Commonly known as Ghost Festival, Bonin Festival. It is on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month.
Wang Kaitai, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, wrote a poem "Feeling on the Mid-Autumn Festival" which described the custom of celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival in Fujian.
Thoughts on Mid-Autumn Festival
The Dojo is full of ghosts, and the original orchid is ancient.
However, it is strange that the red note is attached to the door, and the meat mountain wine sea celebrates Zhongyuan.
On the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, both Buddhism and Taoism summed up their criticisms, and both of them conducted corresponding textual criticism activities. The difference is that the Taoist investigation and report point to the people, that is, the birth date of the school. Buddhism's summary comments are made internally. Both the external school birth date and the internal criticism meeting show that both 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 among the people, this time is even more colorful. The birthday of the school and the self-indulgent day are only a very small part of the customs activities in this season. In addition, there are also important customs-saving activities in the year, such as offering sacrifices to ancestors and recommending new ones, putting lights on the ghosts, and the Bonsai Festival.
The Bonin Festival is an important ceremony in Buddhist New Year's Day rituals. For example, it is held on July 15th every year, so the Mid-Yuan Festival is also known as the Bonin Festival.
Despite thousands of years of active obedience and passive domestication, the trace of Buddhism clearly remains in the activities of the common people in the Mid-Autumn Festival. The first is the name. Euglena is a transliteration of Sanskrit, which means "hanging upside down". Together, Euglena and basin are lifesavers, that is, "rescuing the upside down"; In addition, the orchid basin can also be interpreted as "saving the hanging basin", highlighting its characteristics of "putting a hundred meals".
Pang Long, a poet in Qing Dynasty, wrote a poem titled "Bamboo Branches with Mixed Effects in Chang 'an", which depicts the scene of children playing with lotus leaf lanterns on Mid-Autumn Eve.
Chang' an hybrid bamboo branch
Thousands of trees are cool, frosty and clear, and the mid-January moon is bright.
Children compete for green lotus leaves, and thousands of silver flowers scatter the fire city.
According to the etiquette of the Buddhist Bonsai, the river lantern is just one of the small programs, and it 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, they put lamps or candles on the base, and they are placed in rivers, lakes and seas at Mid-Autumn Festival, leaving them floating. The purpose of the river lantern is to drown ghosts and other ghosts in Pudu water. A passage from the biography of Hulan River by Hong Xiao, a modern woman writer, is the best footnote of this custom: "July 15th is a ghost festival; Dead ghosts can't support themselves, and lingering in hell is very bitter. They want to support themselves, but they can't find their way. On this day, if a fool holds a river lamp, he will have to support his life. " Probably this road from the underworld to the dead is very dark, and you can't see the road without a lamp. So putting on the lights is a good thing. It can be seen that the living gentlemen have not forgotten the dead ghosts.
Ghost Festival
Commonly known as ghost festival. Folk traditional festivals. It's on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, and it's also on the fourteenth of July. On this day, families offer sacrifices to their ancestors, and some even hold family dinners, and salute them like a ritual. Three rounds of wine shows that after the ancestors' feast, the family will sit together and have a holiday dinner. After the blackout, take firecrackers, paper money and incense sticks, find a quiet riverside or pond flat, and sprinkle a circle with lime to indicate the restricted area. Then pour some water and rice in the circle, burn some paper money, set off firecrackers, send our ancestors on their way and turn to the "underworld". In the past, on the seventh day of July, the people would take the ghosts of their ancestors home through a certain ceremony, and provide tea and rice for three times every morning, noon and dusk until July 15th. Now, superstition is gradually eliminated, and the form of memorial service is retained as a memory and commemoration of ancestors.
Ghost Festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival is scheduled for July 15th of the lunar calendar, commonly known as July 30. Legend has it that all ghosts were released in the underworld on that day, and people generally carried out activities of offering sacrifices to ghosts. Where there is a new funeral, people will go to a new grave, but in general, ghosts and ghosts will be sacrificed at local places. Therefore, it is a festival centered on ghost worship as a whole, and it is the largest ghost festival among the people in China.
