As we are approaching Halloween in the States, we want to introduce you to the Chinese Ghost Festival, which will be on 08/10/2014. Most of the information below is what the editors gathered from the web and concur with the editors' understanding of the festival. Please click on the pictures below to see the captions for these.
The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan (盂兰) is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar, the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month. In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living. The Buddhist origins of the festival can be traced back to a story that originally came from India, but later took on culturally Chinese overtones, as the motifs "all appear in a tale that had already been translated into Chinese by the end of the fourth century". In the Ullambana Sutra, there is a descriptive account of a Buddhist monk named Maudgalyāyana, originally a Brahmin youth who later ordained, and later becoming one of the Buddha's chief disciples. Mahāmaudgalyāyana was also known for having clairvoyant powers, an uncommon trait amongst monks. "The tale is contained in...a canonical collection of short sutras translated into Chinese by Gautama Samghadeva between 397 and 398." After he attained arhatship, he began to think deeply of his parents, and wondered what happened to them. He used his clairvoyance to see where they were reborn and found his father in the heavenly realms i.e. the realm of the gods. However, his mother had been reborn in a lower realm, known as Avici Hell, or the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. His mother took on the form of a hungry ghost (preta) – so called because it could not eat due to its highly thin and fragile throat in which no food could pass through, yet it was always hungry because it had a fat belly. His mother had been greedy with the money he left her. He had instructed her to kindly host any Buddhist monks that ever came her way, but instead she withheld her kindness and her money. It was for this reason she was reborn in the realm of hungry ghosts. Maudgalyāyana eased his mother's suffering by receiving the instructions of feeding pretas from the Buddha. The Buddha instructed Maudgalyāyana to place pieces of food on a clean plate, reciting a mantra seven times to bless the food, snap his fingers to call out to the deceased and finally tip the food onto clean ground. By doing so, the preta's hunger would be relieved. Through these merits, his mother was able to be reborn as a dog under the care of a noble family. Maudgalyāyana then sought the Buddha's advice to help his mother gain a human birth. The Buddha established a day after the traditional summer retreat (the 14th day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar, usually mid-to-late August) on which Maudgalyāyana was to offer food and robes to five hundred bhikkhus. Through the merits created, Maudgalyāyana's mother finally gained a human birth. The Ghost Festival also falls at the same time as a full moon, the new season, the fall harvest, the peak of Buddhist monastic asceticism, the rebirth of ancestors, and the assembly of the local community. During this month, the gates of hell are opened up and ghosts are free to roam the earth where they seek food and entertainment. These ghosts are believed to be ancestors of those who forgot to pay tribute to them after they died, or those who were never given a proper ritual send-off. They have long needle-thin necks because they have not been fed by their family, or as a punishment so that they are unable to swallow. Family members offer prayers to their deceased relatives, offer food and drink and burn hell bank notes and other forms of joss paper. Joss paper items are believed to have value in the afterlife,considered to be very similar in some aspects to the material world, People burn paper houses, cars, servants and televisions to please the ghosts. Families also pay tribute to other unknown wandering ghosts so that these homeless souls do not intrude on their lives and bring misfortune. A large feast is held for the ghosts on the fourteenth day of the seventh month, when people bring samples of food and places them on an offering table to please the ghosts and ward off bad luck. In some East Asian countries today, live performances are held and everyone is invited to attend. The first row of seats are always empty as this is where the ghosts sit. The shows are always put on at night and at high volumes as the sound is believed to attract and please the ghosts. Some shows include Chinese opera, dramas, and in some areas, even burlesque shows. Traditionally Chinese opera was the main source of entertainment but the newer shows, concerts, dramas and so forth are referred to as Getai. These acts are better known as "Merry-making". For rituals, Buddhists and Taoists hold ceremonies to relieve ghosts from suffering, many of them holding ceremonies in the afternoon or at night (as it is believed that the ghosts are released from hell when the sun sets). Altars are built for the deceased and priests and monks alike perform rituals for the benefit of ghosts. Monks and priests often throw rice or other small foods into the air in all directions to distribute them to the ghosts.During the evening, incense is burnt in front of the doors households. Incense stands for prosperity in Chinese culture, so families believe that there is more prosperity in burning more incense. During the festival, some shops are closed as they want to leave the streets open for the ghosts. In the middle of each street stands an altar of incense with fresh fruit and sacrifices displayed on it. Fourteen days after the festival, to make sure all the hungry ghosts find their way back to hell, people float water lanterns and set them outside their houses. These lanterns are made by setting a lotus flower-shaped lantern on a paper boat. The lanterns are used to direct the ghosts back to the underworld, and when they go out, it symbolizes that they have found their way back. Here is a link to Wikipedia's overview of Beijing(Peking) Opera (京剧), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_opera The following clips are from one of the most famous modern Dan(旦,one of the several character roles)artists, Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mei_Lanfang). Please note there are no English or Chinese subtitles for these clips, but you can get a taste of how a great Dan role should be played. Do you know when many Chinese traditional holidays are in 2014? The following is a list of these for you to note. Many of these holidays are based on Chinese mythologies. We will introduce you to these mythologies in the coming articles, so you will be able to relate to these stories when you discuss with your family and friends next time.
