during the Ghost Festival depends mainly on local customs and habits .
The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month every year is the traditional Chinese Ghost Festival, which is one of the important sacrificial festivals in my country. In many places in our country, there is a custom of visiting graves and worshipping ancestors.
But it does not mean that every place needs to visit graves during the Ghost Festival.
There is a saying among our folks that ancestors will return home to visit their descendants on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, so it is necessary to worship them. This act of ancestor worship is a manifestation of the traditional ethics of respecting the dead, remembering the past, and consolidating the roots, and is a cultural tradition of gratitude to ancestors. It is the time for harvesting crops in the early autumn, and it is also a good time to share the joy of the harvest with ancestors. The worship ceremony is usually held in the evening in mid-July. On ordinary days, people worship their ancestors, but usually their tablets are not moved. When it comes to the "Mid-July" ancestor worship, the tablets of the ancestors must be taken out one by one and placed respectfully on a special offering table used for worship. Incense is then burned in front of each ancestor's tablet. Tea and food are offered three times a day, in the morning, noon and evening. Because customs vary slightly from place to place, the ways of celebrating festivals are also different, and the time of festivals may also vary.

Should we visit graves on the Ghost Festival in advance or on the day itself?

It is recommended to visit the graves on the Ghost Festival on the same day. It is not recommended to go earlier or later.
Because the Zhongyuan Festival is actually a day to worship ancestors and remember their ancestors. On this day, the underworld will release all ghosts and let them return to the world of the living to reunite with their relatives. Therefore, people generally carry out activities to worship ghosts on this day, such as visiting graves, burning incense, and burning paper. If you burn paper, burn incense, or visit graves in advance, the ghosts of your relatives have not yet returned to the world of the living, and will not be able to receive your kindness. Therefore, according to general folk rules, you cannot visit graves, burn incense, or burn paper in advance on the Ghost Festival.

Introduction to the time and place of visiting graves during the Zhongyuan Festival

The best time to visit graves and pay respects to ancestors on the Ghost Festival is after 21:00 at night, but no later than 0:00; if you do it during the day, it should be before noon (12:00).
Places for worshipping ancestors during the Ghost Festival can be: 1. cemeteries; 2. temples; 3. Taoist temples; 4. ancestral halls (family temples); 5. Remote worship.

What offerings should be brought to the graves during the Ghost Festival?

Generally speaking, it is auspicious to put an odd number of fruits in offering sacrifice to ancestors. That is to say, if you want to put apples, 1, 3, or 5 are all fine.
As for the choice of fruits, they are generally mainly produced locally. The more commonly used fruits are apples (to pray for peace) and grapefruit (to mean having children).
During the Ghost Festival, people generally do not worship bananas, plums and pears because when pronounced in the Minnan dialect, they sound like "招、你、来", and according to legend, this will attract good brothers to your home. Also, avoid using some fruits that are too strange.

It doesn’t mean that people born on the same day have the same fate. Do you want to know what your fate is? Click on the following exquisite calculation to predict your destiny.

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