During the Ghost Festival Half of July , we hold candles and burn incense to worship our ancestors. Do you know the origin of this custom?
Deadwood
The Ghost Festival on July 15th is one of the traditional "Three Ghost Festivals" (Cold Food Festival, Ghost Festival, and Cold Clothes Festival) in my country. It is also a traditional folk festival with a long history, and the Ghost Festival is also A special festival where Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism blend together.
The Ghost Festival originated from the ancient custom of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors, and praying for blessings to eliminate disasters. "Zhou Li·Chun Guan·Sizun Yi": "Taste the winter rice in autumn, use the Yi and Huang Yi naked." , " Rites "Record of King's System": "For the sacrifices held in the ancestral temples of the emperor and princes, spring is called Chun, summer is called Qi, autumn is called Taste, and winter is called Hao." , the sacrifices are held in the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, and the dates of each dynasty are different. Qiuchang is the autumn harvest season, so it is called "Taste". In autumn, people offer sacrifices to ancestors and gods, offer seasonal delicacies, taste the harvest fruits, and pray for a good harvest in the coming year.
In addition, the ancients had the etiquette of offering sacrifices by the water in spring and autumn, which was actually bathing and changing clothes. Later it was called "祓祊", also called "祥祊", "祓" means "祓 Eliminate", "祓" "Refers to "cleaning", "Zhou Li·Chun Guan": "When a witch is in her palm, she takes a bath to purify her body." , the main purpose of purifying the body is to cleanse the body, get rid of bad luck, and pray for blessings and disasters.
Spring exorcism is held on the first "Si day" of March . Wang Xizhi's handed down work " Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection" records that during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, literati and poets gathered in Lanting to pray for evil spirits. After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it evolved into March 3rd Shangsi Festival, the Southern Dynasty (Chen) writer Jiang Zong's "Three Days Banquet at Xuan Youtang Qushui Poems" contains: "Shangsi entertains the spring, and the fragrance is happy and the moon is leaving." The poem shows that March 3rd and Shangsi Festival have been combined.
Autumn sacrifices are called "秋禊", which is on the 14th day of the July . This tradition has been retained until now. However, in the process of evolution, it gradually merged with the Hungry Ghost Festival, at the latest in the Ming Dynasty. has already been integrated. For example, many poems from the Ming Dynasty sang about Qiu Yu and the Ghost Festival together.
"Six Songs of Harmony and Autumn Harvest" (Part 2)
[Ming Dynasty] Fan Jingwen
Spring Harvest is so good Autumn Harvest is so good, Zhongyuan Shangsi is so good.
The summer heat is gone like a fragrant weather, and the moon is in full swing.
The degree of song harmoniously accommodates the birds outside the forest, and the flying beetles persuade frogs in the rain to borrow.
It is inevitable to chat with you, offer fruits, divide melons and take apart jade hairpins.
Fan Jingwen was a Jinshi during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. He rose to the rank of Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry and a bachelor of Dongge University. Emperor Chongzhen also committed suicide after he hanged himself. This poem praises the beautiful scenery during the Autumn Festival. It can be seen that the Autumn Festival has merged with the Ghost Festival. However, in some provinces and regions in southern my country, the ancient custom of autumn harvest still remains, and many places now hold sacrificial ceremonies on July 14th.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Taoism emerged. Taoism believes that the three basic elements that produce everything in the world are heaven, earth, and water, which are the "three elements". The three are called "officials", which are segments in the flow of space and time. The three yuans represent different things, Heavenly Official Shangyuan confers blessings, Earthly Official Zhongyuan forgives sins, Shuiguan Lower Yuan relieves misfortune , hence the name "Zhongyuan".
"Shangyuan Festival" Emperor Ziwei, the heavenly official, gave blessings and was born on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, also known as the "Lantern Festival"; "Zhongyuan Festival" Emperor Qingxu, the local official, pardoned sins and was born on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. , on this day, the underworld will open its doors and release all the ghosts. All the ghosts will leave the underworld and take exams. The ghosts with owners will go home, while the ghosts without owners will wander around the world, wandering around looking for food. , so it is also called "Ghost Festival". Therefore, people generally worship ancestors and gods, and light lotus lanterns to illuminate the way home for the deceased souls. Taoist temples hold grand Dharma gatherings, and Taoist priests build altars and pray for blessings and good luck, and to save the souls of the dead. "Xiayuan Festival" Shuiguan Dongyin Emperor was born on October 15th. On this day, people worshiped their ancestors and used Taoist temples as dojos to pray to Xiayuan Shuiguan to solve their problems. In ancient times, some imperial courts banned slaughter and postponed the death penalty on this day. The regulations on the implementation date were gradually absorbed and merged by the "Winter Clothes Festival" on the first day of October.
