Hungry Ghost Festival - The Origins

The 7th lunar month of the Chinese calendar is here! For those who are superstitious it will mean no going out at night, no swimming during this particular month period, and also no disrespect for the dead! Throughout this month, I will share encounters related to me by friends, relatives and even experiences from my own self on strange encounters with the other world during the 7th month. On today’s issue, I will blog about the origins of the Hungry Ghosts Festival.

In Chinese tradition, this month marks an important month as it the month of the Hungry Ghosts Festival; also known as Zhong Yuan Jie or simply Gwei Jie. The Chinese believes that during the whole of the 7th month, all spirits are free to roam the earth and visit their living relatives or to seek revenge on those who had done harm to them for the whole month. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called the Ghost Day. On this day, the three realms of Heaven, Hell and the realm of the living are open and the Chinese would perform rituals to change and forgive the sufferings of the deceased. This year’s 15th day of the 7th month falls on the 3rd September 2009.

How did the Hungry Ghost Festival come about? The Chinese legend has it that a long time ago, there lived a young man, Mu Lian and his widowed mother. His mother was a wicked woman. She often turned away beggars who came to her door asking for food. She liked to jeer at poverty stricken and under privileged people. In reality, the only person she cared about was herself.

Mu Lian, on the other hand, was a kind soul. He was a gentle person and always willing to help anybody who was in need. One day he decided to become a monk and this angered his mother. She scolded at him for being such a useless son; she wanted him to go out and work to earn more money for her as wealth and materialistic things meant more to her than anything else.

She could not dissuade her son and Mu Lian went on to carry out his spiritual training. When Mu Lian was away, his wicked mother decided to play a trick on the monks just to get back at them for taking away her son. As it is a custom to offer only vegetarian food to the monks, Mu Lian’s mother thought that it was nonsensical that these monks did not eat meat, so one day she offered some food to some monks and slipped in some non-vegetarian items.

The wicked woman was punished immediately and was sent to the depths of hell. Mu Lian came back from his spiritual training and noted that his mother had passed on. He meditated and saw that his mother was suffering in pain and hunger in the deepest part of hell. Mu Lian set out and ventured deep into the bowels of hell and soon he came upon his mother and he saw that she was sitting on a bed of very sharp pointy stakes and was holding on to a basin of blood.

Mu Lian tried feeding her some food but the food would either turn into fire or blood. It was hopeless: he couldn’t do anything for her so he left. He returned home and started to pray for forgiveness and performing spiritual cleaning at temples and holy places. After years of performing this spiritual training, Mu Lian was able to rescue his mum from the deepest hell. On the Chinese lunar 15th day, 7th month marked the day he was able to save his mother from hell. His mother was no longer a hungry ghost.

Buddha heard about Mu Lian’s prayers and was touched by his compassion. Thus Buddha decreed that once a year, the gates of hell will be opened so that the lost souls will be able to roam the earth and be fed. This is why every year on the 15th day of the 7th month in the lunar calendar; the Chinese celebrates the festival of the hungry ghost.

Food and drinks will be offered at night outside the gates of houses. This is so that the ghosts do not enter their houses and cause trouble. Lanterns are lit to help guide the ghosts to the feasts set out for them. Special paper money is also burned as offerings to these ghosts so that they can take it back to hell and spend it there. To ensure that these souls stay out of trouble; entertainment are set up including Chinese operas performing on outdoor stages and other activities.

However, be forewarned that there are also revengeful spirits that are back on earth to seek revenge on those who had caused their death...