Does anyone know why ancestor worship is held on July 15 of the lunar calendar?
During the period of settlement, the communication between monks and nuns and the secular world was minimized, and a new life cycle began after the dissolution of the system in July 15. Therefore, July 15 symbolizes resurrection and rebirth.
July 15 is also Kogasawara Festival. The word "Eye Bug Festival" comes from the story of Mu Lian saving his mother in Buddhist scriptures. It is a transliteration of Sanskrit Ulambana, which means "to save the upside down", that is, to save the ghosts who suffer in hell. According to the "Lanpen Buddha" (translated by Zhu Fahu, Emperor Wu of the Western Jin Dynasty, at zero o'clock in 265-290):
Big eyes get six links from the beginning, and I want to repay my parents with breast milk. That is to see the world from the perspective of Tao. Seeing his dead mother born in a hungry ghost. No food, no bones. The eyes are sad, that is, the bowl is full of rice to pay for my mother. When a mother gets a bowl of rice, she blocks it with her left hand and scoops it with her right hand. When she doesn't eat it, it will turn into charcoal, so she can't eat it. Manglietia cried and howled, cried and cried, and he returned to the White Buddha. Buddha said that your mother's sin is deep-rooted, and there is nothing you can do. ..... I should talk about the relief law for you today. ..... The Buddha told Mulian that when the ten monks indulged themselves on July 15th, they should be the parents of VII and those whose parents are in trouble now. They should have a pot-filling device with five fruits and a sesame oil ingot candle bed as bedding, and support the ten monks with a pot.
After Mulian was executed according to law, her mother was able to get rid of all the suffering of hungry ghosts. Kind eyes told the Buddha that in the future, filial Buddhist disciples should also get offerings from bonsai. When the Buddha heard of his great joy, he told his disciples to become Buddhists and monks for the VII parents on July 15th every year. Since then, the custom of offering orchids in the Mid-Autumn Festival has been widely circulated.
By the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it had been recorded in the Chronicle of Jingchu written by Zonggu (about 498-565): "On July 15th, Buddhist monks and nuns learned to make pots for all Buddhists". The so-called camp "basin" should come from the misunderstanding of Buddhists at that time. They misunderstood the original meaning of "rescue" as "beautifully decorated basin", so they competed to carve exquisite patterns with wood, bamboo and other materials, and decorated them with flowers and leaves, which was extremely ingenious.
Yan Zhitui (post-53 1-59 1) of the Northern Qi Dynasty also said in Volume 20 of Yan Family Instructions: "In July and a half, I looked at you in Lanpen." It can be seen that the custom of making orchid clubs on July 15 at that time has been widely circulated in the north and south of the Yangtze River. However, Liang Wudi (502-549) held the Orchid Club in the palace as the king of a country, which promoted the domestic Buddhist culture to a certain extent and made the Orchid Club a fixed festival.
Taoist Zhongyuan originated from the theory of five grains and three fairs. According to the reflection and biography of Zhang Lu, there are:
Light and harmony, ... there is Zhang Xiu in Hanzhong, and ... it's a road with five buckets of rice. ..... For ghost collectors, please pray for the sick. Please pray, write down the patient's last name, and convince the meaning of sin. Engage in three links, one on the mountain and the other on the mountain. One of them is buried, and the other is Shen Shui, which is called Sanguanshu.
The belief in three officials developed the three-point method, which was established before the Six Dynasties. In the Six Dynasties Ancient Road Sutra, Du Xuan's Daxian Sutra said:
On July 15, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also celebrated. ..... is everything that the Japanese and local officials have examined and searched, distinguishing good from evil. The saints of the heavens, in the palace, recorded the ghost books of robbers and the prisoners of hungry ghosts, all of which were collected at one time, making Du Xuanzhai an enemy of Yujing. And picking flowers and fruits, the world's wonders, costumes, making banners, solemn offerings, eating and drinking, offering to the saints and Taoists. Not the sun and the moon chanting, not the top ten sages, not the tomb of Gao Lu, not the hungry ghost of prisoners, they were relieved at that time, all of them were complete, and all their sufferings were relieved. Among the candidates, if not, it is difficult to get out.