July used to be a small autumn, and a number of crops were ripe. As a rule, the people wanted to worship their ancestors, offering sacrifices such as new rice, and reporting to their ancestors about Qiu Cheng. Song Meng's "Dream of China in Tokyo" said in Volume 1: "The day before the Middle Yuan Dynasty, I bought training leaves (leaves of a plant with fragrance) to line the table when I enjoyed the sacrifice, and I also bought a nest of hemp seeds, which was also tied at the foot of the table, which was the intention of my ancestor Qiu Cheng. "China people, who pay attention to filial piety when the crops are ripe in the autumn of July, will report to their ancestors and ask them to taste new things, so they make a routine sacrifice to their ancestors in July. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Taoism set three sessions and five lunar days, among which July 7th was the moral wax, and it was also the day when the regular Taoist people came to the institute for examination. The main content of the May Day is to offer sacrifices to ancestors. The date of ancestor worship in July was later fixed on this day with Taoism setting the birthday of Zhongyuan local officials and the corresponding date of sacrifice on July 15.
Taoist Mid-Autumn Festival is not only a religious festival in Taoism, but also a folk festival. At the beginning of Taoism, there was the worship of three officials. Zhengyi League believed in the three officials, namely, the heavenly official, the local official and the water official, which was later called the Three Officials Emperor. They each have their own responsibilities. Heaven officials bless Shangyuan, local officials forgive sins for Zhongyuan, and water officials call Xiayuan Jiee. It is said in the Taoist book that during these three days, the three officials should correct the crimes committed on earth to determine rewards and punishments. Among them, the local officials are in charge of the underworld, and of course the focus of the inspection is on ghosts from all walks of life. So on this day, all the ghosts will leave the underworld and accept the examination. On this day, Daomen made a routine ceremony to celebrate the birthday of the local officials. At the same time, the believers also funded a fast to pray for the ancestors' blessings, asking the local officials to forgive their sins and ascend to heaven early. This is the main reason why the Mid-Autumn Festival has become a folk festival.
July 15th is the Buddhist Bonne Festival. "Euglena Basin" is a Sanskrit transliteration, the original meaning is to solve the problem of hanging upside down. It is said that the Buddha's apprentice had a healthy eye and was sent to the depths of hell because of his mother's evil deeds before her death. He asked the Buddha what the salvation method was, and the Buddha told him that fasting on the day of the monks' liberation (July 15 in China) could save the ghost from the suffering of hell. According to Buddhist rituals, people begin to sit in summer in mid-April, that is, they enter monasteries for meditation, and are not allowed to go out during the day. It ends on July 15th, which is called Jiezhi Day, so they can come out to receive charity from believers. Buddhists in China created the "Orchid Sutra" to publicize it, and later formed the custom of setting up a welcome to eat and sacrifice ghosts. In this way, the Mid-Yuan Festival is characterized by the integration of the righteousness of Taoism and Buddhism, and the activities of worshipping ancestors, ghosts, ghosts and ghosts in the Mid-Yuan Dynasty have become the biggest "ghost festival" among the people.
The folk activities in the Middle Yuan Dynasty revolved around offering sacrifices to ancestors and wild ghosts. There were city gods patrolling to offer sacrifices to Li (ghosts who died violently), Taoist temples and Buddhist temples held Purdue Dharma meetings to turn over the dead, and people went to new graves. As the Chinese came to Southeast Asia and other regions, they also brought the customs of the Mid-Yuan Festival to those places. The Zhongyuan activities in Penang, Malaysia have a broad mass base and are well known. Liu Zhongyu
Ghost Festival
The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is the "Mid-Autumn Festival". It is a folk custom to go to the grave on July 15th to pay homage to the ancestors. Some people burn paper money in front of their doors or at the corners of streets. In the old society, on this day, someone in the city carried the wooden Lord of the city god temple to the summer for three days, which was called "city god trip". People spend temple fairs in palaces and set up Lu operas. At that time, the palace was located in Dongjiao, and the place was named Hejiayuanzi.