1. Chinese New Year (农历新年) 01/31/2014 2. Lantern Festival (元宵节) 02/14/2014: Lantern parade and lion dance celebrating the first full moon. Eating tang yuan(汤圆). This day is also the last day of new year celebration. 3. Qing Ming Festival (清明节) 04/05/2014: Visit, clean, and make offerings at ancestral grave sites, spring outing. 4. Dragon Boat Festival (端午节) 06/02/2014: Dragon boat race, eat dumplings wrapped in lotus leaves Zongzi(粽子). This festival commemorates the ancient poet Qu Yuan(屈原); drink yellow rice wine, related to the White Snake Lady legend(白蛇传). 5. Double Seventh Festival (Chinese Valentine's Day) (七夕节) 08/02/2014: According to legend, the goddess "Zhi Nü(织女)" (the star Vega) fell in love with the farmer boy "Niu Lang(牛郎)" (the star Altair), but was disapproved by her mother goddess. As punishment, they were separated by the Milky Way and could only meet once a year on this night. 6. Ghost Festival (盂兰节) 08/10/2014: Burn fake paper money and make offerings to ancestors and the dead to comfort them in the afterlife and keep them from troubling the living. 7. Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节)09/08/2014: Eat moon cake(月饼), family union meal, related to the legend of Chang E(嫦娥). 8. Double Ninth Festival (重阳节) 10/02/2014: Autumn outing and mountain climbing, some Chinese also visit the graves of their ancestors to pay their respects. Do you know that Denver used to have a Chinatown? (The following information is gathered from the web)
Denver's old Chinatown was created as a result of the railroad and mining industries.Today, "... the only visible sign of Denver's long-lost Chinatown is a commemorative plaque near Blake and 20th streets. Rewind 150 years, however, and that area housed the influx of Chinese immigrants who arrived to build railroads and work in mines." Noel further stated that "... the boundaries of Denver's old Chinatown shifted somewhat over time, from 15th Street to 20th Street and from Market Street all the way to Wazee Street" by the year 1870.[2] Today, the old Chinatown has been replaced by the LoDo and the Ballpark Neighborhoods.[3] According to Noel, tensions flared to the point in the 1880s that there was rioting and eventually deaths and eventually the destruction of Chinatown.On the afternoon of October 31, 1880, a mob descended on Denver's Chinatown. Within hours the mob destroyed businesses, residences, and killed one Chinese resident. Denver's riot was one of 153 anti-Chinese riots that swept through the American West during the 1870s and 1880s. Because so few Chinese settled in the Great Plains during the nineteenth century, however, the Denver riot was one of two major anti-Chinese incidents to strike the region (the other was in Calgary in 1892). The Chinese had experienced discrimination and violence since 1849 when they first arrived in California. They were driven out of California mines by the "foreign miner's tax" and also experienced outright violence (a Los Angeles mob killed twenty-eight Chinese in 1871). By the late 1870s the anti-Chinese movement had entered national politics. Fearful that cheap Chinese labor would threaten the white working class, Denis Kearney, an Irish immigrant and founder of the Workingman's Party, led a campaign to ban Chinese immigration. During the presidential election of 1880 Chinese immigration became an important issue when Winfield Hancock, the Democratic candidate, supported a ban on Chinese immigration. Colorado was not immune to anti-Chinese agitation. In 1874 white miners drove 160 Chinese out of Nederland, and in 1879 the people of Leadville were proud to announce that they had no Chinese living in their community. By 1880 the anti-Chinese movement had reached Denver, a city with 238 Chinese residents. During the presidential election of 1880, Denver's Rocky Mountain News, a staunchly