Because the Mid-Autumn Festival is a day for local officials to forgive sins, Taoist priests all recite scriptures on this day, practice three sacrifices and five fruits, and popularize ten ghosts.
Because the ultimate goal of bonsai and Mid-Autumn Festival is to educate all living beings, over time, the boundaries between the two gradually blurred, forming the current festival with filial piety and fraternity as its purpose.
Legend of Mid-Autumn Festival
The story of Mu Lian saving his mother in Buddhist scriptures has a different look in the popular stories of temples in the Tang Dynasty. Because the creation of Bianwen is to promote Buddhism to the public, the stories in Buddhist scriptures have been rendered to a certain extent in Bianwen.
The layman's name in Manglietia is Rob, and Mrs. Qing Ti, a widowed mother, is stingy and good at killing people. However, Rob is very kind. He always does good deeds and respects the three treasures. One day, when he was going out to do business, he told his mother that he would divide the family money into three parts, one for himself, one for his mother and one for charity at home. Unexpectedly, since Rob left home, Mrs. Qingti has killed chickens and geese every day. As soon as the monk came to the door, he ordered his servant to beat him out with a stick, and even let the dog chase the beggar.
Because of her evil deeds, she was punished for falling into nasal hell after her death and suffering day and night. Rob was very sad after his mother died. He thought that becoming a monk could repay his mother's kindness, so he became famous by worshipping Buddha as a teacher. A few years later, I became the first magical power, surpassing Lohan. Mu Lian wanted to know where his parents were born after their death, but he found his mother in a nose hell. In order to save his mother, he went to hell himself and saw the scene of hell:
Among them, people who suffer will die every day. Or sword tree, or iron plow tongue, or copper juice pouring mouth, or hot iron fire pill swallowing. Still holding a copper pillar, the body is rotten. Every day when the cow head is late, the jailer will come and handcuff it. Boiling iron pot soup is painful.
After Mulian turned to Tathagata for help, he had to rescue his mother from hell and reincarnate as a dog in the city. Forty-nine days after Mulian laid the Dojo, his mother was able to ascend to heaven.
Another legend of Mid-Autumn Festival is related to paper money. It is said that after Cai Lun invented papermaking in the Eastern Han Dynasty (February 25-220), his business was booming and he earned a lot of money. Brother Cai Mo and sister-in-law Hui Niang are envious. Huiniang wants Cai Mo to learn papermaking from Cai Lun. But Cai Mo's perseverance was not enough, and he hastily opened his own paper shop before he got home. As a result, the quality of the paper made is very poor, and no one cares, so the couple are worried about a room full of paper.
Finally, Huiniang came up with a clever plan, attached it to Cai Mo's ear and taught it again.
That night, the neighbor suddenly heard the voice of crying from Cai Mo's house. Everyone rushed over to ask, only to know that Huiniang died suddenly last night. The next morning, Cai Mo cried her eyes out in front of Hui Niang's coffin in front of her neighbors. Burning paper in tears. Burning and burning, I suddenly heard something in the coffin. After a while, I heard Huiniang's voice calling inside: "Open the door, open the door quickly, I'm back." . Everyone was stunned and finally got up the courage to open the coffin. Huiniang jumped out and told her neighbors that she had gone to the underworld after her death, and the king of hell made her suffer. Because Cai Mo burned a lot of paper money for her, all the children scrambled to push her. She gave Yan the money again and Yan asked her to come back. Cai Mo deliberately asked, "Didn't I send you money? Huiniang pointed to the burning fire and said, "That's money! The underworld is made of paper. "Hearing this, Cai Mo immediately went to hold two bundles of paper to burn, saying that it would make his parents in the underworld suffer less. Neighbors saw this and found that paper money was so useful, so everyone paid for paper made by Cai Mo. A few days after the news spread, all the newspapers of Cai Mohist School were sold out.
As Huiniang returns to Yang on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, people will burn incense and paper for their ancestors on this day. This custom has been passed down to this day.