Ghost Festival
July KTV
In the traditional customs of the Chinese people, the Mid-Autumn Festival is an important day to offer sacrifices to ancestors, and every household will celebrate it.
Every July of the lunar calendar, Chinese people in our country will hold a grand celebration of Zhongyuan, and all over the country, whether in commercial areas or housing units, you can see the red paper celebrating Zhongyuan, decorated with lanterns, set up altars and rewarded the gods. Temples are also built separately, and local operas or singing platforms are staged in the streets and lanes to add to the fun, presenting a lively and extraordinary scene.
Due to the differences in organizational forms, the "Pudu" ceremony of the Mid-Autumn Festival can be divided into several categories, such as Jiepu (also known as Hongpu), Shipu, Miaopu (or Gongpu) and so on. The so-called street pu refers to the neighborhood-based purdue; Market popularity is a market-oriented popularity; Temple Pu is the Pudu hosted by the temple.
Celebrating Zhongyuan is very common.
Locally, Street Puduo takes a townhouse or street as the Pudu unit of the Mid-Yuan Festival; Bazaars, hawker centers, shopping centers and shops are the main parts of the city. As for the temples, there is no doubt.
It is popular in China. Besides, local factories and industrial buildings generally have Purdue organizations.
In recent years, due to the improvement of people's living standards, it is also very common to celebrate the Chinese Yuan Festival, and it is also very particular about ostentation and extravagance. Some non-governmental organizations or companies have also established the Chinese Yuan Festival. Judging from this trend, this traditional Chinese custom is flourishing year by year in the local area.
In Singapore, ordinary street people and street people will worship big candles and incense in rows, some of which are more than ten or twenty feet high, which is spectacular.
In the sacrifice shed, please paste a statue of Pudu Gong, who is six feet long or two feet long, with a blue face and fangs, which is extremely scary. Put it in a cloth shed to offer sacrifices, and burn three big incense sticks and two big candles in front of him. The more ways of offering sacrifices, the better. There are roast pigs, chickens, ducks, white rice bags, fruits, canned food, sugar and oil.
As for the temple, there is an altar in the temple, and the big mirror of the "Orchid Club" or "Migong Emperor" is hung in the center. As for the god table, there are three lanterns, statues and incense burners. There are white rice, bronze mirror, Gu Jian, small scale, scissors, ruler, umbrella and lighted kerosene lamp in the bucket lamp, which the ancients believed could ward off evil spirits.
On the long table in front of the altar, sacrifices are offered, and flour is used as material to make birds and animals, fish, crabs and aquatic animals and other supplies, which is extremely rich.
There are many kinds of bidding blessings
In addition to offering sacrifices, these local organizations' Pudu meetings are also full of blessings. Some of the blessings are donations from members and enthusiastic people organized by the China Yuan Association. There are many kinds of gifts, such as gods, charcoal commonly known as "Wujin", rice barrels, stuffed ingots, big lottery tickets, hair cakes, wine, electrical appliances and children's toys.
After the worship, it is inevitable to bid for wonderful gifts, which is also one of the characteristics of local Zhongyuan Purdue.
When bidding, the owner of the furnace often goes out and shouts out the price of the bidder like a bell. I always hear the voice of bidding for the blessing in the banquet room here and there. Compared with the other, the bidder is very lively, and the bidder is also very rich. Because most people believe that "bidding" a thing can bring some wealth, everyone is very generous, especially business people.
Usually, the members in charge of the Chinese Yuan Festival will use this considerable sum of money from the bid opening as a charity fund or a welfare fund for members. At the same time, they can also make a good reserve for the activities of the Chinese Yuan Festival next year, such as inviting singing stations or local operas to entertain.
Zhongyuan festival
There are so-called "three yuan" in China's lunar new year season, which refers to the upper yuan on the 15th of the month, the middle yuan on the 15th of July and the lower yuan on the 15th of October.
