The origin of the Ghost Festival
It is said that Ghost Festival was from the legend “Mulian.” When Mulian was ten, he was appointed to be a monk by Kshitigarbha(地藏王). A few years later, his mother died and was sent to the Hell because she did bad things such as beating monks and wasting food while she was alive. When Mulian knew that his mother was suffering from the punishment of “hanging upside down” in the sixth layer of the Hell, he brought food to his mother. Mulian tried to feed his mother but the food turned into flame whenever it was close to her month. Mulian went to Sakyamuni(釋迦牟尼佛) for help. Sakyamuni told Mulian about her mother’s sins and told him that if he wanted to help his mother, he must prepare vegetable foods for all the spirits on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. Mulian did it and saved her mother from being a hungry ghost.
The seventh month of the lunar calendar is called Ghost Month. On the first day of the seventh month the gates of the Hell are opened and the spirits are allowed a month of freedom in the living world. People prepare all kinds of foods and burn the paper money for the spirits of their ancestors. Businessmen treat the wandering ghost the same for good luck. The three major dates to treat the spirits are on the first, the fifteenth, and the last day of the Ghost Month.
It is said that Ghost Festival was from the legend “Mulian.” When Mulian was ten, he was appointed to be a monk by Kshitigarbha(地藏王). A few years later, his mother died and was sent to the Hell because she did bad things such as beating monks and wasting food while she was alive. When Mulian knew that his mother was suffering from the punishment of “hanging upside down” in the sixth layer of the Hell, he brought food to his mother. Mulian tried to feed his mother but the food turned into flame whenever it was close to her month. Mulian went to Sakyamuni(釋迦牟尼佛) for help. Sakyamuni told Mulian about her mother’s sins and told him that if he wanted to help his mother, he must prepare vegetable foods for all the spirits on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. Mulian did it and saved her mother from being a hungry ghost.
The seventh month of the lunar calendar is called Ghost Month. On the first day of the seventh month the gates of the Hell are opened and the spirits are allowed a month of freedom in the living world. People prepare all kinds of foods and burn the paper money for the spirits of their ancestors. Businessmen treat the wandering ghost the same for good luck. The three major dates to treat the spirits are on the first, the fifteenth, and the last day of the Ghost Month.
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