The custom of Mid-Autumn festival
According to the Six Classics of the Tang Dynasty, "entering the orchid basin in the middle school on July 15th", it can be seen that entering the orchid basin in the Mid-Autumn Festival at that time has become a statute in the court. In the Song Dynasty, there were commodities for sale with bonsai. According to China's Dream in Tokyo (1 147 chronological order), Volume VIII records: "In the first few days (Central Plains), the market sold buried boots and shoes, golden rhinoceros fake belts and colorful clothes. ..... and print and sell the "Sacred Manglietia Sutra". Cut the bamboo pole into three feet, about three to five feet high, and weave it into the shape of a lamp socket, which is called a basin. Hang clothes and money on them and burn them after worship. This kind of object is nothing more than the Mid-Autumn Festival for ancestor worship.
Song people worshipped their ancestors with vegetarian dishes such as new rice and new sauce, glutinous rice and melons. The table where the sacrifice is placed should be covered with neem leaves and the legs of the table should be tied with hemp seeds. This is because the Mid-Autumn Festival is the harvest season, and "offering sacrifices to Ma Gu" means telling ancestors Qiu Cheng, which is also called "bringing forth the old and bringing forth the new". Offering cockscomb flowers when offering sacrifices to ancestors is called "hand washing flowers". If there are new deceased people in the family, they will also go to the cemetery to pay homage at the Mid-Autumn Festival.
In the palace of the Southern Song Dynasty, he went to the imperial tomb to worship on the Mid-Autumn Festival, and sent an attendant to put 10,000 lanterns. It was the Taoist temple in Japan that established Purdue, and the Buddhist temple built Orchid Club. The palace set up a lonely soul Dojo for the soldiers who died in battle. On holidays, the temple will invite the troupe to perform for God. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, most of the plays invited by temples were Mulian plays. According to the eighth volume of Dream of China in Tokyo, just after Qixi Festival, the musicians in Goulan began to perform the play "Mu Lian Save Mother". This is the earliest written drama performance in the history of China.
In the Ming Dynasty, local officials offered sacrifices to local altars on the Mid-Yuan Festival, symbolizing the government's "quiet and benevolent governance". There is a legend in the Ming Dynasty that the dead ancestors returned home on the night of July 12, left on the night of July 17, and went to pick up the Yulan Penzhai on the 15th. So most people worship their ancestors with vegetarian diet on 14- 16. /kloc-when going to the grave on 0/5, there is also the custom of using the topic to play. Dong Liu and Yu Yizheng's A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Imperial Capital (1635), Volume 2:
"/kloc-On 0/5, the Orchid Club was built in the temple, and lights were put on the water every night and river lights were put on every day. The best is Shuiguan, followed by Paozi River. Go to the grave like Tomb-Sweeping Day, or make a small bag in the past. The sacrifice has just ended. When you dig a grave that promotes knitting, you fill it with a bag, you will be happy, and you will go home with a shoulder pole and shoulders. 」
In the Qing dynasty, there was a custom of releasing French ships on the Mid-Autumn Festival around the West Lake. French ships are made of brocade paper, some of which are seventy or eighty feet long. The ship also uses paper to tie out the shapes of ghost kings, judges, soldiers and monks chanting scriptures. After the chanting ceremony, it was sent into the water for burning. The purpose of the paper burning boat was to "sail to Purdue". In addition, we have to respectfully ask the city god to make a patrol to pay homage to the spectre. According to Pan Rongbi's Ji Sheng at the Age of Emperor Jing (1758), the Lantern Festival in the Central Plains in the Qing Dynasty was too grand for the previous dynasties:
"13 to 15, put a river lantern, holding a lotus leaf in the hut, lighting candles in the middle, and listing the banks of the river, with thousands of records. Thousands of lotus lanterns are made of colored glass, and they fluctuate with the waves. ..... All middle school students also hold long-handled lotus leaves at night, and candles are lit inside, and the green light glows like phosphorus fire. Hundreds of incense embers were tied to green poles and burned into the light of stars. Carving melon skin and pulling lotus flowers can all be lights, each with its own quality. "
The central plains set off all kinds of lights, the main purpose is to "light up the suffering of the underworld." In particular, the water lanterns placed in temples float downstream one by one on the dark water, like millions of stars, symbolizing endless Buddhism and lotus lanterns, and having the meaning of transcending lonely souls.