With the introduction of Buddhism in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Buddhist culture gradually became popular among the people. The stories in the Buddhist scriptures were also familiar and believed by the common people, so many of them became customs. The " Ullambana Festival" on July 15th is derived from Buddhist scriptures. "Ullambana" is Sanskrit उल्लम्बन. "Ullan" means "hanging upside down"; "Ullambana" means "rescuer". "So, "Ullambana" means an utensil used to save the suffering beings hanging upside down. The derived meaning is: fill the basin with hundreds of flavors and five fruits, and offer it to the Buddha and monks to save the suffering sentient beings in hell.
Buddhist scriptures " Buddha Speaks of the Ullambana Sutra " records such a story, also called "Multan Lian Saving His Mother" : One of the ten disciples of Sakyamuni, Mu Lian (also known as Mu Lian) Jianlian), he practiced deeply and was famous for his supernatural powers. It is said that Moggallana's mother did many bad things and turned into a hungry ghost after her death. After Moggallana saw it with his supernatural powers, he was very sad and used his magic power to kill her. The food was given to his mother, but as soon as it reached her mouth, it turned into ashes. Maudgalyana cried loudly to Sakyamuni Buddha for help. The Buddha told him that he must gather the strength of all the monks and put a hundred flavors and five fruits in a basin every year in the seventh month to offer to the monks in the ten directions. Only with this kind of merit can his mother be saved. Maudgalyana acted according to the Buddha's will, and his mother was finally liberated.
This kind of ritual first became popular during the meritorious service of "Mu Lian saved his mother" in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. According to the records of "Buddha Chronicles", Emperor Wu of Liang began to set up an altar to hold the Bon Bon Dharma ceremony. From then on From then on, emperors and people of all dynasties mostly followed the Buddhist system and established the Bon Festival. With the widespread spread of Buddhist believers, combined with the Taoist Ghost Festival, the "Obon Festival" was held on July 15th to worship ancestors, save the souls of the dead, and relieve suffering, which gradually became a custom.
The so-called "hundred flavors and five fruits" is used to describe the most delicious meals, fruits and other offerings in the world. It describes a wide range of types, specifically referring to five kinds of fruits, namely:
(1) Drupes: such as dates, apricots, Peaches, plums, grapes and other core fruits;
(2) skin fruits: edible fruits with skins such as melons, pears, apples, mulberries, etc.;
(3) shell fruits: such as walnuts, pomegranates, coconuts, There are hard-shelled fruits such as mangosteen;
(4) cypress, such as pine nuts, sudan, cypress, lychee, chestnut and other fruits with rough skin;
(5) siliques: such as water chestnuts, soybeans, adzuki beans, etc. horned fruit.
With the mutual reference and integration of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, July 15th gradually formed a festival custom with the culture of the three religions. Therefore, this day is called both "Autumn Festival" and "Zhongyuan Festival". Festival", also called "Obon Festival", folk also call it "Ghost Festival", "July Half" and so on.
Regardless of Confucianism, Taoism or Buddhism, the connotation of the three cultures is "filial piety", and "filial piety comes first". On July 15th, worship ancestors and repay their kindness. This is the core essence of our traditional culture and also a traditional custom. Therefore, for thousands of years, no matter how the dynasties changed, the custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors and praying for blessings and warding off disasters has been widely spread among the people.
There was a period when all traditional festivals except the Spring Festival were cancelled. Now, with the rise of national intangible cultural heritage, other festivals have been restored, but the Ghost Festival has been left out. In 2010, it was declared an intangible cultural heritage. The result of the project was that the Hong Kong region applied for the "Hungry Ghost Festival Chaozhou People's Bon Festival" and was selected.
Although there is no official holiday during the Ghost Festival, in the minds of ordinary people, the custom of worshiping ancestors on this day is solemn and solemn. Although the customs of worshiping are slightly different in different places, no matter what form they are, they all represent the reverence of the ancestors and gods. Therefore, , the Ghost Festival has been continued and passed on with its tenacious vitality.
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