ANCESTORS AND GHOSTS:
THE PHILOSOPHIC AND RELIGIOUS ORIGINS 
OF THE HUNGRY GHOST FESTIVAL
By Darren A. Bryant
Contents
I. Introduction
II. The Sinicization of Buddhism and the Origins of the Hungry Ghost Festival
a. Buddhist and Confucian Origins
b. Taoist Origins
III. The Afterlife
a. The Chinese Spirit
IV. The Ancestors
a. Assisting the Ancestors
b. Appeasing the Ancestors
c. Honoring the Ancestors
V. The Hungry Ghosts
a. Who are the Ghosts?
b. Propitiating the Ghosts
VI. Conclusion
VII. Questions
I. Introduction
To a foreign observer in many modern Asian cities, the most festive time of the Chinese calendar, excluding the New Year celebrations, might be the Month of the Hungry Ghosts. The seventh lunar month ushers in many colorful events, with operas in the street, fireworks, family, clan and community events. However, to the adherents of Chinese religion, the festival fosters fear of the spirit world during a month when all members of the underworld are fully active in the world of the living. Chinese tradition categorizes these spirits: ancestors, who are usually benevolent, and ghosts, who are quite the opposite. The worship and propitiation of both are given much consideration during the Month of the Hungry Ghosts festival, the origins of which, as is typical of Chinese religions, have emerged from a convergence of strains of Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist and traditional religious teachings. 
II. The Sinicization1 of Buddhism and the Origins of the Hungry Ghost Festival 
a. Buddhist and Confucian Origins
The Hungry Ghost Festival originated during the Buddhist fusion with classical Chinese filial piety, a tradition that demanded reverence for one's elders. As explained by Confucian tradition, children should express overwhelming gratitude to their parent’s from whom all possessions come: “The duty of children to their parents is the fountain whence all other virtues spring. Our body and hair and skin are all derived from our parents.” 2 According to early Chinese texts, this respect continues after death:
…thus they [the filial sons] served the dead as they would have served them alive; they served the departed as they would have served them had they been continued among them: this is the height of filial piety.3
The application of filial piety's principles towards previous generations logically followed, for "people originate from ancestors."4 Thus early Confucian thought instilled a strong filial ethic, which perpetuated ancestor worship.
Buddhism, upon entering China, immediately faced the opposition of Confucian filial piety. Ultimately, piety towards ancestors required the maintenance of a male heir, through whom descent runs. By following the Buddhist ethic of leaving one's home and family in favor of celibacy and begging, one could not presume to be filial for such a life begets ancestral neglect and forgoes success, which brings honor to one's parents. So, to become palatable in China, Buddhism had to adapt. Its missionaries associated themselves with filial piety by conducting memorial ceremonies and thereby entered "family life." Monks engaged in the effort by translating Buddhist literature and creating apocryphal stories, which expressed the merits of filial piety. Hence, Sanskrit sutras attributed to the Buddha were translated and reinterpreted and emerged exhorting obedience and service to one's parents and the maintenance of their traditions.5
One such sutra is associated with instituting the festival of the hungry ghost: the story of Mu-lien's mother. While meditating, Mu-lien, a monk blessed with divine sight, discovered his mother as a diseased hungry ghost. His attempts to feed her failed, when the food he gave her became charcoal. Mu-lien petitioned the Buddha who advised that only the combined merit of all of the local monks could release his mother from her torment. Mu-lien was to offer a variety of foods and delicacies on the fifteenth day of the seventh moon on behalf of his mother and his family's previous seven generations. The monks would accept these "offerings and observe the commandments"6 and, by their joint virtues, Mu-lien's ancestors would become deities. As a result of his actions Mu-lien's mother was saved. Gratefully, he asked the Buddha if other filial sons should hold such a feast to save parents and restore them from otherwise horrid fates. Buddha responded positively:
...every year on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, they should remember their parents and ancestors with piety and compassion, and repay their parents for their care and love by preparing a U-lan-p'en feast for offering to the Buddha and the monks.7
Other versions of this story emerged, the most popular describing the mother not as a hungry ghost, but as enduring the terrible pain of being suspended upside down in mid-air.8 Both variations of the account address a son's expression of filial piety; and, both establish a feast on the fifteenth day of the seventh month to assist one's ancestors. Also, the story indicates that from the earliest traditions, the feast concerned itself with the ability of descendents to intervene in the afterlife for their ancestors' benefit. Furthermore, the presence of a hungry ghost occurs, although the distinction between it and ancestors remains undeveloped.
ii. Taoist Origins.
