Legend has it that a long time ago, there was an Amnesty in the underground palace. On the first day of the seventh lunar month, Yan Luowang, who was in charge of hell, opened the gates of hell and released a group of ghosts who were not worshipped, and let them come to the dead to enjoy people's offerings until the last day of July.
In July of this year, Yan opened the gate of hell as usual, and those ghosts rushed out of it, vying for people to offer sacrifices to their ancestors. Most ghosts go out at night and run amok among the dead. At night, the world is in a panic, and the chickens and dogs are restless. Timid ghosts can't grab offerings. A knowledgeable ghost will be satisfied; Only a few bold ghosts are greedy and plundering. In this way, those ghosts who have offerings can't bear it, but they can't do anything. They have to seek more support from their living relatives again and again. Otherwise, their living relatives will suffer disaster. In this case, people complain and can't be at peace.
Just when the people in the necromancer group were at a loss, on the thirteenth day of the seventh lunar month, a monk came from nowhere. Monks travel all over the world on the grounds of begging. In fact, the Buddha sent them to visit and practice.
This monk is none other than Manglietia, one of the ten disciples of Buddha Sakyamuni.
Speaking of this monk, there is an episode. Manglietia's mother was greedy when she was alive. After her death, she was forced to starve to death. Manglietia thought of her mother's kindness and turned it into food with her own divine power. Her mother saw it and swallowed it for fear of being robbed by other ghosts. However, the food turned into a raging fire, and her mother was in great pain. Even if Mulian had divine power, he couldn't save Gui Mu, so he had to turn to the Buddha for help. The Buddha recited the Lan Jing for Manglietia's mother and asked Manglietia to hold an orchid party for her on July 15. Therefore, on July 15, in many places in China, there is a custom of holding an "Orchid Pot Meeting" to express the yearning for the exam.
Even after remembering the Buddha's kindness to save his mother, Mu decided to travel around the world from July 13 to July 15 every year to solve problems for the Lebanese people. Mu Lian prayed for Buddha's grace and came to earth.
As soon as Monk Manglietia came to the world, he was told the whole story. Manglietia Manglietia knew the reason very early, and he held the orchid basin meeting on July 15.
After the ceremony, Monk Manglietia told people that the offerings to ghosts in the underworld are all some food, which can only alleviate temporary hunger and can easily be taken away by other ghosts. The monk told everyone that while offering offerings, he should also send some mingbi to solve worries. It is said that there are so-called deals in the underworld. The monk also told people that when sending money to dead relatives and friends, don't forget to send a copy to those ghosts.
Then Monk Manglietia told people how to print and send Mingbi. People who send money to ghosts will put a stack of paper wallets with white paper in them. The names of the deceased and the sender should be written on the wallet, and a big "seal" should be written on the seal of the wallet. It is said that this will not only let the ghost who receives the money get his due share, but also prevent the money from being taken away by other ghosts. After wrapping your wallet, choose an address in the field, put an offering and start burning incense and money. The person who gave the money murmured something in his mouth, or prayed silently in his heart, saying something similar to asking the deceased to collect money quickly and pray for the blessing of future generations.
Since Monk Manglietia practiced, there has been an activity of boiling paper money on July 15 every year. The first few years really worked, and the world was at peace. However, after a few years, the situation became worse and worse. Not only those ghosts, but also several dead children came out to harm people. They not only robbed offerings and paper money, but also blackmailed ordinary people many times, causing human disasters, plagues and people's suffering. People are looking forward to the reappearance of Manglietia. At that time, I heard that in the underworld, there was a god named Zhong Kui who specialized in fighting evil spirits. If Zhong Kui can be invited, these evil spirits can be cured. However, Zhong Kui is the god of the celestial world, and we are mortal flesh. How can we please him? It is also said that as long as the statue of Zhong Kui is invited, he will follow.
Then in July of 15, when people held sacrificial activities, they really invited the statue of Zhong Kui. I saw Zhong Kui on the screen, a tough guy on campus, looking weird and murderous.
Zhong Kui is a mortal, not only brilliant, knowledgeable, but also honest. What is even more hateful is that it is easy to be attacked after death. According to legend, it was named "Blessed Town House" for its meritorious service in treating Tang disease, interpreting dreams and exorcising ghosts. Since then, the God of Zhong Kui has been hung around the world, praying for peace.
People burn incense and paper in front of the statue of Zhong Kui and kowtow to the gods. Zhong Kui really came down from the painting. However, this scene can only be seen by admonished monks and experienced people. After Zhong Kui returned to earth, he caught many evil spirits and unscrewed their heads to eat. Since then, those evil spirits have been brought to justice. When Zhong Kui left the mortal world, he left six words: "Kill the ghost and eat the head."
How do people on earth eat ghosts? Later, an expert realized the truth and thought of a way to make all kinds of flour into the shape of the so-called ghost head, then steam or cook it, and said while eating: "Eat the ghost head, eat the ghost head." In this way, those evil spirits were really scared away.
For thousands of years,