The Hungry Ghost Festival in China
The Hungry Ghost Festival (aka Ghost Festival) marks the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar and it is celebrated both by Taoists to Buddhists.
According to Chinese folklore, during the festival the restless spirits roam the earth, during the Ghost Festival, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
Activities during the festival include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning fake paper money, clothes, coins, cars, tech gadgets, etc.
On the fifteenth day, the gates of the realms of Heaven and Hell are open and the spirits are free to roam the earth.
Both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased.
I took these images in 2008.
The urban village was subsequently demolished to build a hospital and residential complexes.
If you are interested in the topic of urban urbanization in China and the fate of urban villages, you can read my photo report China Suburbia.
Images of the Hungry Ghost Festival in China
Topics: Hungry Ghost Festival,chinese folklore,chinese ghosts,images of china,chinese lunar calendar,taoism,buddhism
CHINA-UNDERGROUND. Matteo Damiani is an Italian sinologist, photographer, author and motion designer. Matteo lived and worked for ten years in China. Founder of CinaOggi.it and China-underground.com.
