The Mid-Yuan Festival is known as the Ghost Festival or Ghost Month in Guangdong. Cantonese people prepare offerings such as joss sticks, fruits and coins, and hold rituals for ancestors as well as perform rituals. People will also take to the streets to light up paper lanterns to celebrate the Mid-Yuan Festival. In addition, Cantonese people will hold parades and perform dragon and lion dances and other folklore activities in costumes of traditional opera characters.
2. HunanThe Mid-Yuan Festival in Hunan is known as the half of the seventh month. People in Hunan hold ceremonies to honor their ancestors and then release water spirits. Releasing water spirits means pouring containers full of water on the roadside or riverside for the souls of the dead to drink in order to ease their pain. Hunan people also make paper boats, paper lanterns and other props and put them on the water to show their thoughts and blessings to the dead souls.
3. GuangxiGuangxi Zhongyuan Festival is called Bon Festival. People in Guangxi will build incense altars to worship their ancestors. At the same time, people will also set off fireworks, dance, sing and other celebrations. In addition, the Mid-Yuan Festival in Guangxi also has the tradition of boat lantern competition, in which people put the made boat lanterns on the water to show their thoughts and blessings to the dead souls.
4. SichuanSichuan Zhongyuan Festival is known as Soul Festival. On this day, people set up makeshift altars to offer sacrifices to the gods and food to the spirits of the dead. People also perform Sichuan opera and lantern shows to celebrate the festival. In addition, the Sichuanese have an interesting custom of making and releasing sky lanterns to pray for good luck and drive away bad luck.
5. HainanThe Zhongyuan Festival in Hainan is a traditional Hainanese folk festival, also known as the Ghost Festival and Bon Festival. During the Mid-Yuan Festival, people pay homage to their ancestors and deceased relatives to express their thoughts and respect for them. Zhongyuan Festival customs in Hainan mainly include rituals, burning paper and releasing water lanterns. People will set up an altar in their homes with offerings such as fruits, rice and burnt paper money, and then burn the paper money as well as other offerings to provide for their deceased relatives. At the same time, people will also release water lanterns on rivers or seashores to send their thoughts and blessings to their deceased relatives.
The Zhongyuan Festival, also known as the Bon Festivalis an important traditional Chinese festival that aims to memorialize and pay tribute to ancestors and the spirits of the dead. The origin of the Zhongyuan Festival can be traced back to the Bon Festival after the introduction of Buddhism to China.
Origin: The origin of the Zhongyuan Festival can be traced back to a story in the Buddhist classic, the Bon Sutra. According to legend, Venerable Megane, the Buddha's senior footman, once saw his mother, who was wallowing in hell, through the power of his divine powers in the underworld during one of the Mid-Yuan festivals, and his heart was filled with sadness. In order to save his mother, he sought advice from the Buddha, who told him that he could take advantage of the arrival of the spirits of the dead in the yang world during the Mid-Yuan Festival to perform food-giving and sutra recitation for salvation. As a result, the Mid-Yuan Festival became a traditional festival for memorializing the spirits of the dead and paying homage to ancestors.
The Zhongyuan Festival is a traditional Chinese folk festival, and although the customs vary from region to region, the meaning behind it is roughly similar and can be summarized in the following five points:1. Ancestor Worship: The Zhongyuan Festival is one of China's traditional ancestor worship festivals, in which people hold rituals on this day to express their respect and longing for their ancestors. Through ancestor worship, people hope that the spirits of their ancestors will be appeased, and they also express the importance of family tradition and lineage.
2. Comforting the Gods: The Mid-Yuan Festival is also an important time to comfort the gods. On this day, people will set up a shrine and make offerings to the gods, praying for their blessings on family peace and people's well-being. This reflects people's respect for the gods and their belief in divine power.
3. Praying for blessings and wishes: The Mid-Yuan Festival is also a time for people to pray for well-being and wishes. People will light joss sticks and candles to pray for peace and good luck. Some places will also hold a ceremony to pray for rain and good luck, hoping for a good harvest and smooth sailing.
4. Exorcism of evil spirits: Traditionally, the Mid-Yuan Festival is considered to be a time when the yin and the yang change hands and evil spirits are more active, so people will adopt some exorcism customs, such as setting off firecrackers and burning paper money, in order to disperse the evils and keep themselves and their families safe.
5. Passing on culture: As a traditional Chinese festival, the Mid-Yuan Festival helps to pass on and promote the excellent culture of the Chinese nation by organizing various celebrations and traditional customs. By participating in the celebrations of the Mid-Yuan Festival, people enhance the cohesion of families and communities, and also promote the inheritance and development of cultural traditions.
Summary: Customs reflect the traditional culture and customs of different regions, allowing people to show respect to their ancestors and pray for peace and well-being through the celebration of the Mid-Yuan Festival. The customs of each region are unique, highlighting the rich and colorful cultural diversity of China.