The popular folk religion called Daoism includes days for dealing with errant ghosts in the land. When they visit in the seventh month of the lunar calendar, special precautions and ceremonies are necessary. The Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month. This day falls in July or August in our Western calendar.
In southern China, the Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated by some on the 14th day of the seventh lunar month. The people there are said to have begun celebrating the festival a day earlier during a time of long warfare to avoid being attacked by enemies during the inauspicious day. The Hungry Ghost Festival is one of several traditional festivals in China to worship ancestors. The main ceremony is usually held at dusk. Plates of food are put out for the ghosts on the table, and the people may kowtow in front of the memorial tablets and report their behavior to their ancestors to receive a blessing or punishment.
People also feast on this night, and they might leave a place open at the table for a lost ancestor. They want to feed the hungry ghosts who have been wandering the land since the beginning of Hungry Ghost Month. It is thought that after two weeks of activity, they must be very hungry. It is thought that the ghosts of Chinese ancestors are let out of hell on the first day of the month. It has been the scariest month of the year for thousands of years. They roam around looking for peculiar entertainment, and many fearful Chinese try to avoid swimming or being alone at night lest an enemy ghost comes after them.
The ghosts attack their enemies, and they might be angry or malicious in general. So the Chinese have certain traditions about what to do about the situation on the first day, the 14th or 15th for the Hungry Ghost Festival, and the last day of the special month. One the first day of the month, people burn make-believe paper money outside their homes or businesses, along the sides of roads, or in fields.
Sometimes, they go to temples for this task. On a trip to China during this time, you'll probably see people occupied with this activity or find the ghost money on the ground with ashes and remains. They want to give the ghosts the money they need during their special month. People also light incense and may make sacrifices of food to worship the hungry unhappy ghosts. People trust that the ghosts won't do something terrible to them or curse them after eating their sacrifices and while holding their money.
They put up red painted paper lanterns everywhere including business and residential areas. Founded in , the Asia Paranormal Investigators API is a paranormal research society based in Singapore that strives to analyze any strange occurrences happening in Singapore and around the region.
Hungry Ghost Festival. Banner of different Buddhist and Taoist gods. A man conducts traditional Hungry Ghost Festival prayers. Add to Bookmark - people added this. Making offerings Notice those dark-coloured metal bins scattered around residential areas and housing estates?
Where to Go Chinatown. Read more…. However, it is not just mischievous spirits who roam the earth during the seventh month — it is also believed that dead ancestors may come back to observe the living.
Hence, there are various practices associated with entertaining and appeasing these spirits. For instance, believers will burn joss sticks, paper offerings and make food offerings.
In Singapore, individuals may conduct their own rituals of worship in their own homes, at temples, or in the neighbourhood.
Believers living in different parts of Singapore may gather to engage in collective burning of offerings using big stainless steel containers provided by the Town Council. Getai shows are typically performed outdoors in temporary tent and stage setups, such as at empty fields in in the public housing estates. In Singapore, the festival is mostly observed by Chinese Buddhists and Taoists. Certain temples conduct specific rituals such as prayers and burning of offerings.
Temples may also have believers sponsor a separate batch of food items, which are distributed to the needy. Individuals make offerings to their ancestors at temples or in their homes.
Offerings may take the form of paper effigies of material goods houses, cars, servants, computers, and phones , paper money known as kim zua or food. Offerings to wandering spirits may also be made along roadsides and other transitory points.
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