The ghostly aspect of the seventh month emerged from the Taoist concept of hell. Imprisoned in its lowest reaches, the ghosts may leave hell only with special permission of its king. This privilege would be granted only if the ghost receives no offerings to provide for its welfare, and therefore must return to the living to take what it can. The numbers permitted to leave are restricted.9
Buddhism incorporated the Taoist hell into the tradition of the seventh month, known as U-lan-p’en , derived from the Sanskrit uvulambana, signifying the emptying out of hell, as one empties a bowl by turning it upside down. The Taoist version favored the term P'u-tu, signifying a crossing over, or a general amnesty for the souls of the dead in hell.10 This amnesty commences on the first day and the ghosts look for whatever food they may find. On the fifteenth day, the feeding of the souls is attended to and each family offers a banquet for the ghosts. By the thirtieth day the ghosts must return to hell.11
III. The Afterlife.
The seventh month festival serves two objects: ancestors and ghosts. To understand the heart of the festival it is important to observe how ghosts and ancestors have come to be distinguished and accordingly treated. The distinction has a Taoist influence.
a. The Chinese Spirit
During the Hungry Ghost Festival the living show their concern for the dead. The Chinese concept of death and life makes participation mandatory for filial children. This concept emerges from the Taoist philosophical development of yin and yang: two opposing forces of which everything is composed. Yin is the force of death and yang of life, and these elements are at work within individual persons. As a man ages, the yin increases at the expense of the yang, and death marks the total separation of the two. The soul, however, also contains elements of both yin and yang. The former is called kui (demon) and the latter shen (spirit). At death the kui should return to the earth and the shen persist in the grave, family shrine and the other world. If, however, one's soul is not properly cared for, it will persist as kui and cause problems for the living. In popular practice, the kui are considered hungry ghosts thus, clearly, one's ancestor could only be shen. Because both continue to exist and interfere, the living must respond accordingly.12
IV. The Ancestors
Because ancestors persist after death as shen, the moral obligation to them never ceases. As all subordinates owe their elder kinsmen worship, respect and honor, this duty is passed down throughout the generations, with descendents accumulating more and more ancestors to worship. As the family line continues through the male, only-sons must maintain a strict worship lest the ancestors exist neglected.13
a. Assisting the Ancestors
Neglecting the ancestors is a serious matter. Because the Chinese spirit world bears striking similarity to the physical world, spirits have the same basic needs: food, clothing and shelter. As the spirit embarks from the grave he encounters two roads, one leads to the heavenly realms of the gods and the other to hell. The very exceptional few may ascend to godhood straight away, but most take the lower road. Soon they encounter a gate wherein several magistrates reside. There they have recorded the deeds of those in their allotted districts. This record is submitted to one of ten judges who determine guilt, punishment and reward. For those of extraordinary merit, passage to heaven may be arranged. Others who were good may be given positions in the infernal bureaucracy, or be permitted to reside in the judges' guesthouse, while others will be punished in various levels of hell. The underworld is further organized into ten kingdoms, which replicate the same cities, towns and villages extant in the world of the living. Souls go to the kingdom that corresponds to their sign of birth.14
Significantly, the distinct similarity between the world of the living and that of the dead requires that the dead also be provided with certain necessities. For this reason the practice of the Feast of the Hungry Ghosts provides great benefit to the ancestor. He is ensured of comfort with the bestowal of houses, cars and money, the latter being of great utility in bribing officials to escape punishment or to increase merit.15 Thus it is important for a filial son to participate in the festival -- indeed he is so obligated, that the lot of his ancestors may be improved.
