In Hong Kong, the Hungry Ghost Festival is a major Buddhist and Taoist event. Hungry ghosts are the restless spirits of people who did not have a funeral. There is no one visiting their graves and they do not receive the gifts that Chinese people would take to their ancestors to pay respects. They miss out on food and spirit money.
Flags are put up along the roads leading to the tents several days before the celebration starts.
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Those striking coloured flags indicates local celebration of the
Hungry Ghost festival.
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| Hungry Ghost festival |
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The ghosts can follow the flags to reach the celebrations. The flags are also a landmark for worshippers to locate the tents.
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Huge billboard announce that a Hungry Ghost festival is going
to happen.
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| Huge billboard |
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Big paper Ghost King over 20 feet tall can be seen during the Hungry Ghost festival. The eyes of the effigy are covered when it was delivered. They are only supposed to remove the covering when the celebration starts.
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Taai Si Wong, who reports to the King of Hell, has a notebook and acts as the festival's
policeman to ensure the ghosts are behaving and everything at the festival has been completed
properly.
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| Taai Si Wong |
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Every year the Chinese people believe that the gate of hell will open and ghosts are allowed to roam the earth. During July / August, Hungry Ghost festival or "Yue Lan" takes place in many areas in Hong Kong. In each area, it lasts three days.
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Huge, fiery and striking paper effigy representing Taai Si Wong sitting on a
temporary altar. Taai Si Wong reports to the King of Hell.
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| Taai Si Wong |
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The eyes of the effigy are lit up with bulbs. Most of time a dreadful
green or blue color is projected on the effigy.
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| Taai Si Wong |
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The effigy of Taai Si Wong is burnt with joss paper to send him back to hell when
the Hungry Ghost Festival is over.
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| Taai Si Wong |
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To stop the ghosts causing problems for the living, many communities provide them with food to appease them. The ghosts feed first but the food does not disappear. Then the living eat the offerings and pray for good luck.
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Huge paper mache models of clothes for ghosts. It will be burnt at the end of
the festival.
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| Paper clothing |
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Sacrificial offerings are made by burning fake money notes, known as hell money, and even paper television or radio sets. Some families also burn paper houses and cars to give to their dead relatives. The Chinese feel that these offerings reach the ghosts and help them live comfortably in their world.
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Some presents for the restless spirits are sent to the underworld through fire.
So the food, paper clothing and spirit money are all burned for the ghosts.
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| Burning Money |
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Believers burn paper money to appease the restless spirits.
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During the Hungry Ghost festival, people can be seen lighting candles and joss sticks,
burning incense papers and offering food at roadsides and crossroads. Some of the offerings
are for wandering souls that have no descendents.
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| Hungry Ghost festival |
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For the street festivities, local residents prepare chicken, duck, and fish for offerings in front of their homes in a ceremony known as doorway worship.
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Altars are built with bamboo poles. Taoist priests will take place to recite
passages from sacred books to ease hungry ghosts.
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| Altar for priests |
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Smoke climbs upwards to the sky from the burning incense sticks at temporary
tents set up.
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| Hungry Ghost festival |
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The 8-foot-high incense candles are set alight at dusk to signal the start of a three-day ritual dedicated to the ghosts.
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During the Ghost festival days, the big Dragon Joss Stick is often used. This huge
joss stick is supposed to last during the festival duration, i.e. 3 days.
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| Dragon Joss Stick |
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Huge sticks of incense are burning day and night.
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Old lady burning joss stick to please the visiting ghosts and spirits, as well as
deities and ancestors.
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| Old lady |
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Worshippers come to kneel, pray and place fresh incense stick. Most of them are women.
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The Taoist priest recites passages from sacred books loudly to help the Hungry Ghosts
to transmigrate to a new life.
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| Taoist priest |
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They pray to the ghosts for peace, harmony, and happy living. They hope the hungry ghosts will not disturb them in the future.
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Taoist rituals are performed to absolve the deceased from suffering.
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| Taoist priests |
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Through the night, shamans chant sutras to invite more souls to the party.
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After performing the last rites, the effigy of the God of Hades, together with his horse,
ship, mansion, paper apparel, hell notes, gold and silver mountains are burnt to return the god
back to where he came from.
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| Hungry Ghost festival |
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A paper horse effigy a representation of the Horse Spirits.
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| Paper horse effigy |
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