In addition to the Zhongyuan Festival and the Orchid Festival, the people also call July 15th the Ghost Festival, which is combined with Qingming Festival and October 1st as the Three Ghosts Festival. The folk ghost festival is closely related to the Mid-Yuan Festival and the Bonin Festival of Buddhism, and has its own unique color. In this way, the combination of monks, Taoism and customs constitutes a rich festival of customs on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month.
Wang Kaitai, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, wrote a poem "Feeling on the Mid-Autumn Festival" which described the custom of celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival in Fujian.
Thoughts on Mid-Autumn Festival
The Dojo is full of ghosts, and the original orchid is ancient.
However, it is strange that the red note is attached to the door, and the meat mountain wine sea celebrates Zhongyuan.
On the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, both Buddhism and Taoism summed up their criticisms, and both of them conducted corresponding textual criticism activities. The difference is that the Taoist investigation and report point to the people, that is, the birth date of the school. Buddhism's summary comments are made internally. Both the external school birth date and the internal criticism meeting show that both 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 among the people, this time is even more colorful. The birthday of the school and the self-indulgent day are only a very small part of the customs activities in this season. In addition, there are also important customs-saving activities in the year, such as offering sacrifices to ancestors and recommending new ones, putting lights on the ghosts, and the Bonsai Festival. The Bonin Festival is an important ceremony in Buddhist New Year's Day rituals. For example, it is held on July 15th every year, so the Mid-Yuan Festival is also known as the Bonin Festival.
Despite thousands of years of active obedience and passive domestication, the trace of Buddhism clearly remains in the activities of the common people in the Mid-Autumn Festival. The first is the name. Euglena is a transliteration of Sanskrit, which means "hanging upside down". Together, Euglena and basin are lifesavers, that is, "rescuing the upside down"; In addition, the Euglena basin can also be interpreted as "saving the hanging basin". Highlight its characteristics of "putting a hundred meals".
Pang Long, a poet in Qing Dynasty, wrote a poem titled "Bamboo Branches with Mixed Effects in Chang 'an", which depicts the scene of children playing with lotus leaf lanterns on Mid-Autumn Eve.
Chang' an hybrid bamboo branch
Thousands of trees are cool, frosty and clear, and the mid-January moon is bright.
Children compete for green lotus leaves, and thousands of silver flowers scatter the fire city.
According to the etiquette of the Buddhist Bonsai, the river lantern is just one of the small programs, and it 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, they put lamps or candles on the base, and they are placed in rivers, lakes and seas at Mid-Autumn Festival, leaving them floating. The purpose of the river lantern is to drown ghosts and other ghosts in Pudu water. A passage from the biography of Hulan River by Hong Xiao, a modern woman writer, is the best footnote of this custom: "July 15th is a ghost festival; Dead ghosts can't support themselves, and lingering in hell is very bitter. They want to support themselves, but they can't find their way. On this day, if a dead fool holds a river lamp, he has to support his life. " Probably this road from the underworld to the dead is very dark, and you can't see the road without a lamp. So putting on the lights is a good thing. It can be seen that the living gentlemen have not forgotten the dead ghosts.
Zhongyuan festival
On July 15th, Taoism is called Zhongyuan Festival, Buddhism is called Yulan Festival, and folks used to call it Ghost Festival. For the sake of good luck, people in Shanxi, especially in northern Shanxi, renamed it dough sculpture festival today. Cultural connotation is very rich.
The origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival should be related to the land worship popular in ancient China. After the prevalence of Taoism, it attached to the tradition and founded the gods of heaven, earth and water. It is said that Tianguan's birthday is on the fifteenth day of the first month, which is called Shangyuan Festival. Its main duty is to bless the world. The official's birthday is on July 15th, which is called the Mid-Yuan Festival. Its main duty is to forgive sins for the world. Shui Guan's birthday is on October 15th, which is called the Ten Thousand Yuan Festival. Its main duty is to relieve the world.
