Not a Boy , Not yet a Man

Hungry Ghost Festival

Friday, August 01, 2008, 8/01/2008 01:16:00 AM

Hungry Ghost Festival

Are you scared?? Just to inform you guys that this entry may be a bit creepy. So if you are afraid, please continue to read on and be afraid after that.

It is the first day of the Hungry Ghost Festival. It is a popular occasion which is celebrated by us chinese and it falls on the 7th month of the Lunar New Year. We believe that during this month, the hell of gate will be opened for the ghost to wander in the human realms to seek food or revenge to those who have wronged them in their lives. So it means like a one month holiday to them ar. Better than us human leh. We only got 28days of off day a year and they got 1 whole month. However, we got sick leave, hospital leave, maternity leave and they don't have. Sadded. The reason why we chinese celebrate this occasion is to remember our dead family members and pay tribute to them. We also feel offering food to the dead people will appease them and ward off bad luck.

Another belief among the Chinese is that the dead return to visit their living relatives during the 7th month and thus we prepare a sumptuous meal for the ‘hungry ghosts'. We feel that we have to satisfy the ghosts in order to get good fortune and luck in our lives.
During the 7th month, the Chinese offer prayers to the deceased relatives and burn joss sticks. And we also have shows and concerts known as "Getai" or "Wayang" performed on outdoor stages in some neighborhoods which will be held at night. It is to entertain and please those wandering ghosts . Often the front row of seats are reserved for the dead to watch. So if you ever go and watch it, don't ever ever sit on the 1st row, or else you may angry the ghost as you may be too fat and sit on their lap and they can't withstand your weight.

We also burn paper money notes, which are also known as ‘hell money' and even paper television or radio sets to the dead. Some families also burn paper houses & cars to give to their dead relatives. We feel that these offerings reach the ghosts and help them live comfortably in their world. And another important thing is that if you want to burn a car to them, you must also burn petrol station to them. If you want to burn a house to them, you must remember to burn a power station so that the house will have lights. If yo want to burn a handphone for them, remember to burn a statalite ar. Or else later no signal cannot call.

Legend of Hungy Ghost Festival

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 the working poor and their dirty clothes; in essence, 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 did not please his mother. She scowled at him for being such a useless son; she wanted him to go out and work to earn more money for her. Wealth and materialistic things meant more to her than anything else.
When she saw that she could not dissuade her son, a plan began to hatch in her mind. She decided to play a trick on the monks just to get back at them for taking away her son. Now it was the custom to offer food to the monks (this custom still exists to this very day), but only vegetarian food. Mu Lian’s mother thought that it was nonsensical that these monks did not eat meat, so one day she offered food to some monks and slipped in some non-vegetarian items.
According to one version of the story, the wicked woman was punished immediately and was sent to hell. Mu Lian wanted to save his mother’s soul because he knew her soul was suffering.
He set out and ventured deep into the bowels of hell. Soon he came upon his mother and he saw that she was sitting 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.
It is said that Buddha heard Mu Lian’s prayers and was touched by Mu Lian’s compassion. Thus Buddha decreed that once a year, the gates of hell be opened so that the lost souls will be able to roam the earth and be fed. This is why every year on the seventh day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar, the Chinese celebrate the festival of the hungry ghost. This is one of five major festivals in the Chinese culture. Food and drink will be offered at night outside the gates of houses. This is so that the ghosts do not enter their houses and cause trouble. A traditional food made for this festival is steamed sweet bread. 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 make sure that these souls stay out of trouble, entertainment is set up round the clock, mainly Chinese operas performed on outdoor stages.

What I know about some "Don'ts" during this month is that-

1) Don't go swimming. It is believe that "someone" might be under the water and pulling your leg while you are swimming.
2)Don't go home late. The thing might be following you or may posses you. If you are in the lift alone... They might be beside you.... Scared??
3)Don't kick or touch or step or sweep or eat the offering. Unless you are really hungry that you feel that you are going to be one of them anytime soon, don't ever go and kick or step onto the offering. Even for the wandering ashes. It is believe that some of the ghost may be eating the offering or picking up the paper money and when you do that, you might offend them.
4)Don't place your wedding date or business lunch during this month. Unless you want them to come and congratulate you, then go ahead with the plan.
5)Don't walk in the dark or near the walls. Ghost like to walk along the walls or hide in the corners. Unless you want to say "Hello' to them, then try to go to crowded places in the night.

OKAY. Since its the 7th month, let me say some ghost stories.

This story came from my childhood neighbour's father. And it was me who intiated to ask him as during that time, my childhood neighbour did encounter something supernatural in his school. I shall say his part during the next entry.

So I ask my childhood neighbour's father, "did you encounter anything before?" And here the story goes.

It happen during his National Service day. So they are going for a night march somewhere along Mandai road. So the whole platoon got ready and start marching. The place was dark but got the yellow street lamps on and beside them were those bushes and trees that you can't really see what is inside. So typically, they are marching on a straight two way road and their surrounding are just trees. So they start marching and marching and marching. Than, my neighbour's father saw something up ahead. Something is coming towards them. And when they get nearer and nearer, than guess what he saw? He saw another group of people are marching towards them. However, these people are wearing beige long sleeves and pants. With black boots and beige cap that come along with a hood. So what they saw is a platoon of World War ll japanese army marching towards them. And when they get closer and closer, what he notice is that some of them are headless. And some of their white faces expression are like stoning, looking forward. And the whole group just march pass each other. So he just acted like he didn't saw anything and just continue to march with his platoon. When they finish marching, he asked his platoon mate whether did they saw anything just now not. Some of them said that they did saw something and some of them didn't...

Cheers~
*.*"