|
Huge billboard announce that a Hungry Ghost festival is going
to happen.
|
| Huge billboard |
|---|
|
Temporary open-air bamboo complexes are erected in local parks
or playgrounds.
|
|
| Temporary open-air bamboo complexe |
|---|
|
Shed theatres arewere usually made of bamboo, wood and palm leaves.
These materials are highly flammable and fires were a common hazard to
troupes and villages. By the early 1960s, some shed theatres were made
from galvanized iron, which was safer and stronger.
|
| Temporary open-air bamboo complexe |
|---|
|
On one side there is the theatre which is for running operas for ghosts, gods and human beings to enjoy.
In the other side is an an altar where huge sticks of incense are burnt. Behind the altar is the temporary
temple where the priests can recites passages from sacred books.
|
|
| Temporary open-air bamboo complexe |
|---|
It usually takes 10 workers about a week to build four small houses needed for the Yulan festival.
|
About 4000 bamboo poles are needed to build the framework of a 20 000 sq ft opera house,
which is considered small. More than 10 000 are needed to build a big, 100 000 sq ft one. Hundreds
of iron sheets are used for roofs and some walls.
|
| Opera house |
|---|
Traditional Chinese operas are held to entertain and distract the spirits from their pursuit of chaos. Before seats at these operas remained empty as they were believed to be occupied by ghostly guests. Nowadays, believers politely inquiring whether the seats are taken.
|
Troupes like the Chiu Chow opera are a fast dying tradition, killed off by age and a lack of
interest among the young. Troupes are often coming from China and not anymore from Hong Kong.
|
|
| Chiu Chow opera |
|---|
Nowadays most of the audiences cannot follow the story lines. So some LCD panels display text in Traditional Chinese characters.
|
Traditional Chiu Chow Opera singers perform in nightly marathons
for an audience of specters.
|
| Chiu Chow Opera |
|---|
|
Joss paper also known as ghost money, are sheets of paper that are burned during
traditional Chinese festival such as Hungry Ghost festival.
|
|
| Joss paper burning |
|---|
Few people in China - especially in younger generations in urban areas - follow hungry ghosts traditions. Many traditional practices were stamped out during the Cultural Revolution because they were seen as relics of China's feudal past.
|
Joss paper is traditionally made from coarse bamboo paper, although rice paper is also commonly used.
Traditional joss is cut into individual squares or rectangles. Each square of paper has either a thin
piece of square foil glued to its center or it may be endorsed with a red ink seal from a traditional
Chinese seal.
|
| Joss paper |
|---|
|
People are praying for good luck in order to help the Hungry Ghosts
to transmigrate to a new life.
|
|
| Evening prayers |
|---|
After a performance is over, the houses are pulled down and moved to a new site. All unbroken poles are reused.
|
The presenter is here to encourage people to make donations and to buy some
miscellaneous objets. Well wishers are donating money to support this event by auctioning products
which are auspicious to get donations from the public. Funds are gathered to pay priests to
conducts prayers, buying offerings of food, josspaper, paper effigy of Taai Si Wong and
to pay for the stage performance by entertainers.
|
| Presenter |
|---|
Some Chinese people may observe restrictions during this month. For instance, some believe it is not advisable to wander out of the house at night for fear of encountering ghosts and no organisation of happy occasions such as weddings.
| Home > Culture > Chinese Calendar > Hungry Ghost festival |
| Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 |
|