Mid-Autumn Festival customs all over the country
Hebei Province
Nanpi County took fruit, bacon, wine and money to the ancestral grave on July 15. And holding the hemp valley to the field stalk is called "recommending something new." The Mid-Autumn Festival in Guangping County is called "sending sheep" by offering fresh food to ancestors and preparing fruits, vegetables and steamed sheep for grandchildren. On July 15, Qinghe County went to the grave to pay a sacrifice and offer steamed sheep to her daughter.
[Shanxi Province]
On this day, scholars in Yonghe County offered sacrifices to Kuixing. The shepherd family in Zhangzi County slaughtered sheep in the Mid-Autumn Festival, competing with the gods. It is said that this can increase the output of sheep. Meat is also given to relatives, while those who are poor and have no sheep use steamed noodles in the shape of sheep instead. Farmers in Yangcheng county make cats, tigers and grains from wheat crumbs and offer sacrifices in the fields, which is called "going to the fields". In Mayi County, the Mid-Autumn Festival takes wheat flour as a child's shape, which is called "dough figurine" and is given to children by relatives. Farmers in Xinxian County hang colored paper on the stalks of fields on the Mid-Autumn Festival.
[Guangxi Province]
Yangshan people take July 14th as the festival to connect eyes, killing ducks to worship their ancestors, and there were no pedestrians on the road that day, which is called "hiding from ghosts".
Henan Province
When the Central Plains paid homage to the local officials in Shangqiu County, a paper flag was hung at the door, which is said to be insect-proof. Flying kites during Mid-Autumn Festival in Mengjin County. On July 15, the magistrate of a county drew a gray circle in front of the door and burned paper gongs in the circle to worship the ancestors.
[Shandong Province]
Fishermen in Long Island made boats out of wooden boards, put "for XXX" notes on them, or set up a memorial tablet for people drowned in the sea, put food, clothes, shoes and socks on it, and then light candles. The married man put the boat into the sea. In Zhanhua County, every family set up a shed to pick Kyle and fresh grass leaves, which is called "Horse House", in which Zupai is invited to offer sacrifices. Ling Du County calls the Mid-Autumn Festival "pinch festival", and every family eats humble meals.
Shanxi(Province)
Lintong county burned paper to worship Magu on July 15. Farmers in Chenggu County will drink alcohol on the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is called "hanging hoes". Yannong went to the field on the morning of Mid-Autumn Festival, picked the highest and densest ear of rice, hung a five-color paper flag and named it "Tian Zan".
Jiangsu Province
Residents of Wuxian County fold gold ingots with tin foil during the Mid-Autumn Festival and burn them along the road, which is called "ghost fate". There is still a kind of paper ghost circulating in Yizheng county, which contains bowl lamps, gamblers, drunkards and senior officials. There are four boats in the Zhongyuan Festival River in Yixing County, one is the flame mouth, the other is the Buddha chanting, the other is the tin foil ingot burning, and the other is the river lantern. On this day, villagers in Dong Xian eat flat food, which is a dustpan-shaped food made of flour and sugar. When releasing river lanterns in Shanghai, the stern is decorated with red and green paper lanterns, which is called "Dugu".
Sichuan Province
In Sichuan province, there is a custom of burning paper to worship ancestors in the Central Plains. That is, a stack of banknotes is sealed in a small envelope, and the name and title of the recipient, the number of envelopes received, and the name and time of the silk changer are written on the envelope. It is said that the Gate of Ghost was closed on July 15, and all families had to "send their children to Shigu". Chengdu people tied the "flower tray" with paper, put paper money and fruit offerings, and walked around the house, saying, "Dear friends, neighbors, former residents, ghosts who don't want to go back, please put them on the flower tray and send you back!" After that, the back end incinerates the outside of the house.
