Customs and legends of Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival is the product of the combination of Taoism and traditional folk customs in China, which can correspond to each other, mainly based on the same world view: the three realms of heaven, earth and water are deified into three realms of government under the jurisdiction of the officials of heaven, earth and water. The following are the customs and legends of Mid-Autumn Festival that I compiled for you, hoping to help you.

The custom of Mid-Autumn festival

1, ancestor worship

Ancestor worship has existed for thousands of years. It is a grand folk activity and an ancient custom with far-reaching significance. In ancient times, this custom was very popular. Even today, many people worship their ancestors on the Mid-Autumn Festival.

When offering sacrifices to ancestors, images of ancestors will be provided in the ancestral hall, and family members will go to the ancestral hall for ancestor worship ceremony. Or burn incense, light candles, burn gold ingots and set off string cannons. The whole family worships their ancestors in the order of seniority and age.

Due to the different customs and habits in different places, the forms of ancestor worship are also different. Some places also offer sacrifices to the gods of heaven and earth, light three incense, bow down and pray for a bumper harvest.

Folk believe that ancestors will go home to visit their descendants at this time, so there is a ceremony to worship their ancestors.

2. River lamp

Setting off river lanterns (also often written as "lotus lanterns") is a traditional custom of the Chinese nation, which is used to mourn the dead relatives and bless the living.

When night falls, people light a river lantern, put it into a river or lake, and let it drift, so as to pay homage to their ancestors, place their love on their loved ones and express their prayers for happiness and peace. I hope that the water will flow forever, diseases and disasters will be eliminated, and future generations will be happy and healthy.

River lanterns are generally made of discarded colored paper, cigarette cases and paper cups. Put a lamp or candle on the base and you can go with the flow.

Step 3 burn paper ingots

In the Mid-Autumn Festival, burning paper money and setting off firecrackers can be said to be extremely common. People believe that paper money is the money of the deceased in another world. Burn more paper money and the dead will have money in that world. This is a kind of mourning for the dead. But it is also an extremely easy behavior to cause fire. So be sure to burn the paper ingots in a safe place.

We can continue the old mourning, but in the new era, we still have to worship our ancestors in a civilized way. Bring a bunch of flowers, leaving a fragrance for the dead, and also providing some protection for our safety and green.

4, put the sky lanterns

"Kongming Lantern", also known as Sky Lantern, is said to have been invented by Zhu Gekongming (Zhuge Liang) during the Three Kingdoms period. Because he was trapped in a sunny day, he could not send troops out of the city for help. I can only rely on the paper lanterns floating out of the hole to ask for help to escape. Later generations called this kind of lantern Kongming Lantern.

Sky lanterns are also called "blessing lanterns" or "safety lanterns". Modern people put lanterns on Kongming lanterns as a blessing. The wishes of men, women and children to write blessings by hand symbolize the bumper harvest and happiness every year.

On the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, there is a custom of putting lanterns in many areas. Pray for God to bless a happy life in the coming year.

Step 5 sacrifice land

On July 15th, offering sacrifices to land and crops is still a folk custom. Scatter sacrifices in the fields. After burning the paper, wrap it on the ears of crops with cut five-color paper. Legend has it that autumn can avoid hail and get a bumper harvest. At the same time, some places have to go to Houtu Temple to offer sacrifices. Hemp and valley are hung at the gate of Dingxiang county folk custom.

Legends and stories of Mid-Autumn Festival

Legend one

Every year, July 14 of the lunar calendar is the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Ghost Festival, or Orchid Festival, which is a big festival to worship ghosts and gods. The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from Taoism, and later Buddhism changed to what is now commonly known as the Orchid Festival. In India, Kasahara Festival means "hanging upside down". "Hanging upside down" means that after the death of the mother of the ten sons of Sakyamuni, she was hungry and could not eat. Mulian was later helped by Sakyamuni, who used various tastes and five fruits to support the ten gods and buddhas and save his mother with virtue. So now, in order to sacrifice lonely souls, Purdue Festival is held in July of the ghost month, also called Ghost Festival. Generally speaking, in ancient times, people were reluctant to do important things such as getting married this month.

Legend 2

As for the origin of the Ghost Festival, it is said that the Tibetan Bodhisattva, also known as the "Death Lord", came to the underworld after her mother died and was imprisoned in her cell. He was tortured by many kinds of eighteen layers of hell. As a dutiful son, Tibetan Bodhisattva can't bear to see her mother suffer. On July 15, he had an affair and asked the boy guarding the cell to secretly open the cell door and let his mother out. Who knows this? Those ghosts who run back to their hometown, in order to go back to life, get through the joints and ask for money from home, hoping to support their lives as soon as possible. Later, people designated this day as "Ghost Festival". On Halloween, people will burn paper money and offer sacrifices to show their respect for their deceased relatives.

On the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, both Buddhism and Taoism summarized their criticisms, and both sides conducted corresponding textual research and comments. The difference is that the Taoist investigation report points to people, that is, the date of birth of the school. Buddhist concluding comments are all made internally. Both the date of birth of foreign schools and the internal criticism meeting show that both Buddhism and Taoism attach importance to July 15, or that this day is important in Buddhist and Taoist festivals. Coupled with the so-called ghost festival, this day is even more colorful. School birthdays and self-indulgent days are only a small part of this season's customs and activities. In addition, there are important custom saving activities in the year, such as offering sacrifices to ancestors and recommending new people, lighting lamps for ghosts and bonsai festivals.

Kasahara Festival is an important ceremony in the Buddhist New Year ceremony. For example, it is held on July 15 every year, so the Mid-Yuan Festival is also called the Arahara Festival. Despite thousands of years of active obedience and passive domestication, the traces of Buddhism remain clearly in the activities of the people in the Mid-Autumn Festival. The first is the name. Euglena is a transliteration of Sanskrit, which means "upside down". The combination of euglena and the basin is the savior, that is, "saving the upside down"; In addition, the blue flowerpot can also be interpreted as a "hanging basin", highlighting its characteristics of "putting a hundred meals".

Matters needing attention in Mid-Autumn Festival

1, pay attention to your words and deeds, and don't slander ghosts and gods.

Although many people don't believe in ghosts and gods, they did in ancient times. Before and after the Mid-Autumn Festival, you can't say anything strange casually, which will easily cause others to panic and seriously affect the atmosphere.

2. Don't steal sacrifices and spend money indiscriminately.

In my family's custom, every year in July and a half, that is, a few days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, we will give out lucky money, such as paper and gold ingots. Then put it in a paper bag, write the names of the deceased ancestors on the paper bag, and then take it to their graves for burning. The money is for relatives of ancestors. We can't pick it up at the grave, or our ancestors will find you with resentment.

3. Avoid going out at night and don't turn around when walking.

The atmosphere of Mid-Autumn Festival is very strange. It feels like the road is full of dead souls at night. It's best not to walk at night on this day. When I have a little trouble, I scare myself, especially those whose birthdays are not so good. If you really have something to travel at night, you'd better take a few people with you to feel a little safe. After all, many hands make light work.

Never look in the mirror in the middle of the night and stay up late.

Around the Mid-Autumn Festival, the human body is rather yin. What if when you look in the mirror, a ghost suddenly appears in the mirror, just like in the horror movie, and then reaches out and strangles you? This is scary. In the middle of the night, the human body is weak and its vitality is weak. What if the ghost is possessed? In terms of health care, we are also told to go to bed as soon as possible.