This festival of the seventh moon, as known as
The Yulan Assembly(
yulanhui ) or The passage
of the
Universal Salvaltion
(Pudu), marks a transition
for inhabitants of the world of shades from the status of threatening ghosts
to that of stable spirit - for the time being anyway. During this period,
all ghosts are released from the confines of the underworld to enjoy a
month of freedom which culminates on the 15th day with a special ghost-feeding
ritual. On the evening before the Ghost Festival, there is a lovely
custom celebrated in areas in Taiwan and Hong Kong, of sending beautifully
decorated paper boat and vater lanterns. On the 15th day, a large community
celebration takes place in which Buddhist adn
Taoist priest chant liturgies, perform rituals on an outdoor altar, and
offer incense, paper clothes, and spirit money to the ghosts.
Grandfather Seven and Grandfather Eight are two famous spirits who
occupy a position in teh godly bureaucracy as patrolmen, reporting neighborhoos
misconduct to the City God. In Chinese belief, the soul after death is
judged according to what the person did during its lifetime. In many
buddhist bible, there are a lot of chapters described the hell. If the
person did a lot of bad things, it is generally believed that he would
be punished to the 18th floor. That means it is hard to be man again.