What festival is it today? (traditional festivals)

Today is July, 15. People usually call July 30 Halloween, right?

July 15th is also called Mid-Autumn Festival.

The origin of the Mid-Autumn festival

The name "Central Plains" originated from the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the Central Plains Festival is also called "Ghost Festival" or "Orchard Club". On this day, Buddhism also held a meeting to transcend the Dharma, which was called "ULLAMBANA" (Indian word), that is, the Orchid Meeting. The meaning of Orchid Club is hanging upside down. The pain of life is like a bat hanging upside down in a tree.

Bats, hanging, are miserable. In order to save all beings from the suffering of hanging upside down, we must recite the scriptures and give them to ghosts to eat. This coincides with the worship of ghost moon in China, so the Mid-Autumn Festival and Orchid Festival are handed down at the same time.

"Zhongyuan" is a Taoist saying: According to Five Magazine, the fifteenth day of the first month is "Shangyuan", and the day when God blessed the people is a Taoist scripture; July 15 is the "Central Plains", which is the day when local officials forgive sins. 1October 15 is "Xia Yuan Day", which is the day when water officials pay homage to Eritrea. "The Book of Laws" says: "On the mid-Yuan day of July, the local officials fell, and the good and evil on earth were decided, so the Taoist priests recited scriptures at night, and the prisoners were free from hunger." Therefore, on July 15, the people will prepare rich sacrificial ceremonies to worship the officials of the land and their ancestors.

The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is an important folk festival in China. In ancient times, people worshipped their ancestors with the newly harvested new valley, and the Kasahara Festival in Buddhism and the Zhongyuan Festival in Taoism were also on the same day. It is also said that the seventh month of the lunar calendar is a ghost month, and in the middle of this month, "good brothers" will come to worship on earth, and various origins have merged into today's "Zhongyuan Pudu".

On the Mid-Autumn Festival in Taiwan Province Province, every family slaughtered pigs and sheep, and prepared extremely rich wine and meat sacrifices to worship the ancestors and ghosts of the underworld. There are many traditional Purdue activities everywhere, especially the Mid-Autumn Festival in Keelung.

Legend of Mid-Autumn Festival

There are many legends about Mid-Autumn Festival. The most important thing is that on the first day of the seventh lunar month, Yan Luowang opened the gate of hell and released a group of ghosts who were not worshipped and enjoyed people's sacrifices among the dead. On the last day of July, these ghosts must return to the underworld before the gate of hell closes again. Therefore, July is also called ghost month. The story of Mulan saving her mother: among the disciples of the Buddha, the most revered person with magical power, Mulan. With his magical power, he saw that his mother was greedy for money before her death, fell into the path of evil spirits, and lived a life without enough food. Gui Mu Lian used his magical power to turn it into food and gave it to his mother, but her mother didn't change her greed. When she saw the food coming, she was afraid that other evil spirits would take it away. Greed immediately turned the food into charcoal in her mouth and couldn't swallow it. Although the ghost mother lotus has magical power, she can't swallow it. Ask Buddha what to do. The Buddha said, "July 15th is the last day of summer, and Buddhism is perfect. On this day, the monks in the lane have a wide variety of dishes, and their merits are boundless. You can use this compassion to save their dead mother. " This is the origin of "good brothers" in Purdue, Taiwan Province Province.

From the legends about the Mid-Autumn Festival, we can deeply realize that the Mid-Autumn Festival sacrifice has dual meanings: one is to show filial piety in memory of ancestors, and the other is to carry forward the righteous act of pushing others and giving alms. This is all from the perspective of compassion and is very human. Therefore, while celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, we should exorcise ghosts and encourage each other.

People in China believe that after death, people will become ghosts and wander between heaven and earth. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival with positive significance. It is an extension of China's traditional ethical thought of "fraternity" to offer sacrifices to orphans and wild ghosts and let them enjoy the enthusiasm of the world.

Since the government advocated improving folk customs and saving sacrifices, the grand occasion and scale of Pudu in various places have been greatly reduced. However, from the original perspective of Yuan Zaju, what modern China people should strive to do is to reduce waste and carry forward the beauty of Purdue in Yuan Zaju.

