Zhongyuan Festival is more than ten days away. Do you know the origin of Zhongyuan Festival? Zhongyuan Festival, together with new year's Eve, Qingming Festival and Shaoyi Festival (the first day of October in the lunar calendar), is called the four traditional ancestor worship festivals in China. Most of the people miss their relatives and send their best wishes for the future.
Zhongyuan Festival, also known as "Ghost Festival" or "Yulan pot Festival", is on the 15th and 14th of July in the lunar calendar. It is said that on the day of the mid Yuan Festival, the ghosts in the underworld will be released. In order to remember their ancestors and worship the local officials, people in the sun will prepare a wealth of offerings, burn incense and paper, and worship these ancestors from the underworld.
The origin of Zhongyuan Festival
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 lot 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.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Tianshi Taoism had integrated the universe view of the pre Taoism period. For the first time, it was necessary to go to the "three official calligraphy" and throw it into the sky, the earth and the water respectively to show repentance to the three officials and pray for peace. After the development of the Six Dynasties, the three meeting days were combined with the three yuan thought. With the promotion of the Tang Dynasty, the three yuan days of Shangyuan, Zhongyuan and Xiayuan became stereotyped and became the three Yuan Festival for praying for luck and worshiping ancestors and gods. The emperor led hundreds of officials to participate in the Festival ceremony. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, Sanyuan day became a folk festival.
During the Zhongyuan Festival, Taoist temples, such as Di'anmen fire temple and Xibianmen baiyun temple, were held to pray for "good weather, national security and peace" every year. Because of their fear of violence, the people compound Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in their daily life. They call the mid Yuan Festival on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month "Ghost Festival" and "ghost month" on the seventh lunar month.
After the introduction of Buddhism, there was also a transcendental ceremony in Buddhism to recommend ancestors. It was called "ulambana" (in Indian), that is, the "mon LAN pan society". The meaning of Menglan basin is hanging upside down. The pain of life is like a bat hanging upside down on the head of a tree. In order to save all living beings from suffering, they need to chant sutras and distribute food to ghosts. This happened to coincide with the ghost moon worship in China, and Buddhism also held a transcendental Dharma meeting on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, so the Zhongyuan Festival and Menglan society were handed down at the same time.
Zhongyuan festival custom
Every July, people will hold a grand celebration. All over the country, no matter in the business district or the group housing district, you can see the red paper for celebrating Zhongyuan, with lights and colors, and altar for gods. The ceremony of "Pudu" is the most important part of the Zhongyuan Festival, which can be roughly divided into Jiepu, Shipu, Miaopu, etc. The Pudu with the main street is called "Jiepu", the Pudu with the main market is called "Shipu", and the Pudu with the chief temple is called "Miaopu". Pudu is usually centered on the temple. Nearby residents take the offerings to the temple for sacrifice. There are also many people in front of their homes to place tables, display the offerings, and Hang paper lamps under the eaves.
The festival of ancestor worship is on the 15th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, so it is called 'July half' for short. However, the worship ceremony is usually held in the evening before the end of July, not limited to a specific day. On ordinary days, the ancestor's memorial tablet is usually not moved. At the time of sacrifice, the memorial tablets of the ancestors should be invited out one by one, placed on the dedicated sacrificial table respectfully, and then put incense in front of each memorial tablet of the ancestors, which is used for tea and meal three times a day in the morning, noon and dusk, until they are sent back on July 30. If there are portraits of ancestors, please hang them up. During the worship, kowtow to each ancestor according to the order of seniority and elders and children, pray silently, and pray for the safety and happiness of their ancestors.
When returning, you should choose to break the black. Generally, the head of the family and the men in the family should carry firecrackers, paper money and incense candles. They should find a quiet riverside or Tangbian plain and sprinkle a circle with lime to indicate the forbidden area. Then pour some rice in the circle, burn some paper money and clothes, call it "coating", fire firecrackers, send ancestors on the road, turn around "hell".
At present, the ancestor worship ceremony of Zhongyuan Festival has been simplified. Most areas begin to hold the ancestor worship ceremony in the evening of July 15 or 14 of the lunar calendar. The ceremony of ancestor worship has also been simplified, and superstition has been gradually eliminated, and the form of sacrifice has been preserved as a memorial to the ancestors.