Ghost Festival

Ghost Festival
A paper effigy of the Ghost King in Shatin, Hong Kong
Official name	Buddhism: Ullambana (TC: 盂蘭盆, SC: 盂兰盆 Yúlánpén) Taoism and Folk Belief: Zhōngyuán Jié (TC: 中元節, SC: 中元节)
Also called	Ghost Month
Observed by	Buddhists, Taoists, Chinese folk religion believers primarily in China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia with related traditions and festivals observed in Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka and Thailand
Significance	The opening of the gates of Hell, permitting all ghosts to receive food and drink
Observances	Ancestor worship, offering food (to monks as well as deceased), burning joss paper, chanting of scriptures
Date	15th night of the 7th Chinese month
2016 date	August 17
2017 date	September 5
2018 date	August 25
Related to	Obon (in Japan) Baekjung (in Korea) Tết Trung Nguyên (in Vietnam) Pchum Ben (in Cambodia) Boun Khao Padap Din (in Laos) Mataka danes (in Sri Lanka) Sat Thai (in Thailand)

The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival in modern day, Zhong Yuan Jie_ or Yu Lan Jie (traditional Chinese: 盂蘭節) is a traditional Buddhist and Taoist festival held in Asian countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).

In Chinese culture, 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 Double Ninth Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, during Ghost Festival, the deceased are believed to visit the living.

On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and 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 veneration of the dead, 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-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors. Elaborate meals (often vegetarian 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 latter includes paying respects to all deceased, including the same and younger generations, while the former 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.