What are the customs of the Hungry Ghost Festival?

The four traditional ancestor worship festivals in China are New Year's Eve, Qingming Festival, Ghost Festival and Double Ninth Festival.

Folks attach great importance to the Ghost Festival, which has a very high status among the people. On this festival, people remember their ancestors, miss their relatives and friends, and send good wishes for the future.

?Customs of the Ghost Festival? 1. Visiting graves to worship ancestors? The Ghost Festival is called "July 15" in many places, which means that midsummer has passed and autumn has just begun.

Folks believe that ancestors will return home to visit their descendants at this time, so ancestor worship is necessary.

Some places choose the Hungry Ghost Festival to pay homage to the graves of their ancestors. During the ceremony, they kowtow to each ancestor in order of generation and age, pray silently, and pray for their ancestors to bless them with safety and happiness.

2. Giving alms to lonely souls? The so-called "giving alms to lonely souls" refers to the meaning of giving alms to lonely souls and wild ghosts.

There are people who are lonely, widowed, sick and disabled, and there are also ghosts who are lonely and wandering.

Ghosts with relatives and homes in Yang Mansion can return home to reunite with their relatives, have a good meal, and receive gold, silver, treasures, clothing, and clothing prepared by their relatives.

But those homeless wild ghosts wander around and cause trouble.

Therefore, when people pay homage to their ancestors, they will set up a small table outside the door for the wild ghosts to enjoy.

This custom is quite grand in the Haikou area. On the night of the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, you can see the grandparents on the street placing incense and candles in the front and back of their houses, burning paper money, ingots, cloth and other paper products, and buying small taros,

Guavas, carambola and other green fruits are distributed around the house to give to the lonely ghosts who have lost their relatives in the world.

3. Releasing river lanterns? Releasing river lanterns, also known as “water lanterns” and “river lanterns”, is also a traditional custom of our Chinese nation.

River lanterns are also called lotus lanterns, because the base of this kind of lamp is often made of paper or wood in the shape of lotus petals, or even lotus leaves are sometimes used directly as the base.

When putting out river lanterns, people light the lamps or candles on the lamp holders and let them float beautifully in the rivers, lakes and seas.

Legend has it that all undead souls can be transcended to the ideal world on the other side in this way.

4. Flame mouth? In Buddhism, hungry ghosts who are hungry for food and spit out flames are called flame mouths.

Therefore, the monk gives food to hungry ghosts, which is called "flaming mouth".

Since the Liang Dynasty, Chinese folk have held activities such as setting up fasts, making offerings to monks, laying fields, and setting off flames during the Hungry Ghost Festival.

On that day, people first set up the Master's Seat and Shigu Platform in front of Jiekou Village, and worshiped Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva in front of the Master's Seat. According to legend, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva can save the ghosts in hell.

Under it are peaches and rice made of flour, and on the Shigu platform stand three spiritual tablets and a soul-calling pan.

After noon, people put whole pigs, whole sheep, chickens, ducks, geese and all kinds of cakes, fruits, etc. on Shigutai.

The host placed a handful of blue, red, and green triangular paper flags on each sacrifice, and wrote words such as "Menlan Grand Meeting" and "Ganlu Gate Opens."

The ceremony began with solemn temple music.

The monks recited various thirsty sayings and mantras, then offered food and scattered noodles, peaches and rice in all directions, repeating three times.

Folks call this ceremony "flaming mouth".

At night, every household will burn incense at the door of their house and put incense on the ground. Because it symbolizes a good harvest, the more incense the better.

5. Bidding for blessings? After the Hungry Ghost Festival sacrificial activities, there is another entertainment activity - bidding for blessings.

These blessings are donated by members and enthusiasts who organize sacrificial activities. They come in many varieties, such as daily necessities; children's toys, ingots, rice buckets, etc.

Because they believe that "bidding" for an item will bring them good luck, everyone is very generous. The money raised from the bidding will generally be used as charity funds and can also accumulate funds for the next Ghost Festival event.

Food customs of the Hungry Ghost Festival? 1. Eating duck On the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, ducks are eaten in many places across the country.

Why? It turns out that "duck" means "press", which is homophonic. Eating duck is to suppress ghosts.

People in Dongguan usually eat duck cooked with lotus root.

2. Eating rice noodles on the Hungry Ghost Festival, there is a custom of eating rice noodles in Dongguan, and it is common in almost all Dongguan.

Of course, the methods of eating rice noodles are still different in different regions.

3. Eating simple meals In Duling County, Shandong Province, the Ghost Festival is called the "Pinching Festival" by the locals, and every family has the custom of eating simple meals.

4. Eat flat food In Dongxian Township, Jiangsu Province, many villagers eat flat food (a dustpan-shaped food made of flour and sugar) on the Ghost Festival.

5. Eat “dumplings” On the rooftop in Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, they eat “dumplings” during the Ghost Festival, a food similar to spring rolls.