The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as "July Festival" or "Orchid Festival", is one of the three ghost festivals. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a Taoist saying. The name of "Mid-Autumn Festival" originated in the Northern Wei Dynasty. In some places, it is commonly known as "Ghost Festival" and "shi gu", also known as the Day of the Dead and July 30. According to ancient records: "The Taoist scriptures take the 15th day of the first month as the Shang Yuan, the 15th day of July as the Zhong Yuan, and the 15th day of October as the Xia Yuan.
China has believed in ghosts and gods since the Shang Dynasty. Although there are gods and earthlings in their beliefs besides ghosts and people, they take "ghosts and people" as their central belief.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival closely related to people and ghosts.
The origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival
The name of "Zhongyuan" originated in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and Zhongyuan Festival is also called "Ghost Festival" or "Menglan Basin Festival". According to the five miscellaneous records: "The Daojing takes the 15th of the first month as the Shang Yuan, the 15th of July as the Zhong Yuan, and the 15th of October as the Xia Yuan." The book of practice says: "On the Mid-Yuan Day in July, the local officials descended to determine the good and evil in the world, so the Taoist priests chanted scriptures at night and the hungry prisoners were freed." On this day, Buddhism also held the transcend Dharma Meeting, which was called "Wulanmana" (in Hindi, ULLAMBANA), that is, the "Menglan Meeting". The meaning of Menglan basin is hanging upside down, and the pain of life is like a bat hanging upside down on a tree, hanging and miserable. In order to save all living beings from the suffering of hanging upside down, it is necessary to chant scriptures and give food to ghosts and ghosts. This happened to coincide with China's ghost moon worship, so the Mid-Autumn Festival and Menglan Club were handed down at the same time.
Legend of the Mid-Autumn Festival
There are many legends about the Mid-Autumn Festival. The most important one is that Yan Luowang opens the gate of hell every year on the first day of the seventh lunar month, releasing a group of ghosts who are not worshipped to enjoy people's offerings in the dead. On the last day of July, before the ghost gate was closed again, these ghosts had to return to the underworld. So July is also called ghost month. The story of Mu Lian's saving his mother: Among the disciples of the Buddha, Mu Lian, who has the highest magical power, misses his dead mother. He used his magical power to see that his mother was rewarded for her greed while she was alive, and she fell into the evil spirit after her death and lived a life without enough food. Mu Yulian used his divine power to turn it into food and gave it to his mother, but her mother didn't change her greed. When she saw the food coming, she was afraid that other evil spirits would rob her of it. When the food was greedy, it immediately turned into charcoal and could not be swallowed. Although Mu Yulian has magical powers, as a son of man, she can't save her mother, which is very painful. Please ask the Buddha what to do. The Buddha said, "July 15th is the last day of settling down and practicing in summer, full of dharma and goodness. On this day, there are many kinds of dishes for the monks in the lane, and their merits are boundless. You can use this compassion to save his dead mother." This is the origin of "good brothers" in Purdue, Taiwan Province.
Every year, the 15th day of the seventh lunar month is called the "Orchid Festival", which is also called the "Mid-Autumn Festival". In some places, it is also called "Ghost Festival" and "shi gu". This is a Buddhist ceremony in India. Buddhists hold a "Bonsai" in order to recommend their ancestors; In the Buddhist scriptures, the "Orchid Sutra" aims to cultivate filial piety and inspire Buddhist disciples, which is in line with China's popular belief of seeking after the first and mourning for the distant, so it has become more and more popular.
The story of Mu Lian's rescue of Mu Er is widely circulated among the people:
"A lotus monk, powerful. 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. Later, however, in addition to setting up a fast for monks, activities such as confessing and setting fire to the mouth were also added.
On this day, the Master's Block and shi gu Terrace were set up in front of Jiekou Village in advance. In front of the mage's seat, there is a bodhisattva, the treasure king who crosses the "hell" ghost, and below it is a plate of peaches and rice. Shi gu stands on the stage with three spiritual tablets and evocative complications. After noon, families put whole pigs, whole sheep, chickens, ducks, geese and all kinds of cakes, fruits, melons and fruits on the shi gu stage. The person in charge inserted a triangular paper flag in blue, red and green on each sacrifice, and wrote the words "Yulan Festival" and "Ganlu Gate Open". The ceremony began with a solemn temple music. Then, the mage rang the bell and led the monks in the seat to recite various spells and mantras. Then feed, sprinkle a plate of peaches and rice in all directions, and repeat it three times. This ceremony is called "Flame Opening".
At night, every household has to burn incense in front of their own homes and put incense on the ground. The more the better, which symbolizes the bumper harvest of grains. This is called "spreading fields". In some places, there are water lanterns; The so-called water lamp is a lamp tied on a small board, and most of them are made of colored paper in lotus shape, which is called "flood and drought lamp". According to tradition, water lanterns are designed to guide those who are unjust and dead. When the light goes out, the water lamp has completed the task of guiding the ghosts across the Naihe Bridge. Shops were closed that day, and the streets were given to ghosts. In the middle of the street, there is an incense table every hundred steps. There are fresh fruits and a kind of "ghost steamed stuffed bun" on the incense table. Behind the table, there are Taoist priests singing ghost songs that people can't understand. This ceremony is called "singing songs".
