For the uninitiated, the Seventh month of the Lunar Calendar is a period shrouded in superstition, fear and happenings. On one end of the street, families would be making bonfires and burning huge mountains of paper money; on the other end, a makeshift stage could be belting out the latest Chinese dialect hits to a large group of heartlanders sitting on red plastic chairs. Amidst the smoke and noise, there’s definitely something surreal about this whole month and you’re not far wrong…

All Hell breaks lose

It all begins on the first day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar. On this day, Taoists and most Buddhists believe that the Gates of Hell will open and Yan Luo Wang -- the king who rules the realm of the dead -- gives special permission for all the dead spirits to come up to earth for a month-long visit. Both Taoists and Buddhists see this period as an opportunity for the dead to be relieved from the sufferings of hell, and return to visit their living beloved.

The dead gets modern

To honour their visit, Taoists and Buddhists families will prepare a sumptuous meal for their deceased loved ones with lots of their favourite foods. Then there will be the requisite visit to the Buddhists goods shop to buy stacks of hell notes (paper money), gold paper, green joss sticks, red candles on wooden sticks and other paper paraphernalia. Note that green joss sticks should be used for the dead. Yellow joss sticks are usually used for praying to gods.

Hell Note – by Tobym (http://www.flickr.com/photos/48089670@N00/)

Stacks of hundred dollar hell notes legal tender in Hell. A stack of these would buy a soda considering the denominations of other legal tender notes.

Giant Joss Sticks - By Richard Foo TH (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tuis_imaging/)

Giant Joss sticks are used for offerings. Wording on Joss sticks says “Inviting Wealth and Prosperity”. Believers don’t forget to ask for blessings as they give offerings to the “Good Brothers”.

In the past, the shops sold only joss sticks, some basic styled clothes made of coloured paper and gold leafed paper money. Today though, Hell has become an expensive place with rampant inflation, as one can probably tell by looking at hell notes, which are basically poorly printed money-lookalikes in denominations of $1,000,000,000,000 and above! Some more devoted families will spend the weeks before that folding gold paper into the shape of ingots.

Celebration – by Nicholas Chan (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicholas-chan/)

Local communities contribute to organize large events to celebrate Hungry Ghost Festivals with grand offerings to the spirits, banquets and auctions.

Aside from money, families of the dead believe their dead ancestors shouldn’t be deprived of the comforts of the living world so you can buy Rolex watches made of gold foil paper (in three dimensional forms), jewellery sets for the ladies, mobile phones, clothes, shoes, hats, and or small sized cars. The rich (or very guilty or blessed people) will sometimes buy entire bungalows made of paper complete with troops of servants and maids. The bungalows are so large they’re placed on trucks which carry them in a procession to the furnace for burning. 

The trillion dollar bonfire

On the first night of the seventh lunar month, families will bring their offerings and begin scouting for a good spot for a make-shift altar on the streets outside their houses.

Design-wise, the altar could be as simple as drawing a large circle with chalk on the floor where the offerings will be laid out and burned. The circle or separation is to allow the ghosts to differentiate the offerings from his family from the ones from other families. Within this circle, fruits, rice, alcohol or tea, food, fruits and some candy will be laid out next to the piles of paper money.

Every member of the family will take turns to pray with joss sticks at the dead ancestors asking them for protection, welcoming them to earth and asking them to partake of the offerings. Some plucky ones may even ask for lucky numbers for buying 4D or to ask for answers to certain questions using lots.

Another set of the same items will also be set aside for the Good Brothers “好兄弟”. “Good brothers” is the name for all the unfortunate dead spirits who have no one to offer them food and hell notes.

Ge-Tai or Live Shows

Ge Tai – by Nicholas Chan (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicholas-chan/)

Live shows or “Ge-Tai” Music stage are set up to entertain both spirits and locals alike.

As you move around the heartlands, you will see many makeshift stages or tents set up with live performances. These are usually organised by local community leaders from the neighbourhood food market or associations to ensure the spirits continue to bless the entire area. Some companies will organise these events too featuring large offering ceremonies complete with Taoist priests or monks, live auctions and dinner banquets.

Some of these live performances also feature singers performing popular music sometimes with elaborate costumes -- know to locals as getai performers. You can read more about these exciting live getai shows here.

“中元节” Zhong Yuan Festival

The Zhong Yuan Festival is the fifteenth of the seventh month where all the ghostly celebrations culminate to a peak. By this time, the number of live shows would have peaked and everyone gathers for large offering ceremonies.

On this day -- and until the end of the seventh month -- Buddhists and Taoists will give another offering of money and incense to the dead to send them on their jolly journey home with presents. These items also help smooth the way in hell for the dead ancestors so the guards and other “good brothers” in Hell can treat them with favour.

Click here for the second part on the Hungry Ghost Festival as we take a look at the dos and don'ts during the Seventh Lunar Month!