In contrast to Taoism, Buddhism decided that July 15th was the Yulan Basin Festival. Buddhism advocates compassion for good. During the rainy season in ancient India for three months, Buddhist rituals prohibited monks and nuns from going out, saying that going out would easily hurt plants, insects and ants, and asked monks and nuns to meditate in the temple and accept support. This period is called the period of settling down. After Buddhism was introduced to China, according to the seasonal changes in our country, the period of residence was stipulated as April 16th to July 15th. Later, according to the scriptures, the Buddhist legend story of "Mu Yi Lian saved his mother" was produced. Mu Jianlian, a disciple of Buddha Sakyamuni, saw his dead mother suffering in hell, which was terrible. All efforts to rescue him failed, so we had to turn to Buddha for help. Sakyamuni explained that his mother's criminal career was quite large before her death, and it was impossible for one person to save her. He told Mu Gelian that only on July 15th, the day when the monks settled down, could he prepare a hundred flavors of food and feed the ten monks, and only with the help of all the monks could he free his mother from suffering. Mu Jianlian did as he was told, and it really worked. This kind of Buddhist activity is called the Bonsai. Yulan is a transliteration of Sanskrit in ancient India, which means hanging upside down and describing the suffering of the dead. A basin is Chinese, which refers to a vessel for holding offerings. Bonsai refers to such Buddhist activities, which can relieve the suffering of the first dead.
With the help of the Confucian tradition of "filial piety", Chinese Buddhism evolved July 15th into a "filial piety festival" to promote Buddhism. Not only has it been recognized by Chinese traditional culture, but it has also been widely welcomed by the government and the people, so it has the greatest influence on the folk activities on July 15th.
On July 15th, the Buddhist community in Wutai Mountain will hold the Orchid Club as usual to chant Buddhist scriptures and turn over the dead. Some religious people around will go to the temple to offer confessions, fire guns and pray to atone for their ancestors and wish the dead relief.
In the folk, every family goes to the grave to pay homage to their ancestors.
Jinnan area is used to making lamps out of paper and burning them in front of graves, which means that the dead have a bright future. The food in memory of ancestors likes to use steamed stuffed buns. If the ancestors have died for three years, the children should take off their mourning clothes and change into ordinary clothes on this day, commonly known as changing filial piety.
In the northern part of Shanxi Province, people go to graves to pay homage to their ancestors. They like to use steamed buns and flour to make them round with a red dot in the middle. After putting out the confession and burning the paper, when you go home, you should pull a few millet and hemp from the ground, wrap them with green paper, and stand in front of the window to offer a statue to the dough maker. After the festival, the roof is moved, the roots are facing inward, and the ears of grain are exposed outside, which is called picking up hemp grains. The popular folk saying is to bless the harvest of grain. However, the ritual of offering sacrifices to dough figurines seems to be a relic of the early custom of human martyrdom.
On July 15 th, the most solemn thing to pay homage to the dead is to set off river lanterns. People are used to using wooden boards and colored paper to make colorful lanterns and light candles. Some people even write the names of the dead on the lights. Firms and other units are used to making a colorful underwater paper boat, called Dafa boat. Legend has it that all the undead, transcend, can be brought to the ideal other side of the world. On the boat, one person should hold a mord, symbolizing the reunion of eyes. Some are made into avalokitesvara. At night, put the paper boat and paper lamp in the river and let them drift with the water. People judge whether the dead are saved according to the floating state of the lamp. If the lamp spins in the water, it is considered to be held back by the ghost. If the lamp sinks in the water, it is considered that the dead have been saved and have been reborn. If the lamp floats far away or lands, it is considered that the dead have reached the other side of the world and ranked among the immortals in heaven. In a word, everything is a good wish.
Setting off river lanterns, especially in the Yellow River, is spectacular. Hequ County in the northwest of Shanxi Province is close to the Yellow River. The river is wide and the water is gentle. On the night of July 15th, men, women and children in the whole city gather in the square in front of the stage on the bank of the Yellow River to watch the river lanterns. Colored lights drift with the water, and children keep an eye on how far their own lights can drift. The old woman kept mumbling and praying. Today's river lanterns have become a joyful activity.