Shangyuan Festival is the Lantern Festival on earth, and people decorate lanterns to celebrate Lantern Festival. "Zhongyuan" comes from Shangyuan. People think that the Mid-Autumn Festival is a ghost festival, and lanterns should also be put on to celebrate the festival for ghosts. However, people and ghosts are different, so the lantern in Zhongyuan is different from the lantern in Shangyuan. Man is yang and ghost is yin; Land is yang, water is yin. The mysterious darkness under the water reminds people of the legendary hell, where ghosts sink. Therefore, the lantern in Shangyuan is on land and the lantern in Zhongyuan is in water.
The significance of the Mid-Autumn Festival
From the legends about the Mid-Autumn Festival, we can deeply realize that the sacrifice of the Mid-Autumn Festival has a dual significance, one is to show filial piety for remembering ancestors, and the other is to carry forward the righteous act of pushing others and being charitable. This is all from the perspective of compassion, which is very human. Therefore, while celebrating Zhongyuan, we should get rid of the ghost's point of view and look forward to mutual love.
Obon
Every year, the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is called the "Orchid Festival", also known as the "Mid-Yuan Festival", and in some places it is commonly known as "Ghost Festival" and "shi gu", also known as the Day of the Dead and July 30.
"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.
No matter the rich or the poor, they should prepare dining tables and paper money to pay homage to the dead to show their memory of the dead ancestors. The Mid-Autumn Festival is usually seven days, and there are new and old dead people. Those who died within three years are called new dead, and those who died three years ago are called old dead. Superstition says that the old and the new will go home to visit during this period, and that the new and the old will come back at different times. The new will come back first, and the old will come back later. Therefore, it is necessary to pay homage separately. The time to burn paper money is in the dead of night. First, sprinkle a few circles with lime in the yard, saying that the paper money is burned in the circle and ghosts dare not come to grab it, and then burn it in piles. When burning, I still keep chanting: "So-and-so will get the money." Finally, we have to burn a pile outside the circle, saying it's for ghosts. On the day when the dead go back, both rich and poor should cook a good meal to honor the dead, which is also called "seeing the dead off".
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. Later, however, in addition to setting up a fast for monks, activities such as confessing and setting fire to the mouth were also added.
On this day, the Master's Block and shi gu Terrace were set up in front of Jiekou Village in advance. In front of the mage's seat, there is a bodhisattva, the earth treasure king who crosses the hell, and below it is a plate of peaches and rice. Shi gu stands on the stage with three spiritual tablets and evocative complications. After noon, families put whole pigs, whole sheep, chickens, ducks, geese and all kinds of cakes, fruits, melons and fruits on the shi gu stage. The person in charge inserted a triangular paper flag in blue, red and green on each sacrifice, and wrote the words "Yulan Festival" and "Ganlu Gate Open". The ceremony began with a solemn temple music. Then, the mage rang the bell and led the monks in the seat to recite various spells and mantras. Then feed, sprinkle a plate of peaches and rice in all directions, and repeat it three times. This ceremony is called "Flame Opening".
At night, every household has to burn incense in front of their own homes and put incense on the ground. The more, the better, which symbolizes the bumper harvest of grains. This is called "spreading fields". In some places, there are water lanterns.
The so-called water lamp is a lamp tied to a small board, and most of them are made of colored paper in lotus shape, which is called "flood and drought lamp" According to tradition, water lanterns are designed to guide those who are unjust and dead. When the light goes out, the water lamp has completed the task of guiding the ghosts across the Naihe Bridge. Shops were closed that day, and the streets were given to ghosts. In the middle of the street, there is an incense table every hundred steps. There are fresh melons and fruits and a kind of "ghost steamed stuffed bun" on the incense table, and there are Taoist priests singing ghost songs that people can't understand. This ceremony is called "Shi Ge Er".
Shangyuan Festival is the Lantern Festival on earth, and people decorate lanterns to celebrate Lantern Festival. Zhongyuan comes from Shangyuan. People think that the Mid-Autumn Festival is a ghost festival, and lanterns should also be put on to celebrate the festival for ghosts. However, people and ghosts are different, so the lantern in Zhongyuan is different from the lantern in Shangyuan. Man is yang and ghost is yin; Land is yang, water is yin. The mysterious darkness under the water reminds people of the legendary hell, where ghosts sink. Therefore, the lantern in Shangyuan is on land and the lantern in Zhongyuan is in water. The story of Mu Lian's rescue of Mu Er is widely circulated among the people:
"A lotus monk, powerful. 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 say the Sutra of the Bonsai, she taught to make a Bonsai on July 15th to save her mother.