Democratic paper, launched an anti-Chinese campaign, igniting Denver's working class. In its October 23 issue, for example, the newspaper called the Chinese the "Pest of the Pacific" and pointed out that if they invaded Colorado in greater numbers, white men would starve and women would be forced into prostitution. Other editorials attacked the opium dens located along Hop Alley in Chinatown. On October 28 the Rocky Mountain News reported that there was open talk in Denver of running the Chinese out. The night before the riot, supporters of the Democratic Party marched through the streets, many carrying anti- Chinese banners. Denver was ready to explode. The spark that ignited the riot came on the afternoon of October 31 when several intoxicated white men entered a saloon and began harassing two Chinese. The Chinese patrons retreated out the back door but were pursued and assaulted. Soon after, a crowd composed mostly of Irish laborers gathered near the scene of the crime. By two o'clock the crowd had turned into a mob of 3,000, and Denver's police force, which was understaffed and without a police chief, was unable to control the masses. The mayor called on the fire department to help with crowd management and then tried to persuade the mob to disperse. When the crowd shouted down the mayor, he ordered the fire department to disperse them with water hoses. Enraged by the soaking, the crowd hurled bricks and rocks at the firemen and then turned their rage on Chinatown. They sacked businesses, burned homes, and attacked innocent victims. By early evening rioters had burned every laundry in Chinatown. When the mob found Sing Lee, a laundryman, they pounced on him, kicking him as he lay on the ground. The helpless laundryman was dragged down the street with a rope around his neck and eventually was beaten to death. A few Denverites stood up to the mob and protected their Chinese friends. Several citizens hid Chinese friends in their homes. Jim Moon, a gambler of ill repute, held off a mob bent on burning out a Chinese laundry. With a revolver leveled at the crowd and using forceful language, Moon single-handedly dispersed the crowd. In another act of bravery, Liz Preston, the madam of a brothel, and ten of her employees protected several terrified Chinese. Armed with shotguns, champagne bottles, and high-heeled shoes, the women forced the crowd to retreat. Preston's brothel served as a safe haven for Denver's Chinese during the riot; at least thirty-four Chinese waited out the riot inside her parlor. In the heat of the riot the mayor appointed Dave Cook, a Denver fireman, as acting police chief, and he quickly appointed 125 special policemen to help reestablish order. Police officers rounded up the Chinese and lodged them in the county jail for their own protection. With law enforcers finally on the streets, the crowd slowly disappeared into the night. By eleven o'clock Cook reported that Denver's streets were quiet. Authorities kept the Chinese locked in the county jail for several days. On November 4 they were released, only to find their businesses, homes, and temples destroyed. Estimates of the total damage exceeded $53,000. The Chinese consul in San Francisco requested reparation payments from the federal government and the city of Denver. His requests were denied. To add further insult to the Chinese victims, Denver's rioters escaped punishment. Those who had been jailed during the riot were released for lack of evidence, and Sing Lee's murderers were acquitted in February 1881. Despite the violence and destruction of their property, many Chinese remained in Denver. They rebuilt their businesses and homes along Hop Alley, and by 1890 more than 980 Chinese lived in Denver. Chinatown remained a part of the Denver landscape until 1940 when it was razed in the name of urban renewal. |