Western Ghost Festival

Discuss the popularity of Ghost Festival in Hong Kong
Introduction
On the last day of October every year, many teenagers are dressing in different weird ghost costumes to celebrate the Halloween (the Western Ghost Festival). Meanwhile, celebrating ghosts or all saints is not only a Western premium. Ghost Festival here, refers to Yu Lan Festival in Chinese culture. It is on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, while the whole seventh lunar month is named as the ‘ghost month’. Scary as it may sound, Yu Lan Festival is in fact the Buddha’s joyful day. It marks the end of a summer retreat lasting for three months. Not celebrating all saints, however, in Buddhism this festival is a day for us to free people’s deceased ancestors (Liu, 2003).

She might commit evil karma so she eventually experienced the evil fruit. There were some examples of evil behaviour: killing living beings, staling, engaging in sexual misconduct; speaking falsely, maliciously, harshly, uselessly; being covetous, having a ill-willed mind and having wrong views (Saleyyaka Sutta, MN41). Also, it was mentioned that people who committed the unrighteous conduct after death will be deprived of happiness and be sent to an unhappy place, in perdition or even in hell. They will also never be liberated unless they achieve Nirvana, the fourth noble truth (Wangchen, 2009). One notable point is that greedy humans become hungry ghosts more often. The principle behind is that when people are ‘too greedy to eat’, they will eventually suffer from hunger. For instance, dana is viewed as ‘generosity’ or ‘giving’ in Buddhism (Shrobe, 2010). That is to say, benefits will be given to both receivers and donors. If we are unwilling to donate and think of others, our greed will eventually lead us to be reborn in the realm of hungry

Not only do they burn faux paper to the deceased ancestors, but also perform live operas and dramas with different related stories, like (香港潮人盂蘭勝會, 2013). A gigantic paper statue is set up standing tall in a bid to scare away the hungry ghosts. Different paper-boards with respective words are hung at each stall. The statue and paper-boards are to be demolished and burnt after Yu Lan Festival. Yu Lan Festival is special in Hong Kong in the way that it is celebrated for a period, say a week or a month instead of a day. Organization committees will rent the pitch for two weeks to hold dramas and decorations. Moreover, it should be noted that Yu Lan Festival in Hong Kong has been mixed with Daoist ideas, where it is called Zhong Yuan Festival (Ng, 2007). Similarities shared by these two beliefs include that the Gates of Hells will be opened in the ghost month and ghosts are permitted access to the living world (Van Dover, 2014). Ghosts, like hungry ghosts that without descendants are allowed to wander around for a month (Fong, 2008). Therefore, the rituals in Hong Kong may combine both of the religions’ cultural