What festival is it to set off lotus lanterns in July?

Lotus lantern is commonly known as "river lantern" by us. Every year, the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is the traditional festival of the river lantern festival in China. This is also a traditional ancestor worship festival in China. As the saying goes, "In July and a half, ghosts go ashore, light river lanterns, burn incense and hold candles to offer sacrifices to the river god", which is actually such a day.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival on July 15 of the lunar calendar, Buddhists hold a celebration ceremony, namely "Bonsai Festival", which is not only to commemorate the deceased relatives. For Buddhists, it is also a day to commemorate Mu Lian and praise his filial piety. Folk activities such as shipbuilding, putting on lotus lanterns, playing lotus lanterns, offering sacrifices to ancestors and singing "Yingjing Opera" were held. Lotus lanterns and lotus lanterns appear as important props for lighting. In the past, people lit candles and oil lamps. Lights represent wisdom, which banishes darkness and illuminates life. In a deeper sense, it represents burning yourself and shining on others.

Extended data:

Mid-Autumn Festival, commonly known as July 30th, Shigu Festival, Ghost Festival, Zhaigu Festival or Earth Observation Festival, is the 15th day of July in the lunar calendar every year (July14th in some areas), and it is called Sanyuan Festival together with Shangyuan Festival and Xiayuan Festival. It is a traditional cultural festival popular in countries with Chinese character cultural circle and overseas Chinese areas. There are folk customs of offering sacrifices to the dead, setting off river lanterns and burning paper ingots. Mid-Autumn Festival, New Year's Eve, Tomb-Sweeping Day and Chung Yeung Festival are traditional ancestral festivals in China. Mid-Autumn Festival belongs to intangible cultural heritage and is a cultural tradition of remembering ancestors. ?

In the pre-Qin period, the first half of July was a festival to celebrate the harvest and repay the earth in early autumn. Some crops are ripe, so people are asked to worship their ancestors and offer sacrifices such as new rice to report Qiu Cheng to their ancestors. Taoism believes that July 30th is the birthday of local officials. On this day, they pray for forgiveness, all ghosts will be released from the underworld, and the dead ancestors can go home for reunion. Therefore, it is also called the Mid-Yuan Festival and the Ghost Festival, and it is called the Boni Festival in Buddhism. Folk people generally carry out activities such as offering sacrifices to ghosts, ancestors and recommending food.

Sacrificing ancestors and timely recommending food are also called "Zhaihe Valley" in Nanjing and Jianghuai areas of China. In the old days, monks crossed their souls by the river and put paper lotus lanterns into the river, so it was also called "Zhaihe Valley". In the past, the Mid-Autumn Festival was a festival centered on ghost worship, which became one of the largest folk festivals in China. 20 10 in may, the "mid-autumn festival" declared by the Ministry of culture in the hong kong special administrative region was selected into the national intangible cultural heritage list.

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia-Mid-Autumn Festival