b. Appeasing the Ancestors
The dead are thought to have some effect upon the living, and this provides another reason to observe the festival. Ancestors are primarily thought to bring aid and good fortune; however, should they be neglected, they may cause trouble. Sociologist Arthur Wolf reports that most Chinese villagers he encountered would not readily admit that an ancestor would inflict punishment. Yet should "they suffer a series of misfortunes, most people give serious consideration to the possibility that the ancestors are responsible."16 For instance, consider a man who, upon becoming a Christian, abandoned ancestral practice altogether. Both he and his father died the following year. "It's not a good thing to become a Christian and neglect the ancestors."17 Furthermore, shamans often attribute tragedy to neglected ancestors.18 Hence, Lucy Tan perceives that no matter how benevolent the ancestors are in theory, the prime motive for worship is fear.19 But, traditionally, if an ancestor acts aggressively, it is with good cause. Neglect could mean increased suffering for them, should they consequently become hungry ghosts.
c. Honoring the Ancestors
Given the filial duty of honoring, assisting and appeasing the ancestors, the fifteenth day of the seventh month is of particular importance, having been apocryphally prescribed by Buddha as a day particularly honoring to one's ancestors. Families offer fruit, cookies, cakes, candies, rice, sprouts, lotus, noodles and favored foods, placing them on the altar in the home, which serves as a shrine to the ancestors and gods. On the evening of the fourteenth day, families worship the ancestors with specially prepared dishes of meat and vegetables, wine and incense. They kowtow several times before the altar and present "hell money" (the Bank of Hell's currency), clothing, houses and other items of value in the underworld - all made of paper - by burning them in a large container placed outside the home. For those who can afford it, priests may be hired to chant the sutras to petition the gods and by so doing further assist the ancestors.20 
V. The Hungry Ghosts
While the needs of the ancestors are specifically addressed, the Chinese must remain conscious of the presence of the second object of the seventh month festival.
a. Who are the Ghosts?
Several circumstances cause the kui to become dominant in one's soul, rendering him a hungry ghost. An improper burial, or none at all, is one factor. The burial represents the first stage in sending the ancestor to the underworld. If that task is left undone, the spirit is left homeless. Typically, this occurs when people are killed en mass, or executed, or die away from home and subsequently have been forgotten. Other spirits with descendents become ghosts because of anger. Perhaps they were violently murdered or unjustly executed and now long for vengeance.21
That some ghosts have descendants does create some problems: one's ancestor could be another's ghost. Wolf indicates that although most people would not admit that their ancestor could be a ghost to another, when hard pressed with examples many will admit the fact. Thus in some cases whether a spirit is a ghost or an ancestor depends very much upon one's perspective.22
In other cases, the system of filial piety itself contributes to the creation of hungry ghosts. Because worship is restricted to a junior paying homage to a senior, parents would abandon a child's soul rather than worship him. Thus a child who dies has no one to assist him in the afterlife, leaving him homeless, hungry, a kui. To rationalize the child's birth, many believe that such children were strangers in the world of the living and therefore compelled to leave. Likewise, a deceased unmarried daughter may never be worshipped, for only the husband's line and his wives may receive this honor. A woman who dies before marriage is allocated the undignified position of a ghost.23
b. Propitiating the Ghosts
As indicated above, in the Chinese spirit world there exists a large group of homeless and hungry souls, motivated by jealousy of the living, possibly of their own descendents or offspring who have homes, wealth and families, and therefore are the cause of most misfortunes. For that reason they are popularly perceived as spiritual beggars. The beggar is not conceived as lethargic and idle. Rather he represents a vagrant who, because of intense jealousy, attempts to take what belongs to others and willingly threatens and performs ill against his victims to satisfy his own desires. But by giving him something, he should leave one alone. Thus the intent of the Festival of Hungry Ghosts is not to honor but to propitiate the ghosts, lest they prey on the living and obstruct the peace of the ancestors. It is necessary to avoid offending the kui, hence ghosts are referred to as "the good brothers because they would be offended if you called them ghosts."24 A northern Taiwanese tradition epitomizes the connection. There, on the fifteenth day, the community prepares a huge feast. First the spirits are given opportunity to spiritually partake and then the meal is opened to the earthly beggars to physically eat the food.25
As the ghosts could interfere with the ancestor festival, food must be prepared for them. But as it would be dangerous to allow a beggar into one's home, the same holds true for ghosts. So offerings are made on tables outside the home. Offerings usually consist of whole cooked fowl and large pieces of meat and delicacies. Other attractive items such as beer, cigarettes and washing implements are left out for the homeless ghosts to use.
