| Ghost Festival | |
 An array of foods being offered to the deceased | |
| Official name | Buddhism: Ullambana (TC: 盂蘭盆, SC: 盂兰盆 Yúlánpén) Taoism and Folk Belief: Zhōngyuán Jié (TC: 中元節, SC: 中元节) |
|---|---|
| Also called | Ghost Month |
| Observed by | Buddhists, Taoists, Chinese folk religion believers |
| Type | Asian and Buddhist festival |
| Significance | The opening of the gates of Hell, permitting all ghosts to receive food and drink |
| Date | Fourteenth night of the 7th lunar month |
| 2008 date | August 15 |
| Observances | Ancestor worship, offering food (to monks as well as deceased), burning joss paper, chanting of scriptures |
| Related to | Obon |
The Ghost Festival (simplified Chinese: 中元节; traditional Chinese: 中元節; pinyin: zhōngyuánjié) is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday, which is celebrated by Chinese in many countries. A number of noted individuals have been Buddhists. Historical Buddhist thinkers and founders of schools Individuals are grouped by nationality except in cases where the Taoism (pronounced /ˈdaʊɪzəm/ or /ˈtaʊɪzəm/ also spelled '''Daoism''') refers to a variety of related Philosophical and Religious traditions Chinese folk religion is a collective label given to various folkloric beliefs that draws heavily from Chinese mythology. Events 778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed For the spanish municipality see Obón. or just is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the departed (deceased Spirits Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National A festival is an event usually and ordinarily staged by a local community which centers on some unique aspect of that community Lists of holidays The words holiday or vacation have related meanings in different English-speaking countries and continents but will usually refer to one of In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh lunar month. The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, incorporating elements of a Lunar calendar with those of a Solar calendar. A lunisolar calendar is a Calendar in many Cultures whose date indicates both the Moon phase and the time of the solar Year.
In Chinese tradition, the thirteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. The Culture of China (traditional Chinese 中國文化 simplified Chinese 中国文化 is home to one of the world's oldest and most complex Civilizations covering a history A ghost is said to be the apparition of a Deceased person frequently similar in appearance to that person and usually encountered in places she or he frequented The English word " spirit " comes from the Latin " spiritus " (breath In the study of Mythology and Religion, the underworld (gr κάτω κόσμος) is a generic term approximately equivalent to the lay term Afterlife During the Qingming Festival the living descendants pay homage to their ancestors and on Ghost Day, the deceased visit the living. The Qingming Festival ( Vietnamese language: Tết Thanh Minh meaning Clear and Bright Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival on the 104th day after
On the thirteenth day the three realms of Heaven, Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Heaven may refer to the physical heavens the sky or the seemingly endless expanse of the Universe beyond Hell, according to many Religious beliefs, is a location in the Afterlife, which may be described as a place of suffering Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths. Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mache form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors. Incense is composed of Aromatic biotic materials It releases fragrant Smoke when burned Papier-mâché ( French for 'chewed-up paper' because of its appearance sometimes called paper-mâché, is a construction material that consists of pieces of Elaborate meals would be served with empty seats for each of the deceased in the family treating the deceased as if they are still living. Ancestor worship is what distinguishes Qingming Festival from Ghost Festival because the former includes paying respects to all deceased, including the same and younger generations, while the latter only includes older generations. Other festivities may include, burying and releasing miniature paper boats and lanterns on water, which signifies giving directions to the lost ghosts and spirits of the ancestors and other deities. A lantern is a Portable Lighting device used to illuminate broad areas
The Ghost Festival shares some similarities with the predominantly Mexican observance of El Día de los Muertos. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. The Due to theme of ghosts and spirits, the festival is sometimes also known as the Chinese Halloween, though many have debated the difference between the two.
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Buddhist Ghost Festival: Ullambana
Both Chinese Buddhists and Taoists claim that the Ghost Festival originated with their religion but its roots are probably in Chinese folk religion and antedates both religions (see Stephen 1988 book, The Ghost Festival in Medieval China). In the Tang Dynasty, the Buddhist festival Ullambana and the Ghost Festival were mixed and celebrated together. The Tang Dynasty ( Middle Chinese: dhɑng (June 18 618&ndashJune 4 907 was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by
Ullambana Origin
The Buddha's joyful day
To Buddhists, the seventh lunar month is a month of joy. This is because the fifteenth day of the seventh month is often known as the Buddha's joyful day and the day of rejoice for monks. The origins of the Buddha's joyful day can be found in various scriptures. When the Buddha was alive, his disciples meditated in the forests of India during the rainy season of summer. Three months later, on the fifteen day of the seventh month, they would emerge from the forests to celebrate the completion of their meditation and report their progress to the Buddha. In the Ullambana Sutra, the Buddha instructs his disciple Maudgalyāyana on how to obtain liberation for his mother, who had been reborn into a lower realm, by making food offerings to the sangha on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. Maudgalyayana ( Pali: Moggallāna also known as Mahamaudgalyayana or Mahamoggallāna, was one of the Buddha Shakyamuni 's closest disciples Because the number of monks who attained enlightenment during that period was high, the Buddha was very pleased.