[Zhejiang Province]
Jiashan county regards the rain of Mid-Autumn Festival as a sign of rice harvest. In Tonglu County, people sing gongs and scatter rice in the wild on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, which is called "giving food". The Lanshe Society in eastern Zhejiang invited 24 old ladies to recite the scriptures and "walk eight knots". Eating "jiaozi Cake" on the rooftop during Mid-Autumn Festival is similar to spring rolls. There is also the custom of putting up street lamps. There are six able-bodied men as a group: one who plays gongs, one who plays bangzi, one who carries lanterns, one who sprinkles salty rice along the way, one who makes incense along the way (inserted on a sweet potato or taro), and one who makes tofu and rice balls along the way (placed on a big leaf), with a sacrifice every hundred steps or so.
[Jiangxi Province]
People in Ji 'an burn paper for the New Year, and pregnant women are forbidden to fold paper ingots. It is said that the paper ingots folded by pregnant women cannot be carried by ghosts after being burned, and it is also impossible to send them to the underworld. When releasing the flame, the mage threw buns and fruits at the audience. Legend has it that a woman grabbed a steamed stuffed bun and had a child the next year. A child who robs steamed stuffed buns will never be afraid in his life. Ancestor worship in Anyuan County began on July 12, and incense and tea were burned in the morning and evening. On the fifteenth night, burn clothes and give paper money.
[Fujian Province]
On the Mid-Autumn Festival in Yongfu County, married women must go home to worship their ancestors. Fuzhou dialect calls the Central Plains "Paper Burning Festival". The married daughter prepared her parents' clothes and robes and put them in a box called a gauze box, which was sent to her parents' home. There was a custom of Pudu in the middle of Yuan Dynasty in central Fujian, which was held in both urban and rural areas, and its funds were raised by people along the gate. Even the poorest families will try their best to raise money to cope. There is a proverb: "Pudu does not pay, and the plague is in front of us." Purdue does not contribute, and the dwarf will pick it up. " There are also children's bands performing in Purdue.
[Guangdong Province]
On July 15, people surnamed Lin in Qujiang County offered sacrifices to their ancestors and the king of the head of a dog, and gave them to the little boys and girls who sang and danced in colorful clothes. People in Guishan County regard July 14 as the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is said that because Yuan soldiers went south in those days, in order to avoid chaos, the festival was celebrated one day in advance. In Chenghai county, ancestor worship and kitchen god are held on the Mid-Yuan Festival. People in the central plains of Deqing made cakes with winter leaves wrapped in powder, which were called "bridges" to worship their ancestors. In ancient Shigu, Chaoyang County, wealthy families would buy plows, waterwheels and even girls from poor families, write them on paper and scatter them when giving food. If you can't afford farm tools or a wife, you can get a voucher.
[Yunnan Province]
After the Tengyue people offered sacrifices to their ancestors, they burned a bag and carved a cucumber into a boat shape, which was called a "cucumber boat" and incinerated it with the bag.
Mid-Autumn Festival in Taiwan Province Province
The Mid-Autumn Festival in Taiwan Province Province also has the custom of ancestor worship. The customs in the early Qing Dynasty and the middle Yuan Dynasty were recorded in Gao Gonggan's Fu Zhi of Taiwan Province (1696), Volume 7. At the same time, a bonsai was held and a monk was invited to preside over it. After dusk, talking on the altar and eating soup and rice at the bottom of the altar are called "giving".
