Ghost Festival (Zhongyuan Festival)
The Ghost Festival, also known as the Zhongyuan Festival or Hungry Ghost Festival, is a traditional celebration in East Asia honoring the spirits of the deceased. Observed on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, the festival allows for the spirits to return to the living world, a concept rooted in both Taoist and Buddhist beliefs. During this time, families prepare offerings of food and drink for their ancestors, and various rituals are conducted to appease wandering spirits, especially those who may be restless due to lack of proper tributes.
The festival’s origins differ between cultures, with Taoist practices linked to the "Three Great Emperor-Officials" and Buddhist traditions stemming from the story of Mulian, a devoted monk who sought to relieve his mother’s suffering in the afterlife. The entire seventh month is considered Ghost Month, during which the spirits are thought to roam the earth, leading to numerous cultural taboos aimed at avoiding their wrath.
As a symbolic gesture, people also light lotus-shaped lanterns and release them on water to guide the spirits back to the underworld at the month's end. The Ghost Festival thus serves as a solemn reminder of the connection between the living and the dead, reflecting deep ancestral reverence and a celebration of familial bonds across cultures.
Subject Terms
Ghost Festival (Zhongyuan Festival)
The Ghost Festival, or the Hungry Ghost Festival, is known in East Asia as the Zhongyuan Festival among Taoists and Yulanpen Festival (in India) or Ullambana Festival (in China) among Buddhists. This traditional Taoist and Buddhist festival honors the spirits of the dead, which, according to ancient beliefs, visit the living during the seventh month of the year on the Chinese calendar. The Ghost Festival takes place on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, which falls in July or August on the Western calendar. The day is celebrated in a variety of ways, depending on a region’s religious traditions.
The Ghost Festival is one of several festivals that focus on the worship of ancestors in East Asia. In China, Qingming Festival (in spring) and the Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) honor ancestors’ departed spirits. However, unlike these festivals, during the Ghost Festival, the spirits themselves are released from the afterlife and roam among the population.
Origins
The Ghost Festival originates from numerous traditions and stories, and the characters and details of the story shift between religions and regions. In Taoism, the Zhongyuan Festival is rooted in the ancient belief of “Three Yuan,” which is represented by the Three Great Emperor-Officials—the Heavenly Official, the Earthly Official, and the Water Official—who controlled the three spheres of existence. The festival became popular during China’s Tang dynasty (618–907 CE) and evolved into the present-day festival.
In Buddhism, the festival originates with a popular story of Mulian, a devote monk with great powers who can seek out the dead. According to the legend, Mulian found his dead mother in the afterlife and discovered that she was being tortured by hungry ghosts and could not escape her suffering. Unable to help her, Mu Nian turned to Buddha, who advised him to keep the Ullambana fast on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. On that day, people provided food to the Buddhist monks. Mulian observed the day, filling a basket with fruits and nuts, after which he was able to feed his mother. To honor Buddha for his assistance, Mulian continued to celebrate the day to release hungry ghosts from suffering.
Ghost Month
The seventh month of the Chinese year is considered Ghost Month. According to tradition, the ghosts of ancestors are released from the underworld on the first day of the month. The ghosts are thought to be those without descendants, whose descendants did not pay tribute, or who did not receive the proper rituals at burial. They have long needle-thin necks either because they are so hungry or no one has paid them tribute. They roam Earth for the month, looking for food and mischief. Restless because they are hungry and thirsty, the ghosts are considered unfriendly and malicious and may even attack their enemies.
Considered the scariest month of the year, Ghost Month is associated with numerous taboos. People will avoid swimming. Since ancient times, water has represented the unknowable or darkness. In the tradition of yin (good) and yang (evil), it is associated with fear and death, juxtaposed with the hope and life associated with the sky.
During Ghost Month, adherents will avoid dark or less populated places, which provide more opportunities for ghosts to attack. Other traditional taboos include hanging wet clothes at night, which attracts ghosts; sleeping with untied hair, as ghosts may consider those with tangled or unkept hair to be part of their league; and saying the word “ghost” or stepping on paper money, which may attract the ghosts or anger them.
Chinese offer the ghosts food and drink and burn hell bank notes made of joss, or incense, paper, commonly used as a burnt offering to Chinese ancestors. The bank notes are thought to have value in the afterlife.
Ghost Festival
On the fifteenth day of Ghost Month, a feast is held in honor of the wandering ghosts. People place food on the temple’s altar or outside the temple or house. In elaborate ceremonies, a sacrificial altar and chair are built for the Buddhist priest, which is placed outside. A statue of the king of hell, Di Zang, sits in front of the chair on a plate made of rice flour and covered in peaches. Three spirit tablets and three funeral banners are placed on the altar. The community brings offerings of food, such as chicken, sheep, cakes, and fruits of all kinds. During the ritual, solemn music plays, and the monks sing incantations. The priest then throws the rice and peaches into the air to distribute them to the ghosts.
In ceremonies held at home, a feast is served in the evening, with places remaining empty to make room for departed loved ones. Families may perform special rituals or acts to appease the ghosts, such as placing pictures of the deceased family member on the table and burning incense close by or bowing before ancestral tablets to receive a blessing (or a curse). A popular folk tradition is for a grandfather or uncle to give a live goat to a maternal grandson or nephew. The custom has changed over time to be represented by a pair of flour goats.
The Lighting of Lanterns
On the last night of Ghost Month, fourteen days after the Ghost Festival, the spirits return to the underworld. To usher them out, people make lotus-shaped paper lanterns that are lit with a candle or a lantern. When the light goes out, it means the ghosts have successfully made their way back to the underworld. Unlike other ancestorial holidays during which lanterns are hung or released to the sky, the lanterns on the last day of Ghost Month are floated on water, to connect the light to the darkness of water, symbolizing the ghosts.
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