Thanks for the Spring Festival custom in Yunxiao County, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province.

Purdue Festival is held in July of the lunar calendar every year, which is a traditional custom in Xiao Yun, commonly known as "Ghost Festival". Among the gods, the highest one is the Jade Emperor, followed by Guanyin and Mazu, and the lowest one is the Land Lord. In the ghost world, some people worship ancestors, but no one worships ghosts. Lonely ghosts have become an important source of social unrest in Han belief because they have no sacrifices.

In the face of ghosts as the source of social unrest, the ceremony of Purdue in July was developed to accommodate these evil spirits who did not sacrifice in hell. Today, Purdue in July in the lunar calendar is not only the belief in ghosts and gods of Han people, but also the thought of Taoism and Buddhism, so Purdue in July is often called "Purdue in the Central Plains" or "Orchid Club". The name "Purdue in the Middle Yuan Dynasty" is related to Taoist thought. Among Taoist immortals, there are celestial officials, local officials and water officials. Local officials are responsible for pardoning sins. On the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month (that is, the Mid-Autumn Festival), the gods came to the world on their birthdays, and people were blessed and blessed. Lonely ghosts were considered guilty, so Taoist priests were asked to make scientific instruments to save orphans. "Bonsai" is a Chinese translation of Sanskrit, which means giving food to relieve suffering. Sakyamuni told his disciple Mulian that on July 15th, the "Magnolia Pot Meeting" offered five fruits and five flavors to support ten virtues to save his mother from hunger. Due to the infiltration of Buddhism and Taoism, Purdue in the mid-Yuan Dynasty also had rituals different from Buddhism and Taoism.

Purdue ceremony is mainly divided into: inviting ghosts, giving food, chanting scriptures and exorcising ghosts. To attract ghosts is to open the gate of hell and welcome ghosts from the underworld to the underworld. In order to let ghosts come to the world smoothly from the dark hell, people put up lanterns in front of the temple, hang lanterns on them and write "Celebrate the Central Plains" to guide ghosts. The higher the lamppost, the wider the lighting range, and the more orphans and ghosts come to eat. Therefore, temples must measure the extent to which they can provide food, so as to avoid "more ghosts and less porridge", leading to ghosts and grievances and adding disasters to the world. In addition to the vertical lights on land, there is also a ceremony to put water lights in the water to illuminate the drowning ghosts in the water. Ghosts who are afraid of dying can't satisfy their appetite, and the cautious market is Xiagang Street. After the gate of hell is opened, people in the street will take turns to provide food and sacrifices every day to ensure peace.

"Giving food" is the most important ceremony in Purdue, and believers will provide rich meals to satisfy orphans. In addition to food, we also prepared warp clothes (that is, new clothes) for them to live a short and comfortable life among the dead. The food given to ghosts, because there is a ceremony to celebrate the stars, believers believe that eating it will bring good luck, so there is a "robbing orphans" activity to grab tributes, forming the most lively picture in the process of Purdue. In addition to giving food, we also recite scriptures for these ghosts, so that they can reach the promised land in transcendence. The end of Purdue is the "ghost gate" on July 29th of the lunar calendar. On this night, people prepare dishes at home to "say goodbye" to the orphans, and the lanterns in front of the temple will also be taken down to announce the end of Purdue. Sometimes temples are afraid of wandering ghosts in the underworld and killing people, so they specially invite Zhong Kui to be detained late at night to keep the local peace.

According to legend, Pudu was written by Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty to sacrifice the ghosts who died in battle. Later, with the opening of Chen Yuanguang, it was brought to the south of Fujian. Today, Chinese in southern Fujian, Taiwan Province Province and Southeast Asia still retain this tradition.

As a sacred place to open chapters, its "Purdue custom" is more prominent. Before 1989, from the first day to the thirtieth day of the seventh lunar month, there was a custom of Pudu in Chengguan, Xiao Yun, which was called "Fu" by the people, that is, from "the first blessing" to "the thirty blessings", and various welfare agencies took turns to "Fu". However, a series of social problems have also troubled Xiao Yun people. For example: group fights caused by traffic congestion due to disorderly parking of bicycles, fires caused by improper burning of paper, and so on.

1989, the Standing Committee of Yunxiao County People's Congress passed the motion of "unifying the 15th day of the seventh lunar month as a traditional folk Purdue Festival in Chengguan area" for the sake of social stability and unity and people's living and working in peace and contentment. At present, except for Pumei Village, Buhe Village, Wutian Village, Chuanchang Village and a few other villages, almost all counties in the county have done Pudufu on July 15th.