Chinese Festivals - Ghost Festival

July 7th and July 15th* were the festivals for ghosts. The Chinese are not very religious people. We took religion more for the moral aspect and less for the spiritual aspect. We worshiped three things: the supreme Heavenly God, our ancestors, and many good ghosts. When people died, their souls left the body and became ghosts. There were two kinds of ghosts - good ghosts and bad ghosts. Those that died at their own home or village, or were buried properly, were good ghosts. Those that died outside of their own home, outside of their own village, or improperly buried, or not buried at all, were bad ghosts, or wandering ghosts. Good ghosts blessed and protected people. Bad ghosts haunted and harmed people. Bad ghosts included those that died on the roadside (beggars), soldiers that died on the battlefield, or people that died in floods, famines, etc. Our ancestors as a rule, were good ghosts, unless they died outside, meaning the soul could not get home, and thus, they became wandering ghosts.

July 15th was for wandering ghosts. The ceremony was conducted by a Taoist priest or a Buddhist monk. He wore a special gown, and went about ringing a bell, saying prayer, and sprinkling "holy" water here and there, at the village gate, or at a crossroad. The idea was to comfort those wandering ghosts, or to guide your own relatives back to your own village or home, so they could receive the offspring's regular worship, and thus rest in peace forever. That night, all wandering ghosts were supposed to travel in all directions. Ghost traffic would go on all night. It was a solemn night of memorial, and indeed, sort of horror, too. It was for human. It was not fun. It was not Halloween.

July 7th was altogether different. That was for two specific ghosts in heaven, not on earth. They were Shepherd Boy and Weaving Girl. These were their names. They fell in love with each other, but somehow they violated certain heavenly rules, so they were punished. All year long they were separated, and only allowed to meet each other on one single night. That night was on July 7th. They were separated by the Galaxy, also called the Milky Way. Chinese called it Silver River. The River was endless, at both ends. That night, they were supposed to cross the River to meet each other.



This festival belonged mainly to the teenage girls. They gathered to make colorful paper clippings, paper lanterns, embroideries, etc., for the occasion. They sat around a table in the courtyard, burning incense, watching Silver River and making wishes. It was exciting and romantic to just imagine the magic moment when the two lovers met, across that Silver River. It was beautiful, fascinating, almost like Shakespeare's "A Mid-summer Night's Dream." At the end of the "party," before they went to bed, each girl placed a collecting dish or bowl outside. The next morning, they collected a few drops of crystal-clear dew-water from the dish, and used it to mix with their make-up, and put it on their face. They believed that the dew-water was blessed by a romance in Heaven overnight, and thus would make their face more beautiful and more attractive. How sweet. How romantic. Anther concept of Shakespeare's "magic juice."

*The actual Ghost Festival time occurs at the 7th and 15th day of the 7th month in the Chinese Lunar calendar.

**See this blog - the English is incomprehensible but it gives you an idea of the "star-crossed lovers" story with cute music! http://cowherdandweavergirl.blogspot.com/