"Ghost Festival", commonly known as "July and a half" (13th or 14th in some areas). It is said that the ancestors who died were released by Yan for half a month at the beginning of July, so there is a custom of receiving ancestors at the beginning of July and seeing them off at the end of July. When sending the ancestors, a lot of paper money was burned for the "ancestors to enjoy". At the same time, put money paper in a paper envelope with the name of the owner written on it, and burn it at the time of sacrifice, which is called "burning the bag". Those who died during the year burned new bags, and those who died more than one year burned old bags.
In Indian Buddhist ceremonies, Buddhists held a "Bonbon Meeting" in order to recommend their ancestors. The Bonbon Sutra in Buddhist scriptures was used to cultivate filial piety and encourage Buddhist disciples, which was in line with China's popular belief of seeking after the first and mourning for the distant, so it became more and more popular. The story of Mulian's rescue of Muer is widely circulated among the people: "Those who have Mulian monks have great powers. His mother fell into the hungry ghost road, and the food entrance turned into flames, and the hunger was too bitter. Mulian couldn't save her mother, so she asked the Buddha for advice. In order to talk about the scriptures of the orchid basin, she taught to make an orchid basin on July 15 to save her mother. "
China began to follow this example from the Liang Dynasty, and became the Mid-Yuan Festival. However, in addition to setting up a fast for monks, activities such as confessing and setting fire to the mouth were added later.