Title: Why is the Midyear Festival called Halloween Festival again?
The Midyear Festival, also known as the Bon Festival and the Pudu Festival, is a traditional cultural festival spread in China and the countries and regions of the Chinese character cultural circle, which is held on the 15th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. However, this festival, which is full of strong folklore colors, has a creepy name - "Ghost Festival". So, why is the Midyear Festival called Halloween?This question involves many aspects of traditional Chinese culture, such as ghosts and gods, Buddhist thoughts, and folk beliefs.
First of all, we need to understand that the origin of the midyear festival is related to Buddhism. According to the record of "The Buddha Says the Bon Sutra", the Buddha's great ** eye Gandren learned that his mother fell into the path of hungry ghosts because of her greed and stupidity during her lifetime, and fell into the path of hungry ghosts after death. Seeing his mother's suffering, Moggallan felt compassion for him, so he observed with his divine power and found that his mother would die of starvation in seven days. Moganh tried his best, but he couldn't save his mother. In the end, he had no choice but to turn to the Buddha for help. The Buddha told him that only on the 15th day of the seventh month, the monks could transcend the soul through chanting, almsgiving, and other rituals. After Moggallan did so, his mother was freed. Since then, July 15 has become the Buddhist Obon festival to overtake the dead.
However, Buddhism does not directly refer to Obon as a "ghost festival". In China, Obon is known as the "Ghost Festival", mainly because of the influence of Taoism. Taoism believes that the soul of a person does not dissipate immediately after death, but remains in the world for a period of time. This period is known as the "bardo body" and is usually forty-nine days. During these forty-nine days, the departed soul needs the offerings and transcendence of their loved ones in order to be reincarnated safely. Therefore, Taoism designates July 15 as the "Midyear Festival" to worship and transcend the souls of the dead.
In addition, folk beliefs are also an important reason why the midyear festival is called the "ghost festival". Among the people, it is generally believed that July is the day when the door of ghosts is opened, and ghosts can enter and leave the world freely. Therefore, various rituals are held on this day to pray that the ghosts will not disturb their families. These activities include burning paper money, setting up altars, setting up water lanterns, etc. To a certain extent, these activities have added to the mysterious and terrifying atmosphere of the Midyear Festival, making the Midyear Festival gradually known as the "Ghost Festival".
However, we need to note that although the midyear festival is called "Halloween", it does not mean that it is a festival full of fear and gloom. On the contrary, the Midyear Festival is a festival full of humanity and warmth. On this day, people express their nostalgia and admiration for the deceased through sacrificial activities, and at the same time, it is also a kind of comfort and reminder to the living. This deep understanding and respect for life and death embodies the humanistic spirit of traditional Chinese culture.
In general, the reason why the midyear festival is called the "ghost festival" is mainly due to the influence of various factors such as the Buddhist Obon Festival, the Taoist Zhongyuan Festival, and folk rituals. Together, these factors constitute the rich cultural connotation of the Zhongyuan Festival, which makes this festival not only have a mysterious religious color, but also have a deep folk foundation. Although the midyear festival is called "Ghost Festival", this does not affect people's love and respect for this festival. On the contrary, this festival is a festival full of humanity and warmth, reflecting people's deep understanding and respect for life and death.
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