Fun Food Trivia
TRIVIA QUESTION: A Chinese festival that has much in common with Halloween, I am celebrated on the 15th day of the 7th month on the Chinese lunar calendar. The Chinese believe that the entire month is a very dangerous time, as the gates of the underworld are opened and ghosts wander the earth freely. All through the month, people offer gifts of incense and food in an effort to appease these abandoned spirits. The festivities reach their climax on the fifteenth day, with Buddhist priests chanting prayers and people attending huge banquets and festival dinners. What am I?
TRIVIA ANSWER: The Hungry Ghost Festival. Celebrated through
China and SouthEast Asia, (in Japan it is called Obon Festival) it is the
counterpart to Spring's Ching Ming festival. However, the mood is very
different from the earlier festival. The purpose of the Ching Ming Festival is
to honor departed relatives, and thus the ghosts are considered gentle and even
protective. By contrast, the ghosts that inhabit the earth during the Hungry
Ghost Festival are those who were not given a proper burial - perhaps they were
murdered or committed suicide - and thus are not allowed into heaven.
These ghosts are to be feared, as they may invade the home, cause natural
disasters, and generally wreak havoc upon the earth.