On the 15th of July, people still made sacrifices to land and crops. Scatter the offerings into the fields. After burning paper, it is wrapped around the ears of crops with five-color paper cut into pieces. Legend has it that hail can be avoided and a bumper harvest can be achieved in autumn. At the same time, some places have to go to Houtu Temple to offer sacrifices. Dingxiang county folk custom hangs hemp and valley at the door.
Before July 15th, folk women were popular in dough modeling activities, especially in northern Shanxi. A steamed bun shop, neighbors came to help. First of all, according to the actual number of people in the family (including married daughters and sons-in-law, grandchildren, other sons and daughters-in-law, grandchildren, etc.), give everyone a big steamed bun first. The steamed buns given to the younger generation should be kneaded into a flat shape, which is called a noodle sheep. I hope that the younger generation will not forget the kindness of their parents. The flower steamed buns given to the older generation should be shaped into an adult, which means that the children and grandchildren are full of people and live a long life; The steamed buns given to peers should be shaped into fish, which is called noodle fish, which means more than one year. Now it's not so strict. There are all kinds of steamed buns, such as sheep, tiger, cow, fish, rabbit and human, according to the owner's taste. After the steamed buns of one animal per capita are kneaded, many steamed buns in the shapes of melon, fruit, peach, plum, lotus, chrysanthemum and plum will be kneaded and decorated with flowers, birds, butterflies, dragonflies and squirrels. Smaller than before, as a gift for visiting relatives and friends. After these dough sculptures are steamed and colored in five colors, they look lifelike, and each piece can be called an excellent handicraft. Seeing dough sculptures on July 15th has become a program for peasant women to show off their dexterous skills.
Mid-Autumn Festival and Wine
The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is the Mid-Autumn Festival. In ancient China, the fifteenth day of the first month was Shangyuan Festival, the fifteenth day of July was Zhongyuan Festival, and the fifteenth day of October was Xiayuan Festival. After the appearance of Taoism, the gods worshipped were heavenly officials, local officials and water officials, and the "three yuan" was matched with the "three officials". It was said that the birthday of the heavenly official in Shangyuan was on the fifteenth day of the first month, the local official in Zhongyuan was on the fifteenth day of July, and the water official in Xiayuan was on the fifteenth day of October. Therefore, on the 15th of July, Daodu will set up an altar to offer sacrifices. Taoism and Buddhism, the activities on this day, are specific regulations and practices. Folk festivals are relatively free, and the offerings are not enough for ancestors and ghosts to enjoy. Therefore, a folk festival has been formed. Family Instructions of Yan Family in the Northern Qi Dynasty, Records of Jingchu Age in the Southern Dynasty, Records of Dream in Tokyo and Records of Dream in Liang Dynasty in the Song Dynasty, Ji Sheng in the Imperial Capital in the Qing Dynasty and so on all mentioned the Mid-Yuan Festival and the Yulanben Festival. Some books say that a few days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, there were sellers of funerary wares, fresh fruits and vegetables, and cakes with oil cakes, pies and milk cakes in the market, with colorful colors and endless selling voices. There is also the custom of putting lights on the water, which means to invite orphans in the water to enjoy the sacrifice. Children are playing with paper lotus lanterns, which are seven or eight feet big and eye-catching. Outside the city to the tomb, an endless stream, better than Tomb-Sweeping Day.
Ghost Festival
I know about the Mid-Autumn Festival. I read about it in literary works, and thought it was a folk custom popular in the Yellow River valley. It may also be practiced in other places, but it is not as authentic as the place where the Yellow River flows. In my feeling, the night of that day should always be foggy. In the hazy, the ancestral meals of various families are very attractive under the backdrop of candlelight and incense. In the fog, the children's river lanterns disappeared before sinking and sailed for heaven. Adults don't mention what they are doing. I think they are mostly tying river lanterns for their ancestors and children and then cooking for them. This is a harmonious scene, and Halloween should be a happy festival.
I really learned about the custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival after I arrived in Singapore. Of course, all I know is the Mid-Autumn Festival in Singapore, which has nothing to do with the river lanterns.
