The origin of Mid-Autumn Festival
The name of "Central Plains" originated from the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the Central Plains Festival is also called "Ghost Festival" or "Dream Orchid Club". According to Wuze's record, "The Taoist scriptures are the first month in May, the second month in July and the second month in October." Spiritual practice said: "On the first day of July, local officials came down to decide the good and evil on earth, so Taoist priests chanted scriptures at night and freed hungry prisoners." It was also on this day that Buddhism held a conference beyond Buddhism, which was called "ULLAMBANA" (Hindi), that is, "Menglan Conference". Dream orchid basin means hanging upside down. The pain of life is like a bat hanging upside down from a tree. Hanging and miserable. In order to prevent all living beings from suffering from hanging upside down, we need to recite scriptures and distribute food to ghosts. This coincides with China's worship of ghost moon, so the Mid-Autumn Festival and Dream Orchid will be handed down at the same time.
Legend of the Mid-Autumn Festival
There are many legends about the Mid-Autumn Festival, the most important of which is that Yan Luowang opens the gate of hell on the first day of the seventh lunar month every year and releases a group of ghosts who are not worshipped to the dead to enjoy people's offerings. On the last day of July, these ghosts had to return to the underworld before the gate of hell closed again. So July is also called ghost month. The story of Mulian saving his mother: among the disciples of the Buddha, the incarnation of the Buddha, the venerable, mourned for his dead mother. He used his avatar to see the karma of her mother's greed before her death, and after her death, she degenerated into an evil ghost and lived a life without food. Mu Youlian then turned it into food with divine power and gave it to her mother, but her mother did not change her greed. When she saw the food coming, she was deeply afraid that other evil spirits would take her food. The greedy food immediately turned into hot coal in her mouth, and she couldn't swallow it. Although Mu Yulian has magical powers and is the son of man, she cannot save her mother. She was in great pain. What about Buddha? Buddha said: "July 15th is the last day of summer, and Buddhism is all good. On this day, all kinds of dishes are served to monks and nuns in the lane, and the merits are boundless. You can save your mother with kindness. " This is the origin of Taiwan Province Purdue's "good brothers".
Every year, the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is the "Orchid Festival", also known as the "Mid-Autumn Festival". In some places, it is usually called "Ghost Festival" and "Stone Drum". This is a Buddhist ceremony in India. Buddhists held the "Lanpen Meeting" in recognition of their ancestors; Yulan Bijing, a Buddhist scripture, aims to cultivate filial piety and encourage Buddhist disciples, which is in line with China people's general belief of mourning before mourning, so it is becoming more and more popular.
The story of Mulian's saving mother moths is widely circulated among the people.
"Monks with eyes and lotus are fierce. On the road of her mother's depravity and hunger, the entrance of food turned into a flame, and her hunger was too bitter. Unable to save his mother, Mu Lian asked the Buddha for advice. In order to say the scripture of the orchid pot, she taught to save her mother on July 15. "
China followed this pattern from the Liang Dynasty, and it became the Mid-Yuan Festival. But later, in addition to setting up fasting for monks, activities such as repentance worship and open fire were added.
On this day, the host's seat and Shigu Station were set up in front of Jiekou Village in advance. In front of the master's seat, there is a bodhisattva-Tuwang, who has turned over the ghost of "hell" and there is a plate of peaches and rice under it. On the stone drum stage, there are three spiritual cards and a spiritual lifting device. After noon, families put whole pigs, whole sheep, chickens, ducks and geese and various steamed cakes, fruits and melons on the stone drum stage. The person in charge inserted a triangular paper flag of blue, red and green on each sacrifice, and wrote the words "Lansheng Festival" and "Ganlu Gate Open". The ceremony began with solemn temple music. Then, the mage rang the bell and led the monks under the seat to recite various spells and mantras. Then feed, spread a plate of peaches and rice in all directions and repeat it three times. This ceremony is called "extinguishing the flame".
At night, every household will burn incense in front of their own house and put incense on the ground. The more incense, the better, symbolizing a bumper harvest. This is called "running wild". In some places, there are activities of water discharge lamps; The so-called water lamp is a lamp tied to a small board, which is mostly made of colored paper in the shape of a lotus, and is called a "flood and drought lamp". According to tradition, water lanterns are used to guide those who do bad things. The lights went out, and the water lights completed the task of attracting ghosts across the bridge. Shops were closed that day to make way for ghosts. In the middle of the street, there is a sweet case every 100 steps, with fresh fruit and a kind of "ghost steamed stuffed bun" on it. There is a Taoist behind the desk singing a ghost song that people can't understand. This ceremony is called "singing".
Lantern Festival is the Lantern Festival on earth, and people celebrate it with lanterns and colorful decorations. "Central Plains" comes from Shangyuan. People think that the Mid-Autumn Festival is a ghost festival, and lanterns are also lit to celebrate ghosts. But people and ghosts are different, so Zhongyuan lanterns are different from Shangyuan lanterns. Man-made, ghosts are yin; Land is yang, water is yin. The mysterious darkness under the water reminds people of the legendary nether world, and ghosts sink into it. So Shangyuan lanterns are on land, Zhongyuan lanterns are in water.