During the Daoguang period, the scale of sacrifice in the Central Plains was bigger than before. Chen Peigui's Records of Danshui Hall (1846) Volume 11 records the following grand occasion:
/kloc-On 0/5, Jin Chen reported a banner in Chengzhuang to welcome the gods and make pilgrimages, which still touched people. Men and women have prayers, and paper cangue follows. Every January, every family goes to Pudu, that is, Lanpen. Not just a day's ears. It is said that the first day of July is to open hell, and the thirtieth day is to close it, delaying monks from going to the altar to eat, so as not to sacrifice souls. The temple has been built for two or three days. But on the first day, water lanterns were put on, and each person was given a small lantern, and the surnames were arranged as a team. The string songs were filled, the candlelight was like day, the furnishings were shining, and the performance was almost empty. There is an example set, where animals are sacrificed, lush, with mountains and mountains, and bamboo planting is high. ……
In addition to water lanterns and Purdue, the custom of "robbing orphans" is popular in some places. The so-called "robbing orphans" is to set up a high platform in Purdue Square, which is filled with all kinds of offerings. After Purdue, the organizer gave the order, and everyone rushed to grab the sacrifice. This custom is described in Volume 9 of Records of Penghu Hall (1893): "The more severe, the more you gain. Even fighting, falling on the stage, and casualties are really bad winds. " Because ghosts gather in Pudu in July, some people are afraid that orphans will linger, so they invented the method of robbing orphans. It is said that ghosts will be too scared to leave when they see a group of people who are fiercer than themselves robbing sacrifices. However, the scene of robbing orphans is too intense, often causing casualties. So when Liu Mingchuan was governor (1884), he ordered a ban, but the effect was not good. I heard it occasionally until the Japanese occupation period, and then it gradually disappeared.
1980 (199 1 year), after 40 years of isolation, Ilantou once again held the activity of robbing orphans. Organizers still use the old system to build double sheds, the largest of which is called "solitary shed", which is 39 feet off the ground, 32 feet long and 24 feet wide, and is about four stories high, decorated with 13 food and pure gold medals. Little people call it "rice shed". In the past, it was dedicated to grabbing food for beggars, so the height was less than half that of the solitary shed. The teams are divided into five groups, each with a pillar. When the organizer gives the order, the contestants will try their best to climb into the shed. Because this is a game with rules of the game, there is no scene of looting, and it is a folk sports worthy of promotion.
People in Taiwan Province Province attach great importance to Purdue to the fact that money and grain are huge and unbreakable (General History of Taiwan Province Province (19 18), Volume XXIII). Even during the Japanese occupation, Purdue was held every year under the pressure of official suppression of folk activities. The Pudu custom in Taiwan Province Province in the middle Yuan Dynasty during the Japanese occupation period was recorded in detail in the third part of "The Wedding and Funeral of Old Customs in Taiwan Province Province" (1934).
Taiwan Province Province is commonly known as "good brothers". During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Purdue's lonely soul is called "worshipping good brothers". Purdue can be divided into two types: public Purdue and private Purdue.
The so-called private education refers to the education that focuses on residential units such as streets and villages. From the first day of July to the thirtieth day, everyone * * * negotiates with each other and holds the days of Village A and Village B in turn according to the regulations. In previous years, there was a popular song "Pudu Ballad" in Lugang, which was enough to prove the grand occasion of Pudu:
The first water lantern, the second Pugong, the third Mijie, the fourth temple, the fifth palace, the sixth Tucheng, the seventh Niangsheng, the eighth new palace, the ninth Xinghua Mazu Palace, the tenth harbor, the eleventh vegetable garden, the twelfth Longshan Temple, the thirteenth yamen, the fourteenth ghost town, the fifteenth old palace and the sixteenth.
In the afternoon of Purdue Day, every household puts a sumptuous meal at the door, commonly known as "worshipping the door". Put a stick of incense in each dish. More careful people will also prepare cigarettes, betel nuts, rouge, white powder and so on. After the worship, burn paper money and then offer sacrifices. It is said that if the offerings are too small, or the cooked vegetable rice is too bad, you will be retaliated by your good brothers, or your family will get sick, or your poultry and livestock will die suddenly. So every family should make every effort to prepare a sumptuous meal.
Buddhists abstain from killing animals, so they will use vegetarian food instead of big fish and big meat in folk sacrifices. Even so, the starting point of both is to spread the dew to all beings.
The so-called "public sacrifice", also known as "temple fair", is usually held on July 15. As the saying goes, "worship in July and a half" takes the temples in each village as the center, and the main priests are local rich people or temple leaders. On the eve of the public sacrifice ceremony, if you want to inform orphans to accept the public sacrifice ceremony, you must "plant lanterns and poles" in front of the temple to summon the gods. The so-called lantern pole is a wooden pole or bamboo pole several feet high, with lanterns hanging at the top and lights on at night. Folk believe that the higher the lantern pole, the more ghosts it attracts. In order to avoid too many hungry ghosts, only lanterns two or three feet high are erected at ordinary times, and lanterns over five feet can only be erected at Dapudu. In addition, during Purdue, people in south-central China will hang "Purdue Lights" in front of their houses, aiming at illuminating the road for lonely souls and wild ghosts.