Yuan Festival is commonly known as Ghost Festival in Singapore. According to the specification, it should be July 15th of the lunar calendar. Because July 15th of the lunar calendar is the year-old Chinese Yuan, the festival on this day is called Yuan Festival. Because the Buddhist Bonin Festival is also held on July 15th of the lunar calendar, some places call this day "Bonin Festival". Buddhists attach great importance to the 15th of July, and many activities will be held on that day. "Lighting the ghost" is a small ceremony, which spread to the people and became a mysterious and romantic river lantern. Although there are different opinions about the purpose of the river lantern, it always has some connection with ghosts. For example, Hong Xiao mentioned in the article "Biography of Hulan River" that' July 15th is Halloween, and the dead ghosts can't support their lives, so they are very bitter in hell, and they want to support their lives and can't find their way! On this day, if a fool takes off a river lamp, he will have to be born.'
Like Buddhism's "putting lights on the ghost", which was absorbed by the people according to their simple wishes and improved into folk river lanterns, the Mid-Autumn Festival crossed the underworld and national boundaries and came to Singapore, which also produced great changes. You can't find the shadow of river lanterns in Singapore's Mid-Autumn Festival, and the time to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival has also expanded from July 15 to the whole month of July in the lunar calendar. This month, people try not to break ground, buy houses and travel as much as possible. The air tickets for this month are also low all year round, so some people who don't believe in evil take this opportunity to go abroad to play. Of course, people who believe in evil are still in the majority. July of the lunar calendar in Singapore is the hot summer season, but no matter how hot the weather is, people in the swimming pool are always sparse. People will add one or two more gold ornaments to ward off evil spirits during this month, and they will also pay attention to their words and try to avoid saying unlucky words. Children are especially miserable. It is said that their eyes are particularly sharp and they can see things they shouldn't. In order not to frighten their children, many parents shut them up at home after 7: 01.
Singaporeans believe that the first day of July in the lunar calendar is the day when ghosts open their doors wide. In the following month, ghosts can freely enter and leave the Yin and Yang realms. After this day, a long time later, believing families will put two candles on the grass in front of their houses, insert 3721 incense sticks next to the candles, put the prepared Yin coins, Buddha spells, sugar tea and other offerings in front of the candles, and then light candles to burn incense and worship three times. After the worship, they will take Yin. This burning barrel is made of gasoline barrel with the top cover removed and several holes punched in the side. It is a new thing that has only appeared in recent years. The emergence of burning barrels is because the government thinks that burning paper directly in front of candles inserted in the house is too hygienic and difficult to clean up, so from January to July every year, the government will put some burning barrels in front of the flat for people to burn paper. Some people can't agree with the idea that the paper they burn at home is mixed with other people's, so they have to go to the grocery store to buy small paper barrels for their own use. It seems that more and more people suddenly can't stand the smoky fire of burning paper, especially on the first day, the fifteenth day and the twenty-ninth day. The air is filled with the smell of burning paper, and the ashes of burning paper are flying in the sky. Many people complained to the government about this, and the government had no choice but to advise everyone to burn less, saying that the ceremony was light and the affection was heavy. A company seized this business opportunity and developed a new type of incineration barrel for everyone to try out. It is said that the response is good. Maybe we will use a new type of incineration barrel worth S $1,500 next year. I heard that the new product is box-shaped, so it should be called incineration box.
When families celebrate Zhongyuan, some Chinese companies will also celebrate Zhongyuan collectively. The company celebrates Zhongyuan's ostentation and extravagance, which is bigger than that of small families. There are many tributes, including whole bags of rice, all kinds of canned food, biscuits and fruits, and a golden pig to make the finishing point. These tributes were placed on a wooden table, in front of which stood a few candles and incense with a bowl as thick as a person's. What excites the employees is that the boss not only wants the ghost brothers to bless the business, but also asks them for four lucky numbers to buy lottery tickets. These four numbers are enjoyed by the whole company, and they are also learned when buying. The most common ones are buying smoothly, buying and taking all. It is said that there is a great chance of winning. Maybe the ghost brothers are really well informed.
