This article is about the Chinese festival and its related traditions. For the festival in the Thai province of Loei, see Phi Ta Khon. For the festival in Nepal, see Ghost Festival (Nepal).
Ghost Festival
A paper effigy of the Ghost King in Shatin, Hong Kong
Official name
Zhongyuan Festival (Taoism)
Yulanpen Festival (Buddhism)
Also called
Spirit Festival
Observed by
Buddhists
Taoists
Significance
To commemorate the opening of the gates of Hell and Heaven, permitting all ghosts to receive food and drink
Observances
Ancestor worship, offering food, burning joss paper, chanting of scriptures
Date
15th day of the 7th lunar month
2023 date
30 August
2024 date
18 August
2025 date
6 September
2026 date
27 August
Related to
Obon (in Japan)
Baekjung (in Korea)
Vu Lan (in Vietnam)
Pchum Ben (observed by Khmer people) and Sen Kbal tek, សែនក្បាលទឹក (observed by Chinese-Cambodians) (in Cambodia)
Boun Khao Padap Din (in Laos)
Mataka dānēs (in Sri Lanka)
Sat Thai (in Thailand)
Ghost Festival
Food offerings for the Ghost Festival
Traditional Chinese
中元節
Simplified Chinese
中元节
Literal meaning
mid-origin festival
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin
zhōng yuán jié
Bopomofo
ㄓㄨㄥ ㄩㄢˊㄐㄧㄝˊ
Wade–Giles
chung yüan2 chieh2
Yale Romanization
jūng ywán jyé
Hakka
Pha̍k-fa-sṳ
Chûng-ngièn-chiet
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization
jūng yùhn jit
Jyutping
zung1 jyun4 zit3
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ
Tiong-goân-cheh
Tâi-lô
Tiong-guân-tseh
Teochew Peng'im
Dong1 nguêng5/nguang5 zoih4
Eastern Min
Fuzhou BUC
Dṳ̆ng-nguòng-cáik
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese
盂蘭盆節
Simplified Chinese
盂兰盆节
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin
Yú lán pén jié
Bopomofo
ㄩˊㄌㄢˊㄆㄣˊㄐㄧㄝˊ
Wade–Giles
yü2 lan2 p'ên2 chieh2
Yale Romanization
yú-lán-pén-jyé
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization
yùh làahn pùhn jit
Jyutping
jyu4 laan4 pun4 zit3
Eastern Min
Fuzhou BUC
Uò-làng-buòng
Second alternative Chinese name
Chinese
七月半
Transcriptions
Hakka
Pha̍k-fa-sṳ
Chhit-ngie̍t-pan
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ
Chhit-goe̍h-poàⁿ
Tâi-lô
Tshit-gue̍h-puànn
Teochew Peng'im
Cig4 ghuêh8 buan3
The Ghost Festival or Hungry Ghost Festival, also known as the Zhongyuan Festival in Taoism and the Yulanpen Festival in Buddhism, is a traditional festival held in certain East and Southeast Asian countries. According to the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in parts of southern China).[1][2]: 4, 6 [note 1]
In Chinese culture, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day or (especially in Taiwan) Pudu 普渡 [3] and the seventh month is generally regarded as the Ghost Month, in which ghosts and spirits, including those of deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm (diyu or preta). Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (or Tomb Sweeping Day, in spring) and Double Ninth Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, during Ghost Festival, the deceased are believed to visit the living.[4]
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is veneration of the dead, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths. Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold, and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors. Elaborate meals (often vegetarian meals) would be served with empty seats for each of the deceased in the family treating the deceased as if they are still living. Ancestor worship is what distinguishes Qingming Festival from Ghost Festival because the latter includes paying respects to all deceased, including the same and younger generations, while the former only includes older generations. Other festivities may include buying and releasing miniature paper boats and lanterns on water, which signifies giving directions to the lost ghosts and spirits of the ancestors and other deities.[5]
^"Zhongyuan festival". China.org.cn. China Internet Information Center. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
^Chow 2015
^"Ghost Festival". OFTaiwan. August 22, 2017. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
^"Culture insider - China's ghost festival". China Daily. August 8, 2014. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
^"Chinese Ghost Festival - "the Chinese Halloween"". Peoples Daily (English). October 30, 2009. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
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