'In Chinese tradition, the thirteenth 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. During the Qingming Festival the living descendants pay homage to their ancestors and on Ghost Day, the deceased visit the living.
On the thirteenth day the three realms of Heaven, 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 ancestor worship, 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-mache form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors. Elaborate 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 former includes paying respects to all deceased, including the same and younger generations, while the latter 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.
Due to theme of ghosts and spirits, the festival is sometimes also known as the Chinese Halloween' (taken from wikipedia..too lazy to write so much haha)Speaking of the festival..i was a little frightened today.. i was at KB,in one of the outlet doing my thing as usual..as i was counting my goods..suddenly a hand touched my left shoulder..somehow i was shocked a little...as an old grandma was next to me..i was 'jammed' for 1 second..
grandma: what are you doing?
me: er..counting my stock
grandma: hahahahah
me: o_o ok,im a little freaked out..
grandma: i thought your bringing someone away :D
me: *hairs stand up a little*
she thens walk away..accompanied by her amah..her amah apologize for the behaviour earlier..i told her it was ok..she said the grandma has some kind of old people sickness..they somehow forget things...old age sickness i guess..she looks 80 plus and you know,people back in the 40`s has longer life than people in the 80`s and above..i wonder if i could live till 80 :s..as time goes by life gets fragile by the day,dont you think?
Old saying - eat,sleep,play...die also~
So..be careful on this month guys..a lof of shyt has happened already..take care...shyt no PRIVACY man :s!! lol
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