Why is the Ghost Festival in Guangdong and Guangxi not on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, but on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month?

The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is a traditional folk festival in China. Why is Ghost Festival celebrated in Guangdong and Guangxi on July 14 instead of July 15?

Why a day earlier?

There is a legend here: In the past, people in Guangxi and Guangdong also celebrated festivals on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month. At the end of the Song Dynasty, there was a war in the south, and people in Guangxi and Guangdong were preparing for the Mid-Autumn Festival. When they heard that the Yuan army had attacked Lingnan on a large scale, in order to avoid the war and avoid being caught by the enemy, their ancestors had to mention celebrating the festival the day before.

It has continued since then.

Legend has it that Halloween is a day when the gates of hell are wide open. The so-called "July 14, ghosts are unbridled!"

Legend has it that since the first day of the seventh lunar month, ghosts in the underworld have been released and can wander around the world for a period of time to accept people's sacrifices. It was not until July 30 that the gate of hell was closed again, and the festival of Ghost Festival was over.

The atmosphere of July 14th in Guangdong and Guangxi is quite strong, but many solar terms are celebrated at noon. In many places in Guangdong and Guangxi, ducks are used to worship ancestors.

According to legend, a duck is a god who carries the souls of his ancestors across the river. Killing ducks for the holidays is to let them accomplish this mission.

In fact, because the ducks ate a lot of grains scattered in the fields in the "June farm" (that is, the early harvest season), they were full of fat. It was the right time to eat, and after sacrificing their ancestors, the delicious and tender duck meat could be feasted.