Halloween VS 15th Of The Seventh Lunar Month
East and west have different views on ghosts the way to spend the festival is also different. This article will introduce the background, customs, and differences between Chinese and Western “ghost festivals.”
Although the Chinese 15th Of The Seventh Lunar Month and the Western Halloween are ghosts, but they have different meanings.
Halloween
BACKGROUND
Halloween is a Western holiday, similar to China’s “Ghost Festival”. There are many different theories about the origin of Halloween, the widely spread statement is more than 2,000 years ago, the Christian Church in Europe designated November 1st as the saint’s day, hallow means is saint. It is said that since the 500th century BC, the Celts living in Ireland and Scotland moved the festival forward one day, October 31, which is set for Halloween. People usually celebrate this day on Halloween.
Halloween Kids
On the night before Halloween, the children will go door-to-door to ask for candy while carrying a Jack-O’-Lantern. And keep saying: “trick or treat” (meaning: “Don’t give candy, you will be tricky.”). On this day, the children will wear strange costumes. If you refuse to give candy, some children will be angry. Use a variety of methods to tease you until you are willing to give them candy. On this day, adults will prepare candy at home to wait for the children to knock on the door.
Jack-O’-Lantern
Jack-O’-Lantern is a symbol of Halloween. Legend has it that a person named Jack, he is very embarrassed, so he can’t enter heaven after he dies, also because he once laughed at the devil, he could not enter hell, he wanders around with lanterns. In order to scare these souls on Halloween night, people will use the ornament to make a terrible face to represent the Jack with the lantern. This is the origin of the Jack-O’-Lantern. Now jack-o ‘-lanterns are not only lanterns, but also have appeared and sold on various decorations and foods.
15th Of The Seventh Lunar Month
BACKGROUND
Most people in ancient China believed in ghosts and gods. Legend has it that anyone who dies normally could reincarnate while those who are guilty or die accidentally would become ghosts wandering in the mortal world. Some evil spirits even seize the opportunity to disturb the living souls, causing their death in disasters and accidents. As a result, people who die unexpectedly during this period are regarded “have been taken away by ghosts”.
People believe that holding sacrifice ceremony for these spirits would help them to escape from hell at an early date and prevent them from disturbing the living beings. Therefore, Chinese people would hold sacrifice ceremony and burn money at the roadside in the month to worship the ghosts, which become the customs like “setting lanterns” and “worshipping good brothers”.
Ancient Chinese people believed natural and man-made disasters were frequent in the 7th lunar month, during which they had fears. Hence, the cultural custom of avoid anything in this month is formed. In modern society, many taboos fail to stand the test of time but some are still unexplainable with science.
SACRIFICIAL ACTIVITIES
Gate of Hell Opened: For private houses, the Gate of Hell is open on the first day of the Ghost Month, on which ghosts come out to the mortal world and the sacrifice ceremony, grand or simple, is required. The grand sacrifice ceremony means offering a good meal while the simple means preparing some fruits and desserts to show respect. As the saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch. This kind of sacrifice ceremony implies bringing me no trouble once eating my food.
Gate of Heaven Opened: For public places, the Gate of Hell is open on the second day of the Ghost Month. In ancient times, shops and government offices held the sacrifice ceremony one day after the private houses to pray for safety and no mysterious case in the month.
Gate of Hell Closed: On the last day of the 7th lunar month, the Gate of Hell is closed and ghosts go back to the hell from vacation. People offer sacrifice on this day to pray for safety in the rest of days.
DO’S AND DON’TS
In the Ghost Month, evil spirits reach the peak. According to the legend of scapegoat, children, senior citizens, weak or sensitive people should not go out at night, or they will be attacked by the evil spirits. Also, you should keep away from entering the water, especially sea. In short, you should stay away from risks and supernatural games, especially in the night of Ghost Festival.
Some people often take items to avoid evil spirits with them, such as amulet, prayer beads, coarse salt, glutinous rice, cross and lodestone with particular energy. It is better to believe the function of these items as long as your normal life is not affected. For many people, they can feel at ease regardless of the effect.
COMPARE
Compare Chinese with Western spend the Ghost Festival is very different. China has more beliefs and customs, more serious and disciplined. In the West, Halloween has become a holiday. Children and adults have different dresses, can go to the Halloween party, etc. It is a joyous holiday.