As for drowning ghosts, use a "water lamp" to inform. Water lamps are divided into water lamp holders and water lamp rows. One of the water lanterns is a round lantern, which reads "One Temple Celebrates the Central Plains", and the other water lantern made in the shape of a house is commonly known as "Paper Cuo". The water light row is made of wood and tied into a raft, which is four or five feet long and more than ten feet wide. Divide into thousands or hundreds of grids, and each grid is hung with a lamp. The water lantern parade was also led by a band. Boys and girls dressed as fish, shrimp and aquarium took part in the parade and arrived at the river bank after a week of sightseeing in the city streets. There is a table on the river bank with three sacrifices on it. Ask the monks and Taoists to recite the scriptures, and then put the water lamp in the shape of a house into the water. Water lanterns are provided by major surnames, all of which indicate their surnames. According to legend, the faster the water lamp flows and the farther it goes, the better the luck of the surname.
The temple owner in charge of the ceremony sent people from house to house to collect money, commonly known as "donating money". The people who donated money hung lanterns at the door and wrote "Celebrating the Central Plains".
On Purdue Day, an altar named "Purdue Altar" was set up in the courtyard of the temple, and the four characters of "Orchid Club" were written on the altar or the statues of Sangong and the Great were hung. There are three barrel lamps on the altar. A bucket lamp is to fill a rice bucket with white rice, and then put in mirrors, Gu Jian, small scales, scissors, rulers, paper umbrellas, oil lamps and other items to ward off evil spirits. There is a long table in front of the altar for people to lay their sacrifices. There are paper figures in front of the temple, a mountain god riding a lion on the left, a ground riding a tiger on the right, and a tongue-shaped mage. Master Shi is commonly known as the "Ghost King". It is said that he is the leader of a very evil soul, and he often leads his people out to harm the world. Fortunately, Guanyin Bodhisattva subdued him, so he wore a Guanyin statue on his head.
During Purdue, there were many ghosts, and I was afraid that they would do something wrong, so I asked the mountain gods, the land and the master to exercise a little restraint. In addition, there are two kinds of solitary sheds made of paper, one is the Cold Forest Academy (Hanlin Academy), which is the memorial tablet of ghosts who will enjoy equal status, and the other is the memorial tablet of common ghosts. Some people also set up solitary sheds such as "men's hall" and "women's room" according to gender.
In addition to the Pudu altar, it is necessary to set up a solitary shed for sacrifices, shrines, rice and other sacrifices. Every sacrifice should be inserted with a banner that says "Celebrate the Central Plains" or "Worship the Yin Light". The next book is the name of a good man and a good woman. There must be whole pigs and whole sheep in the offering. The owner thinks that the fatter the pig, the more pious it is, so everyone has to compete for size. The sacrificed pig needs sweet fruits such as pineapple and citrus, which is said to be afraid that it will complain to the gods.
There is also a kind of "animal watching", which is only for viewing. Chicken, duck, fish and flour are kneaded into patterns of birds, animals and even historical figures and placed on solitary sheds. Most of the sacrifices are chickens and ducks, so as the saying goes, "ducks in July and a half, I don't know whether to live or die." An altar was built with wooden boards, and the offerings were arranged in layers, which was called "Meat Mountain". Although the offerings are rich, people are still afraid that there are not enough ghosts to enjoy, so they have to invite monks and Taoists to "melt food" and increase these offerings several times by chanting. You should set up a stage and act for your good brother. More people than this day entertain relatives and friends, which is very lively.
