Why is the Zhongyuan Festival called the Ghost Festival? Can I take wedding photos?

Why is the Zhongyuan Festival called the Ghost Festival? Can I take wedding photos?
The Zhongyuan Festival is a traditional festival for ancestor worship and is also an important festival. In folk culture, people also call the Zhongyuan Festival the Ghost Festival. So why is the Zhongyuan Festival called the Ghost Festival? Can we take wedding photos? Let’s take a look at the following content!

Why is the Zhongyuan Festival called the Ghost Festival?

During the Ghost Festival, the gates of hell open wide and hundreds of ghosts roam the world at night. At this time, people generally hold activities to worship ghosts. Families that have recently lost a loved one must visit the new grave, and generally offer sacrifices to lonely ghosts in the local area. It is said that if one stays in the wilderness on this night, one will see the strange spectacle of hundreds of ghosts parading at night, hence the name Ghost Festival.
Ghost Festival is also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival. Together with Qingming Festival and Cold Clothes Festival, it is known as one of the three major ghost festivals in China. Among them, the Mid-Autumn Festival is the largest sacrificial festival and also the largest ghost festival. The entire festival is centered around worshiping ghosts. On this day, every family worships their ancestors, and some even hold family banquets, performing rituals when offering sacrifices. Three rounds of pouring wine indicate that the ancestral feast is over and the family will sit together again to have a festive dinner. After dark, take firecrackers, paper money, incense and candles, find a secluded flat area by a river or pond, and sprinkle a circle with lime to indicate a restricted area. Then pour some rice and water in the circle, burn some paper money, set off firecrackers, and respectfully send the ancestors off to the "underworld".

Can I go back to my parents' home during the Ghost Festival?

You can't go back to your parents' home. The Ghost Festival is the Ghost Festival, when all the ghosts come out, so you can't go home. According to custom, a daughter goes back to her parents' home on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month to worship her parents. If both parents are still alive, she shouldn't go home, not even on the 14th day of the seventh lunar month. She can go home on the 16th day of the seventh lunar month because people believe that the 15th day of the seventh lunar month is the Ghost Festival, so it's unlucky to go back to your parents' home. People are also not allowed to visit anyone casually.

Ghost Festival

The Ghost Festival, a traditional Chinese festival, is also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Fourteenth Day of the Seventh Month, the Ancestor Worship Festival, the Ullambana Festival, and the Earth God Festival. The main festival customs include worshiping ancestors, releasing river lanterns, worshiping the dead, burning paper ingots, and worshiping the land. "Zhongyuan Festival" is the name given by Taoism, and it is commonly known as "the 15th day of the seventh month" (or "the 14th day of the seventh month") in the folk society. Its origin can be traced back to the ancestor worship and related sacrifices in ancient times. The festival is related to the ancient culture's theory of the cycle of yin and yang. In the Book of Changes, "seven" is a changing number and the number of resurrection. July is an auspicious month and a month for filial piety. The Mid-July Festival is a folk festival in early autumn to celebrate the harvest and to thank the earth. When some crops mature, people will worship their ancestors and offer new rice as sacrifices to report the autumn harvest to their ancestors. This festival is a traditional cultural festival to commemorate ancestors, and its cultural core is respecting ancestors and being filial.

What can’t you do during the Ghost Festival?

1. Avoid bringing red ropes, bells, wind chimes and other ghost-attracting objects, and try to avoid going out. If you encounter incidents such as being possessed by a ghost or being trapped in a ghost wall, don't panic. Concentrate all your attention and open your eyes.
2. Do not stick chopsticks in the middle of the rice! This is a form of worship, just like sticking incense in an incense burner. This will only attract ghosts to share food with you.
3. Don’t travel at night! People with weak horoscopes should never travel at night, otherwise they will only ask for trouble.
4. Don’t take photos at night! This may easily include your friends from the spirit world in the photos and then take them home.
5. Do not steal the offerings! These are foods for ghosts. Using them without their consent will only bring you troubles that are difficult to resolve.
6. Don’t hang clothes out to dry at night! When a ghost thinks your clothes are nice, he will borrow them to wear and leave his scent on the clothes.
7. Don’t call out names! When walking at night, never call out names. Try to use code names to avoid troubles caused by ghosts remembering your name.
8. Don’t swim! Ghosts will play the ghost-lifting game with you at this time, and you will be in trouble if you are not careful!
9. Don’t whistle! So as not to disturb the ghost’s actions.
10. Don’t play with the Ouija board! It’s easy for something to go wrong if you play with it at normal times, let alone during this spooky time.

<<:  Why do we burn paper money during the Ghost Festival? When is the best time to start burning paper money?

>>:  Are people born in the year of Chushu in 2020 good? Analysis of the fortune in the year of Chushu!

Recommend

Is November 14th of the lunar calendar 2019 a suitable day to pray for a child?

Is November 14th of the lunar calendar 2019 a suit...

What is the date and day of April 16th in the lunar calendar 2019?

The fourth month of the lunar calendar has alread...

Lunar calendar July 2017 auspicious days, auspicious days query

Days can be auspicious or inauspicious, so when we...