Different shades of Western and Chinese 'ghost festivals'
Oct 31 is Halloween, a Western "ghost festival". Chinese people also have ghost festival which is called "Zhongyuan Festival" or "Hungry Ghost Festival", which falls on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month. Stemmed from different cultures, let's see how they are different and how they are similar.
Oct 31 is Halloween, a Western "ghost festival". Chinese people also have ghost festival which is called "Zhongyuan Festival" or "Hungry Ghost Festival", which falls on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month. Stemmed from different cultures, let's see how they are different and how they are similar.
The two festivals, Halloween and Zhongyuan Festival, are both about ghosts, which are believed to be spirits of deceased people. Besides, these ghosts wander back to our life at a certain time of the year, on Oct 31 in Western culture, and on July 15 of lunar calendar in Chinese culture.
However, ghosts are released for no more than two days during Halloween, while it's at least for one month during Chinese ghost festival.
Keep evolving & Tradition sustains
The Halloween, stemming from a festival of warding spirits in Ireland, has evolved from pagan to Christian, and to secular, with the theme becoming a carnival for all.
Zhongyuan Festival originates from Buddhist traditions, and then integrates Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, which still remains a religious observance in China. Taoist monks will chant and give offerings to appease the spirits. Honored as Ullambana Festival in Buddhism, Buddhist doctrine says that by offering articles on the festival day, deceased parents and relatives can be saved from bad situations in the after life.
Expel ghosts & Respect ghosts
The two festivals, both themed on ghosts, have different attitudes toward them. During Halloween, people dress up like ghosts to scare away spirits rather than please them. While during Chinese Zhongyuan Festival, people burn paper money and sacrifice the spirits to show their respect.
Funny & Scary
The Halloween has become a full-of-fun carnival when people dress up, play trick-or-treat games, and partying. With its light theme, the festival has been celebrated around the world, also in China.
While Chinese Zhongyuan Festival is still a serious thing and people are scared of ghosts when talking about them. There are some taboos during the festival which can avoid the spirits from hurting you, like no swimming and no walking outside late at night.
Pumpkin lantern & Water lantern
During Halloween, people make pumpkin lights, which are made by hollowing the pumpkin, carving evil faces on the surface and put candles inside, used to drive out the spirits.
During Zhongyuan Festival, Chinese people also make river lanterns which are made by pasting paper into a lotus shapes with a lamp or candle placed inside. In traditional Chinese culture, human beings and land belong to "yang", which means positive, so ghosts and water belong to "yin", which means negative. The dark and mysterious underworld usually reminds people of the gloomy sepulchral hell where the ghosts suffer, so lanterns are released to rivers or lakes to guide the way for the dead people.
