Ghosts

Ghostly Connections 6, The Feast of the Hungry Ghosts.

The Chinese celebrate the Feast of the Hungry Ghosts, beginning on the Ghost Month, which is 15 August, the seventh month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar, and lasts for six days. The Buddhist ceremony of putu (the deliverance of the spirits of the dead), is also celebrated at this time. Feasts are prepared and left out for the spirits walking the earth, while Taoist priests and Buddhist priests chant, perform rituals and burn incense in honour of the ghosts. During this celebration the ancestral spirits of Chinese families are asked to join their families for a meal and ritual of burning items such as paper clothing, radios, shoes, cars and other items. This is done to ensure the families, present and future generations, are blessed and protected.

The Feast of the Hungry Ghosts is dedicated to bringing peace to the abandoned and forgotten dead who are not associated with any particular family. It is believed bad luck to marry during the Ghost Month, to relocate, or to die, as the dead will not be able to rest. On the final day the Feast of the Hungry Ghosts, a bonfire is lit and paper effigies of ancient deities, paper currency known as hell money, and other gifts for the dead are thrown into the flames. It is believed that as soon as midnight strikes on the 30th day of the Ghost Month, wandering souls of the dead return to the underworld where the gates are then closed for another year.