What is the meaning of "Magnolia" in Buddhist classics?

Open classification: religion, legend, festival, myth, folk custom.

brief introduction

The Bonin Festival, that is, the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month (July 14th in some places), is called Zhongyuan Festival, Ghost Festival or July 30th and Gumu Festival, and it is a day for offering sacrifices to ancestors and ghosts. In China, Liang Wudi, who was famous for believing in Buddhism in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, was the first person to hold the Orchid Club. Later, bonsai was still popular, but it gradually changed from being a monk to a ghost, with the aim of crossing over the undead. After the Song Dynasty, the three religions gradually merged, and Buddhism and Taoism reached a tacit understanding on this issue. In fact, the orchid flowerpot is a transliteration of Sanskrit "ullambana", which originally meant "saving the upside down". According to the Buddhist scriptures, the suffering of the deceased is like an upside down, which should be rescued as soon as possible. Because Chinese is used in Chinese Buddhist scriptures, it is also explained that "Magnolia" is an inverted sentence and "basin" is a container for food. Although this statement does not conform to the Sanskrit situation, it is still widely circulated in the Buddhist circles in China.

The Origin of Orchid Festival

In China, there are two different opinions about the origin of the "Bonin Festival", namely, the origin of Buddhism and Taoism.

In Buddhism, "Yulan Festival" comes from the story of Mulian saving his mother. Legend has it that Mulian, one of Sakyamuni's top ten disciples, wanted to reform her parents after gaining magical powers, in order to repay the kindness of bearing and rearing. He looked around the three realms and six roads with his eyes and saw that his dead mother had fallen into hell and was reincarnated as a hungry ghost (the "hungry ghost road" in the six roads). Her belly is as big as a drum and her throat is as small as a needle. She wanted to eat and couldn't eat, smoking in her mouth, unable to eat or drink, and she was so hungry that she was all skin and bones. Mu Lian was very sad, so he went to visit hell and saw a tragic scene in hell: people who confess their sins here have to experience 10 thousand births and 10 thousand deaths a day; Or trapped in a sword tree, or plowed with an iron plow, or poured copper juice, or swallowed hot iron fire pills, or held a copper pillar and burned him. And every day, the cow's head is not right for the horse's mouth, and the jailer will come to Kao after all; Cooking iron pot soup is painful ... In order to save his mother, Mu Lian used his magic power to feed her mother with a bowl. Her mother holds the bowl in one hand and covers it in the other, but her greed remains unchanged and her mind is still too small. On the last day, she was confiscated and waited for food, but she turned into charcoal and could not eat it. Seeing this tragic situation, my eyes even burst into tears, so I turned around and asked the Buddha for help.

The Buddha told Mulian that his mother's sins were too many for him to save by himself, and he had to unite the strength of all people to have a result. The Buddha said, "Monks of the Ten Sides usually go out on July 15th. If you want to save your mother from the disaster, you must prepare all kinds of fruits on this day and put them in a basin to support ten monks, so as to achieve great success. In this way, not only can your mother get out of the misery and reincarnate as soon as possible, but also other people's parents can get out of the misery and be happy for a hundred years. "

Mulian listened to the Buddha's words and gladly followed. After supporting her family on July 15th, her mother really got rid of the hunger ghost that day, left hell and was reincarnated as a dog in the city. His mother was able to ascend to heaven after being laid in 49 heaven fields one after another.

Mu Lian was very grateful to the Buddha, praised the merits of Sambo everywhere, and advised the world to practice Dharma and give the Buddha and monks a gift in return for their parents' kindness. This is the origin of the Buddhist "Bonin Festival" or "Bonin Festival".

Buddhists hold "bonsai" in July and a half. July 15th is a period when monks' merits and virtues are complete. According to legend, on this day, confession can be made one hundred times. Therefore, the Buddha taught people to hold a "bonsai meeting" on July 15 to repay their parents' kindness in raising their deceased parents.

