What is the origin of the Ghost Festival?
The Ghost Festival originated from the early "Mid-July" harvest festival, where ancestors were worshipped. The emergence of "Mid-July" can be traced back to the ancient ancestor worship and harvest offerings. In ancient times, people often relied on the blessings of deities for bountiful harvests. Worshiping ancestors was practiced throughout the four seasons, but the "autumn offering" during early autumn was particularly significant. Autumn was the season of harvest, and people held rituals to offer sacrifices to the spirits of their ancestors. They first offered seasonal delicacies to the gods, then tasted these fruits of labor themselves, and prayed for a good harvest in the coming year.The "Mid-July Ancestral Worship Festival" came to be known as the "Ghost Festival" after the Eastern Han Dynasty (approximately during the Northern Wei period), based on Taoist beliefs. In Taoism, there are three deities called the "Three Officials": the Celestial Official, the Earthly Official, and the Water Official, who are representatives of the Heavenly Emperor on earth. They inspect human deeds and sins on the "Three Auspicious Days" to determine rewards and punishments: "The Celestial Official grants blessings on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Earthly Official pardons sins on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, and the Water Official rescues from disasters on the fifteenth day of the tenth lunar month." The Earthly Official governs the underworld, and the focus of his inspection is naturally all the souls in the underworld. The Ghost Festival, along with the Upper Yuan Festival and Lower Yuan Festival, together form the "Three Auspicious Days." It is said that on the day of the Ghost Festival, the gates of the underground world open, also known as the day when hell opens its doors. All the souls leave the netherworld to be examined. Souls with families return home, while those without go wandering the earthly realm, searching for food everywhere. Hence, it is also called the "Festival of Ghosts," and people generally perform activities to worship the spirits of the dead, lighting lotus lanterns to guide the souls back home. Taoist temples hold grand ceremonies to pray for good fortune, and monks conduct rituals to offer prayers, aiming to help the souls of the deceased achieve liberation.
Nowadays, the Ghost Festival has evolved into a combination of three festivals: the Ancestral Worship Festival, the Ghost Festival, and the Ullambana Festival.
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