July in the lunar calendar is a "ghost month". Yan Luowang opens the gate of hell on the first day of the seventh lunar month every year, saying

"Open the ghost door", the guardian of the underworld opens, releasing a group of ghosts who are not worshipped and enjoying people's sacrifices in the dead. It was not until July 30 that the gate of hell was closed. Therefore, July is also called ghost month.

In Purdue, there are two kinds of "public schools" organized by temples and "private schools" organized by the people. The Mid-Autumn Festival in Keelung belongs to public schools. Before the official opening of public schools, lanterns were hung to evoke spirits, and in some areas, "Purdue public lanterns" were hung, and drowning ghosts used "water lanterns".

12 begins a complete ceremony, with a "Lantern Festival" and a grand Purdue Festival on July 15. During the ceremony, activities such as "burning the Lord" and "robbing orphans" will also be held. In the wild stage play filled with gongs and drums, cigarettes and devout worship, Purdue in the Central Plains ended the lively ceremony with "Zhong Kui Dance".

The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is an important folk festival in China. In ancient times, people worshipped their ancestors with newly harvested new valleys, and the Mid-Yuan Festival in Taoism and the Arahara Festival in Buddhism were also on the same day. It is also said that the seventh month of the lunar calendar is a ghost month, and in the middle of this month, "good brothers" will come to worship on earth, and for various reasons, they will merge into today's Zhongyuan Purdue.

First, the Taoist view:

"Mid-Autumn Festival" was originally a Taoist saying. The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is "Shangyuan", which is a lucky day for heavenly officials to give people a promotion and make a fortune. 1October 15 is "Xia Yuan", which is the day for officials of the Water Affairs Bureau to give relief to Eritrea. What is Eritrea's solution, just like car accidents, diseases and financial bankruptcy, is Eritrea; To get rid of Eritrea is to pray to God to worship Buddha all day to avoid disaster. July 15 is the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is the day when local officials forgive their sins. On this day, local officials and emperors came to the earth to inspect the people and distinguish between good and evil. Therefore, on this day, there are ceremonies to worship local officials and emperors, and this day is also a day for ordinary people to worship their ancestors and pray for blessing. This is the main reason why the Central Plains Festival has become a folk festival.

Second, the Buddhist point of view:

July 15th is the so-called "Orchid Club", and its origin is not the same as that of Zhongyuan Pudu in Taoism. "Orchid Club" originally means "saving the upside down" in Indian dialect, and the pain of life is like hanging upside down in a tree, which makes people miserable. In order to avoid the pain of "inversion", Buddhism came.

Third, folk beliefs:

Purdue was in the Central Plains, except that Buddhism and Taoism said that Mu Lian saved his mother, which was July 15th when Purdue died. Later, the folk added the legend that the gate of hell opened on July 1. It is said that every year on the first day of the seventh lunar month, the underworld will open the gates of hell, so that ghosts who are not worshipped can enjoy people's offerings in the underworld. Within a month, neighbors took turns to worship, some worshiped the first day, and some worshipped the first day.

Mu Lian is a filial and compassionate person. He sincerely worshipped Buddha since he was a child, and later became a monk. He practiced Buddhism devoutly, became more and more profound, and even had the ability to see magical powers.

One day, he saw his mother mixed with a hungry ghost through magical power, starving and freezing.

Mulian hurriedly brought the rice in the bowl to his mother. Unexpectedly, rice immediately turned into charcoal in her mouth and could not be swallowed.

Mu Lian saw that his mother was suffering, and it was really painful, so he immediately asked the Buddha to help him save her from suffering.

Buddha said, "Your mother was selfish and mean before her death, and she didn't do good deeds, so she got this retribution. You can't save her alone. You must prepare all kinds of fruits for monks from all over the world and support them on July 15. In this way, we can gather the strength of all the monks and gods, which can not only save your mother from her misery and reincarnate as soon as possible, but also save other parents from her misery. "

According to the instructions of Buddha, Manglietia finally saved her mother and other people's parents. Buddhism is called "Lanhu" Buddhism.

This custom has been passed down from generation to generation, and it has become the current Pudu ceremony in the mid-Yuan Dynasty.