On the other hand, in Taoism, Taoist victories are held three times a year. The fifteenth day of the first month is called Shangyuan, and the fifteenth day of July is called Zhongyuan. Finally, on1October15th, it was called Xia Yuan. Although the ceremony in the Central Plains is to atone for the dead, it can never completely alleviate the sin, but only alleviate it. I hope they can rest in peace in the dry days.

During the ceremony, they will not only turn over for the dead souls, but also save their friends from those who died for their country and died in battle. The sesame oil money obtained in the ceremony is mainly used to buy sacrifices.

Legend has it that the first day of July this month "opens the gates of hell" and the 30th of July "closes the gates of hell"? All homeless souls come out of the underworld to find something to eat in the world, so they are everywhere this month? The ceremony of "Purdue" was held, with chanting as the method and offering five fruits for Purdue's ten ghosts and three sacrifices.

The main activities of the Orchid Festival

In Cao Wu, the main activity of Yulan Festival is to offer sacrifices to ancestors and ghosts. Since July 14th, the Tang family has set up an altar in Yulanyi, with Li Shou, Li Xin, Suobang, Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in charge of more than ten people. There are three statues hanging in the center of the altar as shrines, and six portraits of the Palace of Hades are hung on both sides. There are three figurines and candlesticks, fruits and fasting on the counter. /kloc-On the morning of 0/4, the altar was presided over by "Nanwulao" (that is, the wizard). After the altar was lifted, it was first worshipped by "Zangan", "Gong Jing" and "Shegong". The so-called "banner" means that 10 lanterns are hung with long bamboo poles, and each lantern is written with the words "China, Yuan, Yi, Quality, Qing, Xu, Xiao, Disaster, Big and Earth" and 10 Daewoo. Use a stalk to light a lantern when burning clothes. It is said that ghosts will run to lanterns to get food, gold and silver clothes and paper at this time. At six o'clock in the evening, the wizard, dressed in a black robe and holding a bronze bell, went to a quiet place on the hillside to ask for ghosts. After about 1 hour, the ghost was invited and began to offer sacrifices to the homeless ghost. After the wizard said a spell, he threw the bag somewhere else and finally read out the list. Less than two days after the construction, the villagers hung paper lanterns with the words "Yulan Jianti" on their doorstep. /kloc-On the evening of 0/5, families burned paper and clothes at their doorsteps and offered sacrifices to ghosts. After the Yulan Festival, the Prime Minister and other responsible persons will focus on the idea of establishing the festival next year and select the responsible person to announce the revenue and expenditure of this year's Yulan Festival.

There will be several ceremonies for Yulan's victory, including: breaking hell, evoking souls, parting flowers, and making confessions.

Hell breakthrough

That is, through hell, to the city of death to save those who died unexpectedly. Taoism is called knocking at the door, which was handed down from Buddhism. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, which is called "breaking hell". There are seats for the dead, commonly known as "open seats" Then, on the altar outside the Sanqing altar, twenty or thirty people chanted sutras, calling for evocation to make the deceased receive merits. Twenty-three and twenty-four lunar calendar.

Turn over to the dead

Turn over for all the dead and orphans who have no owners, and even those who have relatives or descendants alive. Mainly based on Sanqing (that is, primitive Buddha, Lingbao Buddha and moral Buddha). Arrangement of altars: Before Sanqing, there were five old people, East (green), South (red), West (white), North (black) and Middle (yellow), arranged in five pieces, which were called regret flower beds.

Scattered flowers

Compare life to a flower, from germination to blooming, and then to withering. Comparing the ups and downs of life, the main object is to persuade those ancestors who don't want to die to rest in peace. Its procedures are chanting and scattering flowers.

Hsiu-ch'in

The main purpose is to pray for ancestors to forgive sins, which is called repentance. There are many kinds of confessions, but most of them have been lost. Now the main ones left are as follows:

1. "ternary water confession" means atoning for ancestors;

2. "Sanyuan Fubao" is to seek happiness for ancestors;

3. "Lv Zu's Promise" (Lv Zu refers to Lv Dongbin) is both a cause of death and a cause of death.

