The 15th day of the seventh lunar month is the annual Ghost Festival in China, which Buddhism calls "Magnolia Festival". According to legend, on this day, Yan Luowang will open the gate of hell "the gate of hell" and let the imprisoned ghosts come out to move freely until the end of July. Therefore, during this period, it was popular among the people to worship their dead relatives, burn gold ingots, paper candles and set off river lanterns, so as to pray for ancestors' blessing, eliminate disasters and increase happiness, or cross over for dead souls and resolve grievances.
In fact, "Ghost Festival" originated from the "bonsai" of Buddhism. According to legend, Mu Lianzun, a disciple of Sakyamuni, lost his parents before attaining the Tao and missed his mother very much. When finished, he looked at the hell with his eyes and looked for his mother. As a result, he found that his mother fell into the hungry ghost road and the food entrance turned into a raging fire, which was terrible. Mu Lian was heartbroken, so he went to master Sakyamuni to ask for relief. Sakyamuni instructed that because your mother was sinful before her death, she fell into the hungry ghost road after her death and was beyond redemption. You can't get rid of it by yourself. You must gather everyone's strength to solve it. So Mulian went through all kinds of hardships, summoned monks and nuns, held a grand ceremony on July 15, crossed the undead in hell, and finally rescued his mother from suffering.
China's ghost culture has a long history. In primitive society, human beings advocated animism. The sacrificial law stipulates: "Anyone born between heaven and earth is robbing. Everything dies and people die. " Later, the concept of ghost became more and more obvious from animism, forming a unique culture and a huge ghost system, such as hell, ghost king, ten halls of hell and judges, black and white impermanence, cow's head and horse's face, Meng Po and other ghost officials, which were concentrated in folk customs, festivals and ghost stories.
There are generally two kinds of ghosts for Halloween sacrifice:
One is evil spirits, that is, ghosts who died abnormally, such as killing, drowning, burning to death, hanging and other ghosts, which are called Honky by the people. Evil spirits are an early concept in the thought of ghosts and gods. It is the direct response of primitive humans to the fear of death. Primitive people were quite afraid of the ghost of the murderer and often held different funeral ceremonies for it. Up to now, there is a saying among the people that the dead can't be reincarnated as ghosts or enter the city of death and never turn over. This kind of ghost is the most disgusting, and it often comes out as a disaster. After entering civilized society, human beings have added moral concepts to evil spirits, that is, they will join the ranks of evil spirits after they have committed crimes or done ambiguous things before their death. The main purpose of Buddhist "bonsai" is to cross over these evil spirits and let them alleviate their sins and grievances, thus alleviating their pain.
There is also a so-called "good ghost", mainly dead ancestors and relatives. This kind of ghost sacrifice is the embodiment of ancestor worship. In primitive society, the concepts of good ghost and evil ghost appeared almost simultaneously. People think that ghosts related to themselves will not harm themselves, but will also become a protective force for their own clan or descendants in the dark. This thought has had a far-reaching impact on the sacrifice and funeral customs of Chinese ghost culture, such as the ancestor worship activities in Tomb-Sweeping Day and Ghost Festival, in which the ghosts of dead relatives are brought back to enjoy sacrifices through ceremonies, and the ghosts are prayed for blessing and happiness.
Halloween in China is different from Halloween in the west. Modern Halloween has almost become a carnival with special significance. It does not have the function of remembering ancestors. China's Ghost Festival in the Central Plains is more serious and filial, and there are many taboos. For example, on Halloween, you can't go to the river alone, so as not to be dragged down by the drowning ghost and become its scapegoat; Engineering workers can't start laying the foundation stone on this day, and shops and factories don't choose this day as the opening day.
People are most familiar with the activities and customs of Ghost Festival in the mid-Yuan Dynasty, such as evoking souls to worship ancestors, doing things in Dojo and setting off river lanterns.
The necromancer here is different from the necromancer of a person who just died. The latter is a ritual after death, in order to let one's soul belong to the corpse and the tomb of XXX, so as not to become a lonely soul. The former's evocation is more secular and intimate, and it is a deep call for the dead relatives. Sacrificing ancestors generally begins after evocation, and customs vary from place to place, but most of them have rituals such as offering sacrifices to wine and food, lighting incense and candles, and burning paper money. After the sacrifice, the whole family can eat used wine and food.
When working in the Dojo, Buddhism is the "Orchestral Club", which is the concrete embodiment of the Buddhists' thoughts of boudoir, and it is often extremely grand, and there are not enough people, and the scene is huge. During this period, theatrical troupes were often invited to stage plays about ghosts and gods in the underworld, such as "Zhong Kui Marries a Sister" and "Legend of the White Snake", which were very popular among rural people.
The third item is the river lantern. This ancient custom may have originated in Liang Wudi during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. At that time, only monks set off river lanterns in the release pool, which was later spread to the people. It has become a beautiful custom for people to express their thoughts for their dead relatives and their blessings for the living. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, people use paper to make colorful lights such as lotus lamp, goldfish lamp, imp lamp, Guanyin lamp and Yuanbao lamp, which flash down the river, making the whole river look beautiful and poetic. Unfortunately, today, except for a few small towns with simple folk customs, it is difficult for people to see the activities of river lanterns, and these beautiful pictures can only be left in memories.
Other customs of Mid-Autumn Festival, such as Zhong Kui dancing and safe meals, have their own unique activities in many places.
The "Ghost Festival" in the Central Plains is also called "Filial Piety Festival", because the eyes of Buddhists are connected with saving their mothers, which is originally a story of filial piety. Coincidentally, Shun Di, the leader of the Central Plains, is also a great filial son, and China's Confucianism has always paid attention to filial piety, so it has been covered with a strong color of filial piety. Filial piety is one of the fine traditions of the Chinese nation, and Buddhist bonsai is also the embodiment of China people's spirit of fraternity and kindness. On these two points, as a traditional festival in China, Ghost Festival in the Central Plains undoubtedly has its positive significance.