Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh lunar month. It is also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival or Zhongyuan Festival (zhng yun ji). In fact people called it the Ghost Festival because they wanted to honor the deceased ancestors.
The Taoist version of this holiday is called (zhng yun ji). According to Taoism because the Earth God was having his birthday, he pardoned all the wandering souls and wild ghosts. So the gate of hell are open at the midnight on the beginning of the seventh lunar month. Allowing all the suffering spirits to roam the earth and search for food and entertainment until the end of month. That is why the Chinese call the 7th lunar month as the Ghost Month.
During this period, you'll see people burning Joss Paper on the roadside as burning this money is thought to provide one's ancestors with cash in the afterlife.
Culture ShockBurning money to worship the ancestors?!
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Burning Joss Paper
It's said in order to make sure all the hungry ghosts find their way back to hell, people flow water lanterns. As human beings and land belong to yang, so ghosts and water belong to yin. The dark and mysterious underworld usually reminds people of the gloomy sepulchral hell where the ghosts suffer. So lanterns are floated on the waters. Lanterns for human are always hung on walls or trees any place on land .
The above contents are provided by Guangzhou Shine Mandarin.
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