This year’s Hungry Ghost Festival begins on Thursday (Aug 13) and ends on Sept 10, with the 15th day — also known as Ghost Day — occurring on Aug 27.
The festival is rooted in folklore that the gates of hell open during the seventh lunar month, allowing spirits to return to the living world to look for food.
It is with this belief that many Chinese make offerings of food, joss sticks, candles, paper money and other paper effigies such as houses, cars and clothes to the dead.
These offerings are not only made to ancestors but also to wandering spirits in the hope that they will be appeased and hence refrain from disturbing the living.
Do hell gates really open?
In a 2023 interview, Lee Chee Tong, a 27-year-old ordained Taoist priest, told AsiaOne that the festival is not as scary as many believe it to be.
According to Taoist beliefs, the 15th day of the seventh month is the birthday of Di Guan Da Di, also known as the ‘earth official’.
As the ‘earth official’ is believed to have the ability to forgive sins and wrongdoings, Taoist priests usually conduct rituals on this day to help both the living and the dead repent and seek forgiveness.
“It eventually became a month-long thing because there weren’t enough priests to do the rituals in Singapore and Malaysia,” said Lee, who was ordained in 2023.
Asked if the hell gates do open on this day, he clarified that it is a misconception.
“Taoist priests would conduct po di yu (hell-breaking) rituals to summon specific spirits from the netherworld to help them.
“Because the ritual was conducted all over [Singapore and Malaysia], people eventually thought that the hell gates were open,” Lee explained.
Sharing how offerings made to spirits came about, he pointed out that the seventh lunar month used to be a month of harvest.
When farmers harvested their crops, the first thing they did was to offer their best harvests to their ancestors as a form of paying respects.
“Out of compassion, they eventually began making offerings to the wandering spirits without descendants, so that’s why offerings are placed along the road.”
What it is really about
Lee also shared that the seventh lunar month is not meant to be scary, and that the festival is really about a period of repentance and filial piety.
This appears to be consistent with Tzu Chi Singapore’s teachings to Buddhists.
According to its website, Buddhists should focus on the values of filial piety, virtue and compassion for all beings.
It also advocates protecting the environment by reducing carbon footprint.
Taboos
Elders often advice younger family members to avoid certain actions or activities during the lunar seventh month, including:
- Swimming, believing that there might be a ‘water ghost’ waiting for a chance to drown ‘unlucky swimmers’ in order to get themselves a replacement
- Getting married, believing that this may invite spirits to attend the wedding, thereby creating family problems
- Moving house, believing that this may invite wandering spirits to ‘move in’ together
- Wearing black or red, believing that these colours tend to attract wandering spirits
- Going out late to avoid ‘bumping into’ wandering spirits
While some may sound like superstition, there is a Chinese saying, “it is better to believe it exists than to believe it does not”.
This would also avoid getting into disagreement with elders in the family.
Dos
But even as it seems that there are many things to refrain from doing during the month-long festival, there are things we should do.
Those making offerings should be mindful of safety by using burners placed on sturdy ground and at a safe distance away from combustible materials and residential premises.
They should also clean up the area before leaving to ensure that no litter or food is left behind as they could attract pests such as rats and create environmental issues.
Finally, be considerate to neighbours, especially those living on lower floors as they may have respiratory conditions that could be worsened by irresponsible and inconsiderate burning of joss paper.
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editor@asiaone.com
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