VI. Conclusion
The Hungry Ghost Festival is observed throughout the seventh lunar month by both serious adherents and nominal believers of traditional religion. In modern Asia, youths may regard festivals, ancestors and ghosts as a tradition, perhaps not entirely realistic. Yet, as is similar to Halloween in North America, few have completely abandoned the practice, which their elders maintain.26 But to the sincere adherent, one must question whether their observance is consistent with the festival's theoretical intent.
While the festival emerged as an inclusive institution, incorporating Buddhism with Chinese religious traditions, ancestors and ghosts, at its core lay an expression of filial piety, and an opportunity to address the needs of the spirit world. But, the attempt to keep both ancestors and ghosts reasonably content serves to protect the adherent from the unknown will of the spirits. Thus one must question whether practitioners of the Festival of the Hungry Ghosts have abandoned a noble expression of filial piety and love for an act of fear.

NOTES
1. This term is used by Ch'en to indicate that Buddhism adapted to the Chinese context and not the reverse. Kenneth K.S. Ch'en, The Chinese Transformation of Buddhism (Princeton University Press) 1973, p. 5.
2. From the Xiao Jing, quoted by Choong Chee Pang, "Filial Piety: Biblical and Classical Chinese Perspectives" in Church and Culture: Singapore Context, Bobby E.K. Sng and Choong Chee Pang (eds.), (Singapore: Graduates' Christian Fellowship), 1991, p. 74.
3. Doctrine of the Mean 19.2,3,5 quoted by John Chew, "Ancestral/Parental-Children Ties" in Sng and Choong, p. 49
4 From The Book of Chou quoted by Wei Yuan Kwei, "Historical Analysis of Ancestor Worship in Ancient China" in Christian Alternatives to Ancestor Practices, Bong Rin Ro (ed.), (Taiwan: Asia Theological Association), 185, p.123
5 Ch'en, pp 4-18.
6. Ibid pp. 24-42.
7. Ibid pp. 61-64
8. Emily M. Ahern, The Cult of the Dead in a Chinese Village (Stanford University Press), 1973, pp. 241-242.
9. David Chappell and Michael R. Saso (ed), Buddhist and Taoist Studies 1 (University Press of Hawaii), 1971, p. 95.
10. Michael R. Saso, Taoism and the Rite of Cosmic Renewal (Washington State University Press), 1972, pp, 26-27. 
11. Saso, pp. 11-13 & Lucy Tan, The Christian Answer to Chinese Ancestral Worship (Singapore), pp.2-3
12. Ahern, p.211.
13. Ahern, p. 150-151.
14. Francis, L.K. Hsu, Under the Ancestors' Shadow: Kinship, Personality, and Social Mobility in China (Stanford University Press), 1971, pp. 138-145. 
15. Ahem p. 232.
16. Arthur P. Wolf, "Gods, Ghosts, and Ancestors" in, Religion and Ritual in Chinese Society, Wolf (ed.) (Stanford University Press), 1974, pp. 175-176 & Ahern pp. 224 - 225.
17. Wolf, pp. 165-166.
18. Ahern, p. 199.
19 Tan
20. Hsu pp. 144.
21. Stephen Harell, "When a Ghost Becomes a God" in Wolf pp. 146-8.
22. Wolf, pp. 180-182
23. Ibid. pp. 148-150 & 158.
24. Ibid. pp. 170-172
25. Harrell, p. 174.
26. This I base upon my own observance while traveling in Asia and upon the testimony of my Asian friends.
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