The most imposing celebration of Zhongyuan is held by the community or hawker center, which includes not only offering tributes, burning candles and incense, but also activities such as singing platform and bidding for Zhongyuan Festival. The main purpose of singing platform is to entertain ghost brothers. It is said that the early singing platform was to sing big plays, but now it has been changed to sing, and most of them are popular songs. Most of the singers on the Mid-Autumn Festival singing platform are not well-known, and the competition is fierce because of the appearance fee. In order to attract people to see it, female singers often wear scanty clothes, and some have shaved their heads, while male singers wear long hair shawls, tights and mesh clothes. Although the singer used all his magic weapons, fewer and fewer people watched the platform, not counting the seats reserved for the ghost brothers in the first few rows, and the rest of the seats were not satisfied. It seems that people are increasingly unable to accept this somewhat rough platform culture. Of course, there are also a group of fans who are trying to sing the opposite tune. Most of these people are elderly. They will read the newspaper every day to check the information of the station and follow the station. I don't know if there are ghosts running with the platform, and I don't know if they like it when they change from drama to pop songs, but I think there are fewer and fewer elements of entertaining ghosts and more and more elements of flattering people.
In addition to the singing platform, another activity worth mentioning is the bidding for the Mid-Autumn Festival. The bidding was carried out at the end of the worship ceremony and in the middle of the Zhongyuan banquet. The organizer will try to find some well-known people in the entertainment industry to bid. Most of their bids are voluntary, mainly to do good deeds and to promote themselves. Most of the blessings used to call the target are the lucky mascots with good color spread among the people who are plated with gold. The most common ones are the golden dragon and the yellow pear, and they are also unique. For example, the soaring golden horse carries a golden pear and is called' Wanglai immediately'. The blessing itself is of little value, and the bidder's vote is a good lottery. Putting the blessing at home is equivalent to bringing the good lottery home; There are also more lucky numbers stuck on the blessings, and those who win the blessings can buy lottery tickets to bet on their luck. As for the money obtained from bidding, part of it was used as the cost of celebrating the second year in Zhongyuan, and part of it was donated to welfare institutions such as mercy hospital, which was a ghost.
In recent years, the praise of Zhongyuan faced great problems. First of all, the younger generation influenced by western culture could not accept this culture with national flavor despite its rusticity, and there was no successor to praise of Zhongyuan. Secondly, some people suddenly can't stand the smoke of burning paper and the noise of singing tables, shouting bids and complaining to the government frequently. It seems that the government also buys these people's accounts. While constantly improving the incineration barrels, this year, it is explicitly stated that the celebration activities must end half an hour earlier than in previous years and before 10: 30. Due to the early end of the event, the fans of the radio and television stations could not enjoy themselves, and the money obtained from the bidding was greatly reduced. Apart from the money necessary for celebrating Zhongyuan in the second year, there was little left to donate to welfare organizations. This makes people feel a bit like ghosts, but July is their festival, so the living have to give in.
I have spent five Mid-Autumn Festivals in Singapore. At first, I was curious, even a little scared, and gradually I fell in love with this festival. I also learned to burn paper to worship like Singaporeans, hoping that my dead father would come to Singapore for this festival. Ghosts are not terrible, but parting, especially between yin and yang.
Ghost Festival
Mid-Autumn Festival-July of the lunar calendar 15, a traditional folk festival in China. In the south, it is also called "Ghost Festival". However, the Mid-Autumn Festival, which has been in existence since then, is on July 14. It is said that at the end of the Song Dynasty, when people were preparing for the festival, Yuan soldiers suddenly invaded, so they had to sacrifice their ancestors one day in advance, and the festival was thus advanced.
On this day, people bring sacrifices to the graves to pay homage to their ancestors, similar to Tomb-Sweeping Day's visit to the graves. In feudal times, the local government also ordered monks and Taoist priests in temples to set up a lonely soul Dojo to pay homage to the dead soldiers. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, people burned a lot of paper money.