The Hungry Ghost Festival or Yue Lan is under the categorized of fairs and festivals which the local community will assemble in particular area for any reason such as religious. It comprises of performances, arts and demonstrations by the community to celebrate any festivals. The fair often is non-profit event and festival primarily is non-profit event and it gives the opportunity to the communities to celebrate their culture.
Hungry Ghost Festival is a festival that posses important expression of human activity that contributes much for Chinese’s social and cultural life. This festival primarily not-for-profit event which provide unlimited opportunities for organizations to celebrate their culture while providing deep meaning for those who participate and attend (Goldblatt, 2011). Festival also able to increasingly linked with tourism to generate business activity and income for their host community (Allen et al., 2011).
The Hungry Ghost Festival is a time of strange rituals and stranger sights. A little like Halloween, but scarier, the Chinese believe that during the seventh moon heaven and hell collide and the spirits of restless souls return to earth to seek revenge on those that wronged them.
1.1 Origins of Hungry Ghost Festival
This festival is associated with the Buddhist story about Mu Lian, the eldest monk under the discipline of Buddha. His widowed mother was a wicked and cruel woman who committing many terrible crimes. She was sent to the 18th level the very bottom of Hell where she became a hungry ghost. Mu Lian learned of her suffering and went down to hell to help try and alleviate her pain with rice and water but failed as the food quickly caught fire before it could reach his mother’s lips. Mu Lian then asked Buddha for advice and he was told to perform rituals with sincerity on the 15th day of the seventh month and prepare food for other ghosts as well. The Gods were so emotionally moved by his act that they
References: Balraj, B. M. (2011). Food, Family and Desired: Women as Hungry Ghost Figures and Kitchen God in Selected Amy Tan’s Novel. International Journal of Business and Social Science. 2 (15) 304-309. Goldblatt, J. (2011). Special Events. A New Generation and the Next Frontier. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Kabatznick, R. (1998). The Zen of Eating. New York: Perigue. Keaton, H. L. (2002). Feeding Hungry Ghost: Food, Family and Desire in Stories by Contemporary Chinese American Women. University of Tulsa.