The hungry ghost festival. All about it.
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Since the festivals is coming, I thought that maybe I woulde create a thread as I am curious about the rituals that you would perform and how late it would be dangerous to go out after and all that. Stories if you have them, infomation if you have them, so thank you.
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i only count down the days of the Hungry Ghost Month because immediately after that, i can get mooncakes which i like from the very traditional bakery which makes them only on the first day of the 8th Lunar Month...
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Originally posted by the Bear:
i only count down the days of the Hungry Ghost Month because immediately after that, i can get mooncakes which i like from the very traditional bakery which makes them only on the first day of the 8th Lunar Month...
your supposed to be on diet
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The Ghost Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday celebrated on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month. A solemn holiday, the Ghost Festival represents the connections between the living and the dead, earth and heaven, body and soul.
The entire seventh month of the Chinese calendar is called the Ghost Month, a month in which ghosts and spirits are believed to emerge out from the lower world to visit earth. The Ghost Festival is the climax of a series of the Ghost Month celebrations.
Activities of the festival include preparing ritual offerings of food, and burning ghost money (or paper money) to please the visiting ghosts and spirits as well as deities and ancestors. Other activities include burying and releasing miniature paper boats and lanterns on water, which signifies "giving directions to the lost ghosts."
The Ghost Festival has roots in the Buddhist festival of Ullambana, and also some from the Taoist culture. In the Tang Dynasty, Ullambana and traditional festivities were mixed and celebrated on one day. Thus, the Ghost Festival has special meaning for all Buddhists as one of their most important festivals.The Buddhist origins of the festival can be traced back to a story that originally came from India, but later took on culturally Chinese overtones. This story, "Mu-lien Saves His Mother from Hell," is an account of a well-to-do merchant who gives up his trade to become a devout follower of Buddhism.
After the merchant attains enlightenment, he thinks of his father and mother, and wonders what happens to them. He travels over the known Buddhist universe, and finds his father in heaven. However, his mother has been sent to hell, and has taken on the form of a hungry ghost--it cannot eat because its throat is very thin and no food can pass, yet it always hungers because it has such a large belly. His mother was greedy with the money he left her. He had instructed her to kindly host any Buddhist monks that ever came her way, but instead she withheld her kindness and her money. It was for this reason she was sent to hell. Mu-lien eventually saves her from this plight by battling various demons and entreating the help of the Buddha.
Buddhists instituted a day after the traditional summer retreat (the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar--usually mid-to-late August) as a day of prayer and offering in which monks can pray and make sacrifices on behalf of dead ancestors or hungry ghosts. The family members of the deceased essentially pay for this service, and thus their patronage is a form of charity. The deceased ancestors are pacified and hungry ghosts can eat (the sacrificial foods). The Mu-lien story ends with this festival and the rescue of his mother from hell. She ends up being reborn as a pet dog in a well-off household.
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nah...i didn't write all this. to me, this is a month whereby there are alot of "ger tai" around the housing estate. This is one time whereby dialect songs are crooned and long gone are the street wayangs
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Ghost Festival is like halloween, we dress up as ghosts and go collect the offering left by other people on the streets, near their home
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Originally posted by ChiBet:
Ghost Festival is like halloween, we dress up as ghosts and go collect the offering left by other people on the streets, near their home
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people must learn to be more considerate by burning the offerings in the bins provided & not on the grass patches or anywhere else for that matter..
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during this period alot of air pollution.
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funny the ppl in Taiwan, HK and China don't have the kind of burning like Sg does.
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Originally posted by 4sg:
funny the ppl in Taiwan, HK and China don't have the kind of burning like Sg does.
they have something similar.but for China, i think it's because superstitions and religions are not encouraged.
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/heritage/festivals/he_fest_hung.jhtml
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Funny. The local Chinese are making the HGF more festive than CNY. I guess superstition and fear rule supreme over joy and happiness.
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The colour of joss sticks burnt also makes a difference:
Red = Deities/Ancestors
Green = Wandering ghosts
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i only know i cannot drive out late at night during that time :(
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Originally posted by the Bear:
i only count down the days of the Hungry Ghost Month because immediately after that, i can get mooncakes which i like from the very traditional bakery which makes them only on the first day of the 8th Lunar Month...
at chinatown one izit?
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siao liao siao liao...ppl gonna burn many paper during the festival thus making the ozone hole bigger!
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burn an effigy of dear daniel for the dearly departed black hello kitty.
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gate open liao!
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i just got back from jogging, passing thru thick smoke just now. worst then smoking...
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hahaha....
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Originally posted by Hello Kitty:
at chinatown one izit?
no.. at Commonwealth.. there's their "sales office" somewhere near Chin Swee Road but i never go to that one, i go direct to the bakery -
Originally posted by xavier1979:
The colour of joss sticks burnt also makes a difference:
Red = Deities/Ancestors
Green = Wandering ghosts
which one if accidentaly knock down will kana haunted one? -
Originally posted by the Bear:
no.. at Commonwealth.. there's their "sales office" somewhere near Chin Swee Road but i never go to that one, i go direct to the bakerygimme the chin swee addy leh.
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Originally posted by Master -_-:
which one if accidentaly knock down will kana haunted one?
can you do experiment and tell us the results?
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Originally posted by maurizio13:
can you do experiment and tell us the results? ok..brb