In traditional Chinese culture, there are many festivals related to "ghosts", among which the three most famous ancestor festivals are the Qingming Festival, the Zhongyuan Festival and the Winter Clothes Festival, which are also known as the "Three Ghost Festivals". The origins of these festivals can be traced back to ancient times and are closely related to China's religious beliefs and cultural traditions.
Qingming Festival is one of the traditional Chinese festivals and one of the most important sacrificial festivals. It is usually celebrated between April 4 and 6 of the Gregorian calendar every year, with the commemoration of ancestors and tomb sweeping as the main form. The origin of the Qingming Festival can be traced back to the ancient Cold Food Festival and Shangsi Festival, the Cold Food Festival is 105 or 106 days after the winter solstice, it is the ancient fire ban festival, and it is also the day to pay tribute to the dead. Later, the Cold Food Festival and the Shangshi Festival gradually merged to form the Qingming Festival. Qingming Festival is a festival full of mourning and reverence, people will go to the tombs of their ancestors to offer flowers, paper money and other items to remember the ancestors and express their feelings of missing relatives.
Also known as the "Ghost Festival" or "Obon", the Midyear Festival is one of the traditional Chinese festivals and is usually celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month. This festival is related to Buddhist beliefs, and legend has it that Lord Buddha's ** Moggallen used the Bon to hold his mother's eyes as a sign of filial piety and compassion. Later, this festival gradually combined with traditional Chinese culture and became a day to pay tribute to ancestors and transcend the dead. On this day, people pay tribute to their ancestors by burning paper money, putting river lanterns, lion dances and other activities, and also pray for the ancestors' blessing of family safety, health and success.
The Winter Clothes Festival is one of the traditional Chinese festivals, usually celebrated on the first day of the 10th lunar month. This festival is associated with the Chinese belief in the god of the land, and legend has it that the god of the land will travel around the world on this day to bless the peace of the land on all sides. Winter Clothes Festival is also a day to pay tribute to the dead, and people will offer paper money, clothing and other items on this day to send warmth and love to their deceased loved ones. This festival is especially popular in northern China, and is also dedicated to the memory of ancestors and the transcendent dead.
In addition to these three festivals, there are many other ghost festivals and sacrificial festivals in traditional Chinese culture. The origin of these festivals is closely related to the beliefs, legends, and history of traditional Chinese culture. During these festivals, people will express their admiration and remembrance for their ancestors in various forms, as well as pray for the blessing and protection of their ancestors.
In short, the ghost festivals and sacrificial festivals in traditional Chinese culture have profound cultural connotations and historical origins. They are not only a way for people to express their admiration and nostalgia for their ancestors, but also a manifestation of cultural inheritance and historical memory. In these festivals, people can not only remember their ancestors and be grateful for history, but also inherit and carry forward China's traditional culture and spiritual values.