Mid-Autumn Festival, commonly known as Ghost Festival and Bonihara Festival, is a big festival to worship ghosts and gods on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month every year.
Legend about Mid-Autumn Festival
The first statement:
The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from Taoism, and later Buddhism changed to what is now commonly known as Ghost Festival. In India, Magnolia Festival means "hanging upside down". "Hanging upside down" means that the mother of Mulian, the top ten disciple of Sakyamuni, was unable to eat because she was hungry after her death. Later, I got help from Sakyamuni. Support the ten gods and buddhas with a hundred flavors and five fruits, and save the mother with merits. So now, in order to sacrifice ghosts, Purdue Festival is held in July of Ghost Month, which is now called Ghost Festival. Generally speaking, in ancient times, people were reluctant to do important things such as getting married this month.
The second statement:
As for the origin of the Ghost Festival, it is said that the Bodhisattva Diksitigarbha, also known as [the Lord of Hell], came to the underworld after her mother died, was imprisoned in her cell, and suffered from various eighteen levels of hell. Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha is a dutiful son and can't bear to see his mother suffer. On July 15, he had an affair and asked the boy guarding the cell to secretly open the cell door and let his mother out. Who knows it's not important? Those ghosts who run back to their hometown ask for money from home, let them go back to life and get through their joints, hoping to support their lives as soon as possible. Later, people designated this day as Ghost Festival. On Halloween, people will burn paper money and offer sacrifices to show their respect for their deceased relatives.
On the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, both Buddhism and Taoism summarized their criticisms, and both of them conducted corresponding textual research activities. The difference is that the Taoist investigation report points to people, that is, the date of birth of the school. Buddhist concluding comments are all made internally. Both the birth date of the external school and the internal criticism meeting show that Buddhism and Taoism attach importance to July 15th. Or explain the importance of this day in Buddhist and Taoist festivals. Coupled with the so-called ghost festival, this time is even more colorful. School birthdays and self-indulgent days are only a small part of this season's customs and activities. In addition, there are important festival activities in the year, such as offering sacrifices to ancestors, offering sacrifices to ghosts, and holding orchid pots.
Kasahara Festival is an important ceremony in the Buddhist New Year ceremony. For example, it is held on July 15 every year, so the Mid-Yuan Festival is also called the Arahara Festival. Despite thousands of years of active obedience and passive domestication, the traces of Buddhism remain clearly in the activities of the people in the Mid-Autumn Festival. The first is the name. Euglena is a transliteration of Sanskrit, which means "upside down". The combination of euglena and the basin is the savior, that is, "saving the upside down"; In addition, the blue flowerpot can also be interpreted as a "hanging basin", highlighting its characteristics of "putting a hundred meals".
According to the etiquette of Buddhist bonsai, the river lantern is just one of the small programs, which doesn't seem so important. In the folk activities of Mid-Autumn Festival, it is more important to put on lights. River lanterns are also called "lotus lanterns". Generally, lights or candles are placed on the base, and they are placed in rivers, lakes and seas during the Mid-Autumn Festival, allowing them to float. The function of river lanterns is to drown ghosts and other ghosts in Purdue water.
A passage in the biography of Hulan River by Hong Xiao, a modern woman writer, is the best footnote of this custom: "July 15th is Ghost Festival; You damn fool can't keep alive, and it's hard to wander in hell. They want to support themselves, but they can't find the direction. On this day, if a fool holds a river lantern, he must support his life. " Probably this road from the underworld to death is so dark that you can't see the road without a lamp. So turning on the light is a good thing. It can be seen that the living gentlemen have not forgotten the dead ghosts.