The 15th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is China's traditional festival - the Zhongyuan Festival, which is often called the ghost festival. We are all familiar with the names of Zhongyuan Festival and Ghost Festival, but many people don't know what Yulan basin Festival is. Where did the Yulan basin Festival originate? What is the relationship between the Yulan basin Festival and the Zhongyuan Festival? This article brings you a brief introduction of Yulan basin Festival and the relationship between Yulan basin Festival and Zhongyuan Festival. Let's get to know. What is the Yulan basin Festival? Where did it originate? July 15 of the lunar calendar is called "Yulan basin Festival" and "Yulan basin society", also known as "Zhongyuan Festival" (in a sense, Zhongyuan Festival belongs to Taoism and Yulan basin Festival belongs to Buddhism). In some places, it is commonly known as "Ghost Festival" and "Shi Gu", also known as dead people's day and July and a half.
In Indian Buddhist rituals, Buddhists held a "Yulan basin meeting" in order to recommend their ancestors. The Yulan basin Sutra in the Buddhist sutra was to practice the will of filial piety and encourage Buddhist disciples, which was in line with the popular belief of being cautious in the end and pursuing the future in China, so it became more and more popular. China began to follow this example from the Liang Dynasty and became the Zhongyuan Festival. However, later, in addition to fasting for monks, activities such as repentance and fireworks were also increased.
Temple fairs are still held in China, but the folk Yulan basin activities have disappeared. The Chinese people don't know what Yulan basin is. When it comes to the Yulan basin Festival, the first reaction of Chinese people is the festival in Japan. In fact, this is a big misunderstanding. The Yulan basin Festival is a Chinese festival. The Yulan basin festival in Japan is just a relic. Yulan basin festival was introduced into Japan in the bird age and has become a grand festival second only to new year's day in Japan. Yulan basin Festival is also known as soul sacrifice, Lantern Festival and Buddhist all souls Association in Japan. It was originally a day to worship ancestors and pray for blessings. Now it is a festival of family reunion and happy village. Every Yulan basin Festival, Japanese enterprises have a holiday of 7-15 days, and people rush back to their hometown for reunion. During the festival, every family set up soul niches, lit soul welcoming fire and soul sending fire to commemorate their ancestors. Generally, we greet the souls of our ancestors before and after August 13 of the Gregorian calendar, live with living people for 4 days, and send the souls of our ancestors back to the underworld by sending soul fire on August 16. The "big text burning" in Kyoto is the peak of this activity. Another form of farewell is Yulan basin dance. On summer nights, men, women and children dance in bathrobes amid the sound of Taigu. It has become a famous sightseeing activity in Japan.
The relationship between Menglan basin Festival and Zhongyuan Festival
The custom of worshipping ghosts in July has evolved into a folk Ghost Festival, and Taoist culture and Buddhist culture have played an important role.
There are striking similarities in spirit between folk ghost moon customs and the Zhongyuan Festival and Yulan basin Festival. They all take the worship of relatives, respect for maintenance and universal ferry as the theme. The consistency between the Buddhist Yulan basin society, the Taoist Zhongyuan Festival and the etiquette and customs of Chinese folk culture immediately made them widely recognized. Both of them point to July 15, which gives the folk ghost month an important opportunity to become a festival. The establishment of the festival requires a fixed festival period and its unique festival customs. Buddhism and Taoism jointly determine the fixed festival period of the ghost festival in July. Ritual activities such as Buddhist Yulan basin meeting and Taoist Zhongyuan Festival have become an integral part of the unique festival customs of this ghost festival. At the same time, because Taoism is a complete local religion, the term "Zhongyuan" is also accepted by the people, It has become a popular name for this festival.
There is a strong assimilation between Chinese culture and folk beliefs. Both local Taoism and Buddhism from India have unconsciously completed the process of adapting to local culture. The rituals of Buddhism and Taoism on the 15th of July have gradually become worldly, and are gradually inseparable from the folk ghost moon customs and customs. Since then, the Zhongyuan Festival has become a grand Chinese folk festival with rich connotation of sacrificing the dead, worshiping ghosts, solving difficulties and forgiving sins.