After Purdue, the temple will invite Taoist priests, mages or people from the troupe to "dance Zhong Kui". Use Zhong Kui's magic knife to drive away the ghosts stranded in the local area. When Zhong Kui jumped, ordinary people were afraid of being washed away by Sha Qi, so they were afraid to stay at the scene. After Zhong Kui jumped off, the temple was successfully realized. However, as the legend goes, the gate of hell closed on the afternoon of the first day of August, and private education continued in various industries in the second half of July.
At present, the Mid-Autumn Festival in Taiwan Province Province is characterized by Keelung Mid-Autumn Festival. In the middle of Qing Dynasty, immigrants from Zhang Quan and Quanzhou flooded into Taiwan Province. Due to the strong ancestral home concept of early immigrants, different settlements were formed. Because of the conflict between land boundary and irrigation, the two sides often fight. In Keelung area, during Xianfeng period, more than 100 people were killed in a fierce battle. After that, influential people from both sides came forward to mediate the burial and agreed to hold Purdue in July of the lunar calendar. Due to this special historical factor and the conscious promotion of local people, Yuanxiao in chicken coops has become a kind of sightseeing activity with considerable scale and characteristics.
The Mid-Autumn Festival in Hsinchu is stationed by the highest-ranking "Lingwei Gongdu Town God" in Taiwan Province. Every year, the Lord of Mid-Autumn Festival comes to the territory, which becomes a major event in the middle of the year. As the gates of hell are wide open in July, you must invite Lord Huang Cheng to visit Qi Jing Town to ensure safety. As usual, when the city god makes a tour, he will invite the gods of nearby temples to participate in the grand event. The protagonist of the parade is Lord Huang Cheng's sedan chair. Accompanied by the leader of the Youth League, the art pavilion, and the seven lords and eight lords (namely General Fan and General Xie) who are ferocious and afraid of cloth. A string of "orphan cakes" hung between the necks of seven grandfathers and eight grandfathers, and women often begged to go back and give them to their young children. It is said that eating it can make children grow up safely.
The route of Huangcheng border also includes Zhengjia Temple in Hsinchu. The Zheng family temple is the home temple of Zheng Yongxi, a scholar who opened Taiwan. In the early years, when the city god was just renovated and rebuilt, it all depended on Zheng's donation. Therefore, every Mid-Autumn Festival, he goes to Zhengjia Temple to express his gratitude.
Among the Hakka settlements in Taiwan Province Province, Yuanpudu is represented by Yimin Temple Gongpu in Xinpu. The origin of Yimin Temple can be traced back to the rebellion of Zhu Yigui in the 60th year of Kangxi (1722) and the forest rebellion in the first year of Qianlong (1782). At that time, the militia who responded from all over the country went out of the province and looted their homes. In order to defend their homeland, Hakkas in Hsinchu area organized their own guards to fight against it, and hundreds of people died before and after. The local squire buried their bones together in the present Yimin Temple, and held Purdue on July 20th every year. Emperor Qianlong gave a plaque "Commending the Loyalty Pavilion" as a reward.
One of the major features of Pudu in Yimin Temple is the God Pig God Sheep Competition held every year since the Qing Dynasty. The top five pigs must all weigh more than 1000 kg. The selection of holy sheep is based on the length of horns. 1976, there were two 8-inch-long sheep in Fangliao village. In order to make the pigs and sheep more eye-catching, the owner will also build a beautiful exhibition shed for them, put glasses and hats on the pigs and sheep, and dress up as a gentleman, which is very cute.
The ceremony of Purdue kicked off on July 18th of the lunar calendar. /kloc-On 0/9, we will welcome the righteous, and there will be activities such as water lanterns, array heads, flags, gongs and drums performances in the evening. There will be a public sacrifice at 10 on the morning of July 20th, and it will be offered at 12 at noon and given in the afternoon. 17 o'clock, the network is lonely, 23 o'clock, lonely. The temple also performed a three-day peace play, providing sesame porridge for believers to eat. Sugar porridge is one of the traditional habits of Yimin Temple. In the early days, Yimin Temple occasionally helped some poor people, so it cooked sugar porridge to satisfy the hunger of the poor. After many years of interruption, 1988, while celebrating the bicentennial of the temple, I cooked sugar porridge for the believers.