Ghosts are an integral part of Chinese culture and many traditions have sprung from their belief in life after death.
In hopes of receiving blessings, ghosts in Chinese culture are gifted food and money. Not only do the Chinese go out of their way to appease spirits, they also invest quite a bit of time in warding off demons and various other evil entities. From leaving offerings to wearing charms, burning incense, and hanging wards in their homes.
Ancestor Worship is a Traditional Chinese Religious Practice
Life after death is a widely understood concept in Chinese culture. Spirits are just another part of this world. Extending from this core belief is ancestor worship. This traditional religious practice centers around ritual and ancestral celebration.
It’s believed the ancestral spirits watch over the living family. They are the link between realms, the living family’s connection to the supreme power. They make altars filled with offerings and burning incense. The more incense the more good fortune comes their way.
The Dead Get “Hell Notes” – The Currency Of The Underworld
Apparently, you may still need money when you’re dead. In China, they produce “Hell Bank Notes” for Diyu (or the underworld courts). This is where the souls of the dead are first judged by Yan Wang, the lord of the Earthly Court. After judgement, they either go to Heaven or through the underworld maze to atone for their sins. Naturally, Hell Money is a burnt offering for spirits navigating monetary issues of the underworld.
Ghost Marriages Are A Thing
In China, even the dead are deserving of love and an afterlife full of domestic bliss. Ghost weddings are a 3,000-year old tradition that are rare but still honored from time to time.
The idea is, the families of two people that died single, get together for the ultimate (and creepiest) form of matchmaking ever. They physically bury the bodies together in order to create a metaphysical marriage of their spirits. This ensures their spirits will rest together instead of haunting the earth. You know what they say, if the coffin’s a rockin’ don’t come a knockin’.
Tomb Sweeping & Ritual Bone Cleaning
A few years after the death of a loved one, a male member of the family will dig up the grave, exhume the body, clean the bones and rebury them in a ceramic pot. This ritual allows the new generation the chance to care for their ancestors. It also helps ward off potential grave robbers, as bodysnatching is quite lucrative.
Women are not allowed to perform the bone cleaning ritual. In fact, it’s considered blasphemy for a menstruating woman to even touch the remains.
Ghost Month is Full Of Superstitious Practices to Appease the Spirits
It’s believed the veils to heaven and hell are lifted during the seventh month of the Chinese calendar. There are festivals and rituals performed to pay respect. There’s also tons of superstitions of things NOT to do during Ghost Month or the Hungry Ghost Festival.
The list includes obvious things like “don’t step on or kick offerings left in the street.”
Then there are ominous warnings such as “don’t take photos at night”, “avoid surgery” and “don’t whistle after dark.”
There are also weird warnings like, “don’t shave your legs”, “avoid moving to a new house”, and “don’t buy a new car.” So basically, life is pretty strange all month.
Ghost Day & The Ghost Festival
There is a day, a festival, and an entire month named in honor of ghosts in Chinese culture. Similar to Halloween, the people of China have a day for the dead, called “Ghost Day” with a huge festival held that night. The Ghost Festival is a traditional Buddhist and Taoist festival held on the fifteenth night of the seventh month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar.
Preparing elaborate food offerings, burning incense and material objects in a ritualistic fashion occur throughout Ghost Month. It’s also common for participants to bring gold and various fine goods when visiting their ancestral spirits. Similarly, during the Hungry Ghost Festival there are more physical offerings. This event peaks with the burning of a 20-foot paper mâché statue of “Da Shi Ye” (the guardian god of ghosts).
Feeding Hungry Ghosts to ward off Misfortune
Not all spirits go on to be helpful ancestors, there are all kinds of ghosts in Chinese tradition.
The hungry ghost is a concept in Chinese religion that represents a spirit with intense, almost animalistic needs. In Taoist tradition, they say these beings come from those who suffered violent deaths or were evil in life.
A hungry ghost can be made through neglect. Without offerings, the spirit can get weak enough to die a second death. Others can make offerings on behalf of the absent family.
Families pay tribute to these unknown, ‘hungry’ ghosts during the Hungry Ghost Festival, in hopes of avoiding any intrusion or misfortune the ghosts may otherwise inflict on them.
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