There are also more common "confessions of the Jade Emperor Xifu Bao" and "confessions of the Holy Emperor Royal Guards". In addition to "confession", there is another kind called "Chaoke", which is a salute ceremony to ancestors. It is divided into morning, afternoon and evening. The early dynasty began in the early hours of the morning until dawn; Noon is in the daytime; It was just after dark in the evening dynasty.

At the Yulan Victory Games, there are usually troupes performing large-scale dramas to bring benefits and entertainment to the spirits of their ancestors. On the other hand, it is to entertain the upcoming neighbors.

Hong Kong Orchid Festival:

The gate of hell-a dangerous point

According to legend, the seventh month of the lunar calendar is a "ghost month". The first day of July is the day when the "Hell's Gate" opens wide. During the period from July 1 day when the gate of hell opens to the 30th day when the gate of hell closes, lonely souls in the underworld will rush to death and wander anywhere where people can find something to eat. Therefore, people hold "Purdue" in July by chanting. In order to popularize the original ghosts, I am afraid that they will bring disasters to the community, or pray for ghosts to help cure diseases and protect the safety of their homes.

Burn street clothes

Burning clothes is a folk custom that has been preserved since the opening of Hong Kong. As soon as we step into the seventh month of the lunar calendar, people will bring incense sticks, gold and silver paper and some sacrifices, such as tofu and rice, to worship at the roadside after dark. The custom of throwing money is rare, but some people still do it. The purpose of people "burning street clothes" is to let those lonely souls have clothes to keep out the cold and food to wrap their stomachs.

Taboo of Orchid Festival

The opening of the gate of hell has affected many social operations in the past. People in some industries will stop working in July because they are afraid of ghosts. For example, for civil engineering, it is forbidden to break ground this month; Shipbuilding, taboo new ship launching; Hong Shang, taboo to open a shop; If it is betrothal, it is forbidden to marry a ghost wife; A layman, taboo near the water, afraid of becoming a drowning ghost body double, etc.

Orchid Festival Magic Drama

In the large-scale Yulan Victory Games, there are usually theatrical troupes performing big plays to entertain the souls of ancestors while accepting merits and demerits. On the other hand, it is to entertain the upcoming neighbors. Traditional operas are usually Guangfu, Chaozhou or Helao operas.

Dashiwang

Generally speaking, we can see all kinds of platforms, altars or sheds at the venue of Yulan Victory Club, such as stage and praying platform. Their furnishings and uses are different and their meanings are different. Among them, "Dashitai" must exist in the Yulan Victory Meeting. In Taishitai, there is a huge paper statue named King Taishitai, also known as "Ghost King". When burning street clothes, Master Wang was carried out to maintain order.

King tuas is usually made of bamboo paper, with Guanyin on his head and double horns on his forehead. He dressed up as a ferocious military commander, and everything was to catch ghosts. At the end of Purdue, people held a ceremony to "transform King Dashi", burned the statue of King Dashi and sent King Dashi away.

Ping' anmei

Every year at the Yulan Festival, some neighborhood organizations send rice, the original intention is to solve problems for the ancestors. These rice are called "safe rice" and anyone can queue up to buy them. Sending rice may be used to help the poor and beggars. The target now is mainly the elderly.

Pray for blessings

In the modern Yulan Victory Games, there is often a part of bidding for gifts, the purpose of which is to raise funds from all sides to win the game. In addition, some people want to "do whatever they want" in order to please the bad omen, and they will automatically donate items and take their "sacred wishes", so they call them "sacred products". Most of the Fuzi are priced at 100 to several hundred yuan, and some of them can rise to 2000 to 3000 yuan after being sold!

Main ceremony schedule

-August 200011(July 12);

Day: Tianhou and other gods in Tianhou Palace were only invited out of Yulan Temple.

Night: The magic show begins.

-August 2000 13 (14th day of the seventh lunar month)

Midnight: Burn street clothes and become a loyal king.

-August 2000 14 (15th day of the seventh lunar month)

Afternoon: send a safe meal.