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The Hungry Ghost Festival is a traditional holy day in China, held on the 14th day of the seventh lunar month. It is practiced in different ways by Taoist, Buddhist, and traditional Chinese adherents. The festival is based on ancestor worship and the belief that deceased ancestors have needs and wishes. During the festival, spirits are allowed to enter our world to take food and drink and accept offerings. The festival is related to Buddhism through the story of Mahamaudgalyayana and the Buddha’s instructions on how to help his mother. The festival is celebrated by honoring and cherishing the memories of deceased ancestors and making offerings to keep hungry ghosts from hurting loved ones. Offerings are made via paper models, and the festival lasts for a fortnight.
The Hungry Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, is an ancient traditional holy day in China. The Feast of Hungry Ghosts is held on the 14th day of the seventh lunar month, although festivities can take place either before or after, during the seventh month, which is sometimes known as the month of ghosts.
The Hungry Ghost Festival is practiced in slightly different ways by traditional Chinese, Taoist, and Buddhist adherents. Both Taoists and Buddhists claim the festival as originally theirs, but there is evidence that the festival existed within folk religions and made its way into both Taoism and later Buddhism.
The Feast of Hungry Ghosts is based on a belief in a construct of ancestor worship, where the ghosts of deceased ancestors, especially older ancestors, are thought to live in a world beyond our own where they have their needs and wishes. During the Feast of the Hungry Ghosts, the gates of Hell are thrown open and spirits are allowed to fully enter our world, to take food and drink, and to accept offerings.
In Buddhism, the Hungry Ghost Festival is related to the life of the Buddha, as the Day of Joy. On this day, it is said, the Buddha gave instructions to his disciples on how they could help free his mother, who had been reborn in a hellish realm. In this way, many of his disciples attained enlightenment, and the Buddha was delighted.
It is also related to Buddhism through the story of a monk, Mahamaudgalyayana, who saw that his deceased father had gone to a heavenly realm, but his deceased mother had gone to a hellish realm. When Mahamaudgalyayana visited the Buddha and asked Lord Buddha to help him deliver her mother, Lord Buddha gave him instructions on how to give her food, to quench her hunger. He did, and his mother was able to be reborn as a dog, and eventually, through Mahamaudgalyayana’s other good deeds, as a human being.
There are two different ways people treat the Festival of Hungry Ghosts, more or less like the Mexican holy day, the Day of the Dead. Some people see it as a time to honor and cherish the memories of deceased ancestors and to offer them food, drink, and other possessions to bring them happiness. Others see it as a time to fear the dead and make offerings to keep hungry ghosts from hurting them or their loved ones.
Many offerings that take place during the Hungry Ghost Festival are made via paper models of whatever is being offered. Some Chinese burn Hell Money, fake paper notes, to send to dead spirits. Others burn paper televisions, bicycles, radios and other gifts that will help the spirits have a better life on the other side.
The festival lasts for a fortnight after the completion of the Festival of Hungry Ghosts, and during those fortnights it is thought that spirits may still roam the mortal realm, enjoying our offerings and exploring. At the end of the festival the spirits return to their realms, content to stay with their offerings until the following year.
