There are three elements in the Lunar New Year in China-the 15th day of the first month of Shangyuan, the 15th day of July in the Central Plains and the 15th day of October in Xia Yuan. Among them, "Mid-Autumn Festival" is a festival in which three families are United because of the coincidence of time: this day is also a day for ordinary people to worship their ancestors, pray for blessings, express their reverence for history and miss their ancestors.
Ullambana Buddhist ceremony (July 15 of the lunar calendar, redemption of the souls of deceased ancestors)
The original sound of "Yulanben" is Sanskrit "Wulanpo", which means "save the upside down". Buddhists believe that a painful life is like hanging upside down from a tree and suffering. In order to avoid the suffering of all beings, Buddhists recite the Eye Bug Sutra in temples and give food to ghosts. This custom is said to have originated from the legend of "Mu Lian saves the mother". The venerable Mulian is one of the top ten disciples of the Buddha and has the most magical power. One day, when he was traveling in heaven, his father's soul told him that his mother was suffering from the evil spirits in hell. It turns out that his mother scolded the monk for eating dog meat because he didn't obey the rules. After her death, she was sent to hell and tortured by hungry ghosts.
Manglietia tried to take the rice in the bowl to her mother, but the rice was burnt to charcoal ash as soon as it entered. He had no choice but to ask the Buddha to teach him how to save his mother. The Buddha said that his mother's sin was too deep, so he had to list all the fruits in one pot, "support the top ten virtues, honor the grace of the public and save the anxious situation." Manglietia did it, and it really freed her mother from the pain of hanging upside down. After Buddhism's "Mulian Saving Mother" was introduced to China, it coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Central Plains. In fact, Buddhism wants to "purify" the ghosts of land and water, Taoism wants to "forgive sins" and Confucianism advocates "benevolence", all of which are interlinked. In this way, the customs and habits of the Mid-Autumn Festival combine the thoughts of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.
offer sacrifices to ancestors
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, every family worships their ancestors with rich wine and meat. People think that ancestors became ghosts after death, so ancestor worship has always been an important activity. It is prudent to pursue the future and remember ancestors. People hold various commemorative activities on this day to express their thoughts and reverence for their ancestors. On this day, from north to south and from east to west in Taiwan Province Province, people in twos and threes can be seen everywhere lighting incense sticks, offering three sacrifices and burning paper.
Zhongyuan pudu
People commonly call "Mid-Autumn Festival" as "Mid-Autumn Festival Pudu" and the seventh month of the lunar calendar as "Ghost Moon". Legend has it that Diwang Bodhisattva vowed to help all sentient beings, so on July 1st every year, ghosts in the underworld were allowed to return to Shi Yang to visit their relatives, friends and descendants, and they were not recalled to hell until the end of July.
The dead are unified on July 15, and a big farewell ceremony is held for all ghosts to enjoy the feast. By July 30, close the ghost door and let the ghost return to the underworld. On the first day of the seventh lunar month, as soon as the gate of hell opened, all the ghosts came to the world from the underworld. Since the beginning of July, in order to avoid disturbing their holidays, all exorcism activities, such as offering sacrifices to evil spirits, unannounced visits, and gods wandering around the country, have been suspended. People dare not act rashly in order to keep peace, weddings, funerals and celebrations. Few people choose to get married, move or start business in July, because July taboo has become a folk custom in Taiwan Province Province. Even if you don't believe it, you can't avoid it.
From the first day of the seventh lunar month to the thirtieth day of the seventh lunar month, every household should offer vegetarian meals. Purdue is divided into public schools and private schools. "Private Pudu" is a Pudu with streets, villages and other residential units as the main body. From the first day of July to the thirtieth day of July, everyone arranges time to take turns to go to Purdue. In the afternoon of Purdue, every household puts a sumptuous vegetable rice and other foods at the door. Put a stick of incense on each dish. The "case-solving", also known as the "temple case", was held on July 15, commonly known as "July 30", centered on temples in various villages and presided over by temple officials. During the "public servant" period, there was an altar in the temple. The sacred table in front of the altar is filled with all kinds of offerings (birds and beasts made of flour, fish and aquatic animals, historical figures, etc.). ). There is a papery "Master Master" next to the altar. He is the ghost king of the underworld and distributes offerings to all kinds of yin ghosts. The "Master Master" is also supervised by Guanyin Bodhisattva.
There is a paper box on the left and right sides of "Master Da Shi". On the left is the Hanlin Academy for the lonely souls of scholars to rest in peace, and on the right is the Tonggui Academy for other lonely souls to rest in peace. At the end of Purdue, there will be a ceremony of "burning the Lord", asking the ghost king to summon all the ghosts back to the underworld. Purdue has various offerings, but you can't use noodles. There are also many kinds of gold paper: Fujin, silver paper, square gold, longevity gold, warp paper, treasury money and so on. Burn incense and change clothes immediately after burning incense, and then continue to pick up incense on the sacrifice. Generally, gold paper is burned after three fragrances. Robbing orphans is the last activity of Purdue in the Central Plains. On the evening of July 30, near the "Ghost Gate", Purdue Square has set up a high platform-"Orphan Shed", filled with all kinds of offerings, and the team of orphans is ready to go.
The most famous orphan robbing activity in Toucheng, Yilan, extended to the old system. The "Orphan Shed" is built in two floors. The lower floor is several columns several stories high to support the "Orphan Shed", and the upper floor is more than a dozen "Orphan Stacks" filled with sacrifices, each of which is more than ten meters high. Sacrifices include food and pure gold medals, as well as a "downwind flag". The people who participated in the orphan robbery were divided into several groups, and each group had an orphan column. At the order of the host, each team scrambled to climb their own orphan columns, first captured the orphan shed, first threw sacrifices for people to grab, and then climbed to the top of the orphan pile to grab the "wind flag" and the gold medal. It is said that grabbing the "wind flag" can get shelter from ghosts and gods, and you can also go fishing in the sea with a full load. Legend has it that the origin of robbing orphans is because of fear of ghosts after gathering in Purdue. When ghosts rob orphans and see a group of people who are fiercer than themselves, they will be scared to flee back to the underworld.