Mahāmaudgalyāyana saves his mother from hell
The Buddhist origins of the festival can be traced back to a story that originally came from India, but later took on culturally Chinese overtones. In the Ullambana Sutra, there is a descriptive account of a Buddhist monk named Mahāmaudgalyāyana, originally a brahmin youth who later ordained, and later becoming one of the Buddha's chief disciples. The Ullambana Sutra is a Mahayana Sutra which consists in a brief discourse given by the Gautama Buddha principally to the monk Maudgalyāyana Maudgalyayana ( Pali: Moggallāna also known as Mahamaudgalyayana or Mahamoggallāna, was one of the Buddha Shakyamuni 's closest disciples Mahāmaudgalyāyana was also known for having clairvoyant powers, an uncommon trait amongst monks.
After he attained arhatship, he began to think deeply of his parents, and wondered what happened to them. In the sramanic traditions of ancient India (most notably those of Mahavira and Gautama Buddha) arhat ( Sanskrit) or arahant He used his clairvoyance to see where they were reborn and found his father in the heavenly realms i. e the realm of the gods. However, his mother had been reborn in a lower realm, known as the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. Preta ( Sanskrit) or Peta ( Pāli) Tibetan yidvags, is the name for a type of Supernatural being described in Buddhist His mother took on the form of a hungry ghost--- so called because it could not eat due to its highly thin & fragile throat in which no food could pass through, yet it was always hungry because it had a fat belly. In East Asian religion a hungry ghost is a kind of Ghost associated with Hunger common to many religions His mother had been greedy with the money he left her. He had instructed her to kindly host any Buddhist monks that ever came her way, but instead she withheld her kindness and her money. It was for this reason she was reborn in the realm of hungry ghosts.
Mahāmaudgalyāyana eased his mother's suffering by receiving the instructions of feeding pretas from the Buddha. Siddhārtha Gautama ( Sanskrit; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual Teacher from Ancient India and the founder The Buddha instructed Mahāmaudgalyāyana to place pieces of food on a clean plate, reciting a mantra seven times, snap his fingers then tip the food on clean ground. By doing so, the preta's hunger was relieved and through these merits, his mother was reborn as a dog under the care of a noble family.
Mahāmaudgalyāyana also sought the Buddha's advice to help his mother gain a human birth. The Buddha established a day after the traditional summer retreat (the 15th day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar, usually mid-to-late August) on which Mahāmaudgalyāyana was to offer food and robes to 500 bhikkhus. A Bhikkhu ( Pāli) or Bhiksu ( Sanskrit) is a fully ordained male Buddhist Monastic. Through the merits created, Mahāmaudgalyāyana's mother finally gained a human birth.
Due to Confucian influence, the offering became directed towards ancestors rather than the Sangha and ancestor worship has replaced the simple ritual of relieving the hunger of pretas. This article concerns the concept of Sangha in Buddhism. For information on other senses see Sangha (disambiguation. However, most Buddhist temples still continue the ancient practice of donating to the Sangha as well as to perform rituals for the hungry ghosts.
A difference between the two festivals
Chinese Buddhists often say that there is a difference between Ullambana and the traditional Chinese Zhongyuan Jie, usually saying people have mixed superstitions (such as burning joss paper items) and delusional thoughts, rather than think that Ullambana is actually a time of happiness. This time of happiness is sometimes used as a reason for the festival to be called as the Chinese Halloween. Halloween, or Hallowe’en, is a Holiday celebrated on the night of October 31.
Japan: Chūgen
Chūgen (中元), also Ochūgen (お中元), is an annual event in Japan on July 15th when people give gifts to one's superiors and acquaintances. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final One of the three days that form the sangen (三元?) of Daoism, it is sometimes considered a Zassetsu in the Japanese calendar. Taoism (pronounced /ˈdaʊɪzəm/ or /ˈtaʊɪzəm/ also spelled '''Daoism''') refers to a variety of related Philosophical and Religious traditions Since January 1, 1873, Japan has used the Gregorian calendar, with local names for the months and mostly fixed holidays Originally it was an annual event for giving gifts to the ancestral spirits.
O-bon
O-bon, or simply Bon, is the Japanese version of the Ghost Festival. It has since been transformed over time into a family reunion holiday during which people from the big cities return to their home towns and visit and clean their ancestors' graves.
Traditionally including a dance festival, it has existed in Japan for more than 500 years. It is held from 13th of July to the 16th ("Welcoming Obon" and "Farewell Obon" respectively) in the eastern part of Japan (Kantō), and in August in the western part (Kansai). The is a Geographical area of Honshū, the largest Island of Japan. The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan 's main island Honshū.
Vietnam: "Tết Trung Nguyên"
This festival is the chance for pardoning guilty ghosts which are homeless and not be taken care of. People worship ghosts and liberate animals, such as birds or fish.
Influenced by Buddhism, this holiday is also the Vu Lan festival，the Vietnamese transliteration for Ullambana. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices The festival is also considered Mother's Day. People with living mothers would be thankful, while people with dead mothers would pray for their souls.
References
Source: Pinyin translated with CozyChinese.COM
See also
- Ancestor worship
- Buddhism
- Nine Emperor God / Festival of Nine Emperor God (Chinese: 九皇爺, Hokkien: Kow Ong Yah, Cantonese: Kow Wong Yeh)
- Ghost Festival in Malaysia
- Halloween
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