The origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival is briefly introduced. The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is what we often call the Mid-Autumn Festival. This is a traditional festival in China, and there are many legends about the Mid-Autumn Festival among the people. Here is a brief introduction to the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
A brief introduction to the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival 1 According to legend, every year from July 1st, the King of Yan ordered the gates of hell to be opened wide, so that those ghosts and ghosts who suffered and were imprisoned in hell all the year round could get out of hell, get short-term wandering and enjoy human blood food. Therefore, people called July the ghost month, and this month was regarded as an unlucky month, and they neither married nor moved.
Every year, the 14th/15th day of the seventh lunar month is the Yulan Festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, July 30 or Ghost Festival. In the past, people prepared some dishes, wine, rice, gold, silver, clothes and paper to worship ghosts and gods at the intersection on this night.
July 14/ 15 of the lunar calendar is the biggest festival in the underworld-Ghost Festival, also known as Zhongyuan Festival or Bonin Festival, and it is one of the three major festivals in the underworld in China. There is a legend among the people that the Lantern Festival is celebrated in the dead and the Ghost Festival is celebrated in the underworld.
It is said that on that day, Yan will also spend the festive season with ghosts in costumes, and let us living people bless them together, wishing people in another world all their wishes come true and enjoy the happiness that the world has not had time to enjoy. Therefore, many local festivals in our country will hold activities such as offering sacrifices, attending Buddha, cleaning tombs, reviewing, enjoying flowers and fishing to celebrate.
Ghost Festival originated from the story of Mulian saving his mother: "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. Mu Lian couldn't save his mother, so he asked the Buddha for advice. In order to talk about the scriptures of the orchid basin, he taught to make an orchid basin on July 15 to save his mother. " It is said that at that time, after going through all kinds of hardships in the underworld, Mulian met his dead mother, Liu, and found that she was tortured by a group of hungry ghosts. Mulian wanted to give her vegetable rice in a bowl, but the vegetable rice was taken away by the hungry ghosts.
Mu Lian had to ask the Buddha for help, and the Buddha was moved by Mu Lian's filial piety and awarded him the Orchid Sutra. According to the instructions, Mulian dedicated a rare fruit vegetarian diet to his mother on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month. The hungry mother finally got the food. In order to commemorate Mulian's filial piety, Buddhists hold a grand "Bonsai" every year, which is what we now call "Ghost Festival".
It is said in the book that on this day in ancient times, people would set up the Magician's Seat and shi gu Terrace 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". Wang Kaitai, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, once wrote a poem: "The Dojo is full of ghosts, and the original ancient meaning of Yulan exists. However, it is strange that the red plaque is attached to the door, and the meat mountain wine sea celebrates Zhongyuan. " It describes the custom of Halloween in the southeast coast of China.
It can be seen that "Ghost Festival" is due to the filial piety of traditional virtues. Nowadays, people in northern China still burn paper money on this day to pay homage to their ancestors who left early and express their feelings for their loved ones. Although the way of sacrifice is simple, it basically preserves the simple meaning of Ghost Festival.
Because of the call of blood, the extension of feelings and the reminder of one's future, Ghost Festival is endowed with rich humanistic connotation. Even if the years are different, the gifts burned are different, but the living people will never be able to finish the endless grief and deep nostalgia for their distant relatives.
However, "people of different ages have different feelings about this special festival, because the future festival is coming to them mercilessly, from obscurity to clarity, from missing to fear, from fear to calmness, and when they miss people in the past, they are actually thinking about their experiences, contents, ways and pursuits of living today."
On July 14th/15th, the gate of hell opened wide. Whether it's burning paper money to send blessings, holding daisies to mourn, offering sacrifices to ancestors on the Internet, or putting out river lanterns, people alive today miss the past together and send blessings to their ancestors together, which is the spontaneity of human spirit, the extension of feelings and the most basic belief.
