Happy Hungry Ghost Festival!

Belief in ghosts is one of those universal archetypes that Carl Jung found across all cultures.   From India, to the Philippines, to Africa and back ghosts haunt dark roads and old stories.   Many cultures have entire holidays dedicated to ghosts.  In China, the Hungry Ghost Festival or the Ullambana Festival of Buddhism is more typically called the "Ghost Festival".  Ghost Festival is celebrated throughout Asia and called by many different names.  It is celebrated during the fifteenth day of every 7th Lunar Month.  This would typically be July but Lunar months aren't calender months so this year Ghost Festival falls on August 31st.   In Hong Kong and Taiwan, Ghost Festival is celebrated for the entire month.

In Chinese folklore, the people believe that the 7th month is a time for ghosts.   It is believed that the gates of the underworld are thrown open and hungry ghosts roam the earth looking for food.  Ghost festival is deeply tied to traditions of ancestor worship and people leave items out for the ghosts of their ancestors.   Some people light lanterns by the roadsides to help the ghosts and other provide shoes for the ghosts.  One of the most beautiful costumes associated with this festival is the lighting of lanterns and setting them adrift in the water.  These lanterns serve as guiding lights for the lost and wandering ghosts.   Other traditions call for the burning of offerings such as paper and incense and the leaving of food for the hungry ghosts.  In Hong Kong and Taiwan, Ghost festival is celebrated by a month of operas and performances to honor the dead.

The origins of the ghost festival can be found in Buddhist scriptures.  "In Buddhist culture, "Ullam" means "hanging upside down" in Sanskrit; "bana" means "a vessel for holding offerings of food". Buddhists hold that the vessel is capable of removing the extreme suffering of one's deceased parents in purgatory. This originates from the story of "Monk Mulian Saving His Mother" in Buddhist sutras. Buddhist disciples set Ullambana all over the place, symbolizing food provision for the people, adding fortune and longevity to their living parents and releasing deceased parents from sufferings.".. Cultural China.com.

Ghost Festival reminds  me of the Catholic tradition of lighting candles for the dead.   It is a way to remember and honor those who have gone before us.  I thought we'd put together a little ghost festival in our house this year.  We've lost quite a few people and helping the spirits of those we've lost seems appropriate.  Mooncakes are typically offered to spirits in china.  We don't have mooncakes so we will cupcakes.   My son has made origami animals to burn with the incense and we will light lanterns on the back patio to guide our family's ghosts home.  

The Maiden's Ghostly Bell

Frommer's describes the great bell in Da Zhongsi as a bell so vast and beautiful it could "bring out the hunchback" in anyone.  The temple that was once called the Awakened Life Temple is located just outside of Beijing.  Since 1743, the temple has taken a new name.  It has become know as Da Zhongsi or The Great Bell Temple.  The Great Bell that resides in this temple is carved with over 200,000 characters in Chinese and Sanskrit and weighs more than 47 tons.  The bell is a huge attraction and is the 2nd largest bell in the world.  It is rung only once a year at New Years and is also said to be haunted.

According to Lafcadio Hearn, there is an old story attached to this bell that goes back over 500 years.    During this time the Great Emperor Yongluo who was said to be the son of heaven, from the Ming Dynasty, commissioned the construction of a great bell.  He ordered the bell be made of brass, gold, and silver so that when it rang it could be heard for over a hundred miles.  He commissioned the work from a master bell maker and  the work began.  Sadly, the construction of this bell seemed to be an impossible labor.  The bell maker worked night and day  and hired all the master molders of the empire to create this goliath creation.  Yet despite the most brilliant artisans and the best materials, the metals rebelled against each other and would not mingle.  Twice the master bell smith tried to make the great bell and twice he failed.

Yongluo heard of the bell smith's failure and grew angry.  He send him a letter that said:

      "From the Mighty Yongluo, the Sublime Taizong, the Celestial and August -whose reign is called "Ming"- to Guanyu the Fuyin:  twice thous hast betrayed the trust we have deigned graciously to place in thee.  If thous fail a third time in fulfilling our command, thy head shall be severed from thy neck.  Tremble, and obey."

The bell maker had a beautiful daughter, Ge-ai,  who he loved above all other things in the world and she heard of the words the emperor had sent to her father.  She loved her father greatly and set out to save his life.   She went to a fortune teller to see if there was anything she could do to save her father's life.   The fortune teller told her that the gold and brass in the bell would never meet in wedlock unless it was bound by the blood of a virgin.  Ge-ai didn't think long on this, but she went straight to her father's foundry.  There she found him preparing to cast the third bell.  As the metal poured, she leaped into the liquefied metal and vanished.  As she fell she cried out to her father that she died for love of him.   Ge-ai's father tried to leap in after his beloved daughter, but he was held back and all stood speechless.   Nothing of Ge-ai remained but a single red slipper.

The bell was cast and never had there been a bell of such beauty and size.   When it rang, it could be heard for more than a hundred miles and people said that in its ring they could hear the sound of  Ge-ai crying out.  She cried out for her lost life and  for her single, lost slipper.