Zhongyuan Festival is not only a traditional festival in China, but also one of the ancestor worship festivals in China. When is Zhongyuan festival in 2018? Is Zhongyuan Festival Ghost Festival? What is the origin of Zhongyuan Festival? Let's have a look.
What day is the 2018 Zhongyuan Festival
The time of 2018 Zhongyuan Festival is on August 25, 2018, Saturday, July 15 of the lunar calendar.
The name "Zhongyuan" originated from the Northern Wei Dynasty, which is a Taoist saying. According to the ancient books, the 15th day of the first month is the "Shangyuan", which is the blessing day for the heavenly officials; the 15th day of July is the "Zhongyuan", which is the forgiveness day for the earth officials; the 15th day of October is the "Xiayuan", which is the relief day for the water officials. According to the records in the book of practice: 'on the first day of the middle of July, the officials of the earth came down and determined the good and evil of the world. The Taoists chanted sutras at night, and the hungry prisoners were also freed. Therefore, on the 15th of July, the people will prepare a wealth of animal rituals to worship the emperor and his ancestors.
Zhongyuan Festival is the product of the combination of Taoism and Chinese traditional folk customs. They can be corresponding, mainly based on the same Cosmology: the three realms of heaven, earth and water, which are transformed into the three realms under the jurisdiction of Tianguan, diguan and Shuiguan. The common folk term "three realms" refers to the three realms of gods. On the occasion of the mid Yuan Festival, there will be some sacrificial activities held among the people, such as folding money, burning paper clothes and candles, releasing water lamps to attract the spirits of the lonely and wild ghosts, doing the Purdue law to transform the spirits, and offering tributes to pray for the protection of the ancestors. In the next year, there will be plenty of grain, exorcising the evil and avoiding the misfortune of the family.
Is Zhongyuan Festival Ghost Festival
Zhongyuan Festival is one of the three major Ghost Festivals in China. Generally speaking, ghost festival refers to Zhongyuan Festival.
Zhongyuan Festival, also known as' July festival or Yulan basin Festival ', is one of the three Ghost Festivals. Zhongyuan Festival is a Taoist saying. The name of Zhongyuan originated from the Northern Wei Dynasty. In some places, it is commonly known as ghost festival and shigu, also known as the day of the dead and the half of July. According to ancient books, the Daoist Scriptures take the 15th day of the first month as the upper yuan, the 15th day of July as the central yuan, and the 15th day of October as the lower yuan. Since the Shang Dynasty, China has believed in ghosts and gods. Although in their belief, there are gods and earth besides human and ghost, but they take "human and ghost" as the central belief. Zhongyuan Festival is a festival closely related to people and ghosts.
On the 15th of July in the lunar calendar, ghost day is a holiday for all ghosts. You can relax in the sun. The ghost gate opens in the middle of the night of the fourteenth lunar year and closes in the middle of the night of the fifteenth lunar year. All ghosts must return to the underworld before the ghost gate closes. Otherwise, they will stay in the sun. They are called ghosts alone. At the same time, the whole lunar month of July is also the most cloudy month in the year. The number of ghosts will increase. They can't cry or whistle at night, or they will attract hundreds of ghosts. Therefore, from the middle of the night of the fourteenth lunar month to the middle of the night of the fifteenth lunar month It's Ghost Festival.
The origin of Zhongyuan Festival
Zhongyuan Festival is also known as ghost festival. Actually, every year, on July 14 of the lunar calendar (and some places are July 15 of the lunar calendar), Taoism is called Zhongyuan Festival, Buddhism is called Yulan Festival, and the folk is called ghost festival, July half. It is said that on that day, when the gates of hell are opened, the ghosts in the underworld will be released. He who has a lord goes home; he who has no lord wanders around, wandering to any place where people can find something to eat. So in July, people hold "Purdue" to chant sutras and other things, so as to surpass ghosts in general, so as to prevent them from harming people, or pray for ghosts to help cure diseases and protect the safety of homes. Therefore, the southern region has the custom of Purdue on this day.
It's said that the Bodhisattva of the earth, known as "Lord Yan", came to the underworld of the Yin Dynasty after his mother died and was locked in a cell. He could not bear the torture of eighteen layers of hell. The Bodhisattva of the earth is a very filial son. He couldn't bear to see his mother's suffering. On July 15, he even expressed his personal feelings and let the ghost guarding the cell secretly open the cell door When his mother came out, it didn't matter that the door was opened. The little ghosts in the cell swarmed out and ran to the world to harm the people, so there was it. In July half, the ghost ran around. Those ghosts who run back to their hometown ask their families for money so that they can go back to live and get through the joints, hoping for an early life. Later, people set this day as the Zhongyuan Festival.