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{{Short description|Traditional Buddhist and Taoist festival}}{{About|the Chinese festival and its related traditions|the festival in the Thai province of Loei|Phi Ta Khon|the festival in Nepal|Ghost Festival (Nepal)}}{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2011}}

factoids

| nickname = Spirit FestivalBuddhists|Taoists}}| litcolor = | longtype = | significance = To commemorate the opening of the gates of Hell and Heaven, permitting all ghosts to receive food and drink| begins = | ends = | date = 15th day of the 7th lunar monthyear=last|cite=no}}year=current|cite=no}}year=next|cite=no}}2}} = {{Calendar date/infoboxcite=no}}| celebrations = | observances = Ancestor worship, offering food, burning joss paper, chanting of scriptures

• Obon (in Japan)
• Baekjung (in Korea)
• Vu Lan (in Vietnam)
• Pchum Ben (observed by Khmer people) and Sen Kbal tek, សែនក្បាលទឹក (observed by Chinese-Cambodians) (in Cambodia)
• Boun Khao Padap Din (in Laos)
• Mataka dānÄ“s (in Sri Lanka)
• Sat Thai (in Thailand)

{edih}| type = }}

factoids

| bpmf2 = ㄩˊㄌㄢˊㄆㄣˊㄐㄧㄝˊ| myr2 = yú-lán-pén-jyé| buc2 = Uò-làng-buòng| y2 = yùh làahn pùhn jitjyu4 laan4 pun4 zit3}}Ghost Festival or Hungry Ghost Festival, also known as the Zhongyuan Festival in Taoism and the Yulanpen Festival in Buddhism, is a traditional festival held in certain East and Southeast Asian countries. According to the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in parts of southern China).WEB, Zhongyuan festival,weblink China.org.cn, China Internet Information Center, 1 November 2017,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20171019082154weblink">weblink October 19, 2017, live, Chow 2015{{rp|4,6}} {{refn|group=note|Chow, page 4, quoting 1783 Qianlong era "Annals of Guishan County" () Scroll 15 - Customs:''English translation:'The Ghost Festival originally was on the 15th day of the 7th month in the lunar calendar, but during the late Yuan to early Ming period, it's said that the Hakkas in order to escape the Yuan troops, celebrated the Ghost Festival one day earlier, in order to escape disaster they fled southward. Since that time and continuing today, the date of the Ghost Festival changed to the 14th day of the 7th [lunar] month' [in parts of Southern China].}}In Chinese culture, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day or (especially in Taiwan) Pudu 普渡 WEB, 2017-08-22, Ghost Festival,weblink 2024-02-15, OFTaiwan, en, and the seventh month is generally regarded as the Ghost Month, in which ghosts and spirits, including those of deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm (diyu or preta). Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (or Tomb Sweeping Day, in spring) and Double Ninth Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, during Ghost Festival, the deceased are believed to visit the living.NEWS, Culture insider - China's ghost festival,weblink 1 November 2017, China Daily, 8 August 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20171107003946weblink">weblink November 7, 2017, live, On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is veneration of the dead, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths. Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold, and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors. Elaborate meals (often vegetarian meals) would be served with empty seats for each of the deceased in the family treating the deceased as if they are still living. Ancestor worship is what distinguishes Qingming Festival from Ghost Festival because the latter includes paying respects to all deceased, including the same and younger generations, while the former only includes older generations. Other festivities may include buying and releasing miniature paper boats and lanterns on water, which signifies giving directions to the lost ghosts and spirits of the ancestors and other deities.NEWS, Chinese Ghost Festival - "the Chinese Halloween",weblink 1 November 2017, Peoples Daily (English), 30 October 2009,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20171107024410weblink">weblink November 7, 2017, live,

Origins

The name relates to the concept of the hungry ghost, the Chinese translation of the term preta in Buddhism. It plays a role in Chinese Buddhism and Taoism as well as in Chinese folk religion, and represents beings who were originally living people, who have died, and who are driven by intense emotional needs in an animalistic way.Venerable Yin-shun. The Way to Buddhahood. Massachusetts: Wisdom Publications: 1998.WEB,weblink 目次：冥報記白話, www.bfnn.org, February 25, 2023, December 4, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20181204134835weblink">weblink live, Eberhard, Stephen F. The Ghost Festival in Medieval China. New Jersey: Princeton University Press: 1988. Hungry ghosts, by contrast, are a much more exceptional case, and would only occur in very unfortunate circumstances, such as if a whole family were killed or when a family no longer venerated their ancestors.As a Taoist festival: Taoism has the "Three Yuan" theory (representing the Three Great Emperor-Officials), which the name "Zhong Yuan" comes from.BOOK, 中國節日的故事, 2001, 將門文物出版社, Taipei, 957-755-300-1, 1st, zh, {{refpage|195–196}} The festival flourished during the Tang dynasty, whose rulers were partial to Taoism; and "Zhongyuan" became well established as the holiday's name.NEWS, 中元节是中国的"鬼节"吗？听听民俗学家怎么说,weblink 26 March 2023, 澎湃新闻, March 26, 2023,weblink live, As a Buddhist festival: The origin story of the modern Ghost Festival, ultimately originated from ancient India, deriving from the Mahayana scripture known as the Yulanpen or Ullambana Sutra.Karashima 2013a{{rp|301,302}} {{refn|group=note|Karashima:On p. 302 'Although this sutra has often been regarded as apocryphal [Japanese version has in recent times], the contents and ideas in it are well rooted in India as we have seen above. In addition to that, the vocabulary and usage of Chinese words are more archaic, compared with KumārajÄ«va's corpus (401-413 CE), while they resemble greatly the translations by Dharmaraká¹£a (fl. 265?-311 CE). Moreover, the transliteration (EH pat γwa la > MC pwât γwâ lâ} of Skt. pravāra (ṇā), which only occurs in this sutra and its adaptation, i.e. the Baoen Fengpen jing (T. 16, no. 686, 780a20), indicates clearly that this sutra is not apocryphal but a genuine translation, because only somebody who knew the original Indian form was able to transliterate it thus correctly into Chinese. In conclusion, I assume that ([File:Food offerings for the Mid-Autumn festival in Ecopark (2017).jpg|thumb|Various food items being sacrificed for the wandering souls in {{ill2|Tháng Cô Hồn|vi|Tháng Cô Hồn}})(File:OMD40445 (27821684578).jpg|thumb|Buddhists and monks prepare to water lanterns on the occasion of {{ill2|Vu Lan|vi|Vu-lan}} festival)This festival is known as Tết Trung Nguyên