And at the same time, "the living should cherish every day alive, don't be ashamed of society and friends, and don't be ashamed of relatives who have left forever." Because, one day we will meet them. At that time, you can proudly say that you are a hero on earth and a ghost hero in the underworld! "
A brief introduction to the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival 2. 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 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 Mengyuan's "Dream of China in Tokyo" said in Volume 1: The day before the Middle Yuan Dynasty, I bought exercise 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 have to report to their ancestors and ask them to taste new things, so they make a ritual sacrifice to their ancestors in July.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Daoism set three sessions and five lunar days, among which July 7th was the moral day, and it was also the day when the Taoist people who were in the middle session 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 July 15th, the birthday of Zhongyuan local officials and the corresponding date of sacrifice.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is not only a religious festival of Taoism, but also a folk festival. At the beginning of Daoism, there was the worship of three officials. Zhengyi League is known for its three officials, namely, heaven official, earth official and water official (also known as the three talents of heaven, earth and man), and is 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 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 and asked the local officials to forgive their sins. This is the main reason why the Mid-Autumn Festival has become a folk festival.
A brief introduction to the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival 3 The origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival should be related to the land worship popular in ancient China.
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 Next Yuan Festival. Its main duty is to relieve the world. The Mid-Autumn Festival is on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, commonly known as July and a half.
Mid-Autumn Festival development
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a product of local culture. Qing Qianlong's "Puning County Records" said: "It is said that the ancestors have returned to the soul, and they have salty clothes and wine to recommend them. Although they are poor, they dare not lack." Among the sacrifices, clothes are indispensable. Because of the summer heat in July, it is necessary to change clothes to prevent cold, and "July is a fire, and clothes are given in September".
In the 1920s-40s, the Mid-Autumn Festival was much more lively than Tanabata and Qingming. People inherit the custom of ancestor worship with family as the unit, and the ancient custom of ancestor worship first and recommending food at the right time was still the primary content of the Mid-Yuan Festival custom in rural areas until the Republic of China. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, temples also increased their prayers for the spirit of "soldiers killed in the Anti-Japanese War".
Folk custom of "Ghost Festival"
In the China Folk Ghost Festival, the first day of July is the opening of the ghost gate, and the dead ancestors will return to the world to check whether the descendants are good or evil, and future generations will also take the opportunity to sacrifice them; July 15th is Ghost Festival. After July 15th, the ghost gate will be closed. Before July 30th, if someone has not sacrificed his ancestors, his ancestors will wander around the world for one year.
As we all know, there is no ghost in the world, and the ghost in people's hearts is actually the missing of the living for their dead relatives. In the native land, the custom of worshipping ghosts is very strong. In the long river of historical development, every family has lost many relatives. He (she) passed away and went to the elusive world. Losing a loved one is of course the saddest and most painful thing. In order to pin their infinite yearning for their loved ones, the natives put this beautiful feeling of missing in the early hours of July.
Therefore, it is the most solemn and solemn custom of Tujia people to pay homage to their relatives in the underworld and place their grief on this beautiful day of July and a half. On the 15th day of July, every family got up early.
Pick a handful of tung oil leaves from the mountain and use them to wrap the cooked waxy fire Baba. After Baba is wrapped, it is steamed in a pot, and then placed on a generous table in the main room for offering sacrifices to relatives. Baba wrapped in tung oil leaves is soft and delicate, and sprayed with a long fragrance of tung oil leaves. After the ancestors and relatives are sacrificed, adults or children can eat it. At this time, the family is immersed in beautiful memories.
After sunset, every household is making every effort to prepare money paper incense sticks for their dead relatives, solemnly write the names of each dead relative on red paper, and then put them on the ground and incinerate them together with the money paper incense sticks. In order to make every dead relative get a generous gift.
When burning paper money, it must be arranged according to the size of relatives' generations and the order of death in the morning and evening. Everyone can take a pile, and each pile of paper should be arranged with a pre-written name, so as not to be confused. While burning paper money, a grand lantern festival is being held in the ancestral hall of Zhaizi Ancestral Temple.
Under the leadership of the patriarch, put all kinds of ghost lights and magic lights in order. There are mainly Ghost Lantern, Zhong Xu Lantern, Hades Lantern, Judge's Kid Lantern, and Cow's Head and Horse's Face Lantern. There are Guanyin lamp, Luohan lamp, Samsung lamp, Sancai lamp, Antarctic Xianweng lamp, Jade Emperor lamp, Queen Mother lamp, Yaochi lamp and so on.
These lanterns of different forms and sizes are all arranged according to the size, and then the toast is used to recite the curse and sacrifice. After the ritual is over, burn these lanterns and money paper incense sticks together. The elders of every household in the whole stockade put the tablets of their ancestors on them and took them home to put them on the shrine. The ghost festival in July and a half is over.