The Chungyuan Festival (中元節) in Red House

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The seventh lunar month is traditionally regarded as Ghost Month, the result of two major festivals, one Taoist and one Buddhist, both honoring the dearly departed. The Chungyuan Festival (中元節) is part of the Taoist tradition. It is the date when the god of earth (there are separate festivals for the god of heaven and the god of water) give absolution for the sins of dead. In the Buddhist tradition this is the time of the Ullambana (deliverance) Festival (盂蘭盆節), referring to Buddha's compassion in granting salvation for the tormented souls in hell.
It is a time when respect for one's ancestors is greatly emphasized and filial piety gets lots of attention. One of the reasons for this is that during this month, popular superstition has it that the gates of hell are opened and the souls of the dead wander among the living. Failure to do the right thing by the deceased might lead to all kinds of ill fortune.
The deceased are not a particularly agreeable lot, and need to be pacified by offerings of food and drink. Jealous of the living, they are prone to bringing the living across to the dark side. Many people take particular precautions during Ghost Month, avoiding possibly dangerous activities such as swimming. For the unsuperstitious, this makes Ghost Month an ideal time for river or lakeside trips, but you will be warned that you are tempting fate.
Chungyuan marks the high point of Ghost Month and is celebrated across Taiwan today in the Chungyuan Pu Tu (中元普渡) or mid-origin passage of universal salvation. While virtually every major temple on the island will have activities on this day, the Keelung Ghost Day Festival has pride of place as the most spectacular.

http://www.etaiwannews.com/History/2001/08/27/998878028.htm
融合道教與佛教信仰的普渡儀式
面對社會不安之源的孤魂野鬼，發展出七月普渡的儀式，以安頓這些地獄中無人祭祀的惡鬼。今日農曆七月普渡，除了漢人的鬼魂信仰，也融入道教與佛教的思想，因此七月普渡常稱為「中元普渡」或「盂蘭盆會」。「中元普渡」之稱與道教思想有關，在道教的神祇中，有天官、地官、水官，地官執掌赦罪，於農曆七月十五日（即中元日）神祇生日降臨人間，定人之善惡罪福。孤魂野鬼被認為罪過較深，乃延請道士做科儀救渡眾孤鬼。「盂蘭盆會」是梵語之漢譯，意為施食拯救苦難。「盂蘭盆會」係釋迦牟尼告知其弟子目連於七月十五日以盆盛五果百味，供養十方大德，以救母脫離餓鬼道。由於佛、道兩教思想之滲入，中元普渡也有佛、道兩教不同的儀式。
The Pudu rite can be split up into the following parts: inviting the ghosts, offering them food, reciting sutras, then driving the ghosts away again. Inviting the ghosts involves opening the ghost gate, and inviting the wandering souls to come up from the underworld into the light. So that the horde of ghosts can have a smooth passage from the gloomy underworld up into the world of mortals, people erect lantern poles in front of temples and hang lanterns, "celebrate Chungyuan" as mentioned above, and guide the ghosts. The higher the lantern poles, the larger the area they light up, and so the more lonely ghosts that can be fed. For this reason, each temple must consider the amount of feeding they can provide, so as to avoid having "too many ghosts and too little gruel" and angering the ghosts into bringing misfortune on humans. Apart from the lantern poles erected on the ground, there is also a ceremony where water lanterns are set on the water, lighting the way for the souls of the drowned. Fearing that the ghosts may be afraid of the world of mortals and will not be able to eat their fill, so cautious towns such as Lukang have patrols that take it in turn to offer sacrificial food each day, after the ghost gate has been opened, so as to keep things safe.
普渡之儀式主要分成：請鬼、施食、誦經、驅鬼等。請鬼，是打開鬼門，迎請陰間的孤魂野鬼來到陽間。為讓眾鬼順利得由幽暗的地獄來到人間，人們在廟前豎立燈篙，上掛燈籠，上書「慶讚中元」，引導鬼魂。燈篙愈高，照明範圍愈大，來食的孤鬼就越多，因此各廟必須衡量自己能供食的程度，以免「鬼多粥少」，造成鬼魂的怨懟而加禍於人間。除陸上豎燈篙外，水中也有放水燈之儀式，照明來自水中的溺鬼。因深恐來到陽間的眾鬼不能滿足口食之慾，慎重的街市如鹿港，從鬼門開後，街民分組輪流按日供食祭祀，以保平安。
The offering of food
The offering of food is the most important rite in the Pudu, and believers make sacrifices of rich dishes to sate the lonely ghosts' appetites. Apart from food, people also prepare new clothes to allow their passage into the world to be a comfortable one. Because of the discipline rite performed by the priest, believers think that the food for the hordes of ghosts will bring them good luck if they eat it, and so people compete for the food offerings in the "chiang gu" activity, the liveliest scene in the Pudu rite. Apart from the offering of food, people also recite sutras for the wandering souls, so that they can cross over into paradise. The end of the Pudu rite is the "closing of the ghost gate" on the 29th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, and at dusk on that day, people prepare cooked food outside the doors of their homes as a "farewell dinner" for the lonely ghosts, and the lantern poles in front of the temples are dismantled, announcing the end of the Pudu rite. Sometimes, fearing that the lonely ghosts will be unwilling to return to the underworld, and will harm mortals, temples will invite Chung Kuei (a special deity who protects humans from evil spirits) to escort the ghosts, and in this way keep the locality safe and peaceful.
施食
「施食」是普渡中最重要的儀式，信眾供奉豐盛的飯菜以飽眾孤鬼口福。除食物之外，也為其準備經衣（即新衣），讓其在陽間渡過短暫的舒適生活。施給眾鬼的食品，因有法師的科儀，信眾認為食後會帶來好運，因此有搶取貢品的「搶孤」活動，形成普渡過程中最熱鬧的畫面。除了施食之外，也為這些孤魂眾鬼誦經，使其能超渡達於樂土。普渡的尾聲是農曆七月二十九的「關鬼門」，這天傍晚，人們在自家門前準備菜餚，為眾孤鬼「餞別」，廟前的燈篙也要拆除，宣告普渡結束。有時寺廟生怕孤鬼留連不願歸回陰間而危害陽間之人，因此於是日深夜特請鍾馗押孤，以保地方安寧。
The special significance of wandering souls in Taiwanese society
The Pudu rite of the seventh month has traditionally been more important in Taiwanese society than it was in the original settlers' old hometowns back in China. From the seventeenth century, Han people took the dangerous risk of coming to Taiwan to develop the land, and put their lives at the mercy of poisonous snakes, fierce animals, pestilent diseases, backbreaking toil, mob fights and popular uprisings. The old adage "nine deaths, one life" [meaning a situation so dangerous that it would kill nine out ten people] explained the tricky job of fighting to stay alive. Everywhere, the remains of the dead who had no one to bury them created an atmosphere of intense fear about ghosts for the settlers. But these wandering souls of the dead from other places had many brothers from their hometowns, and prompted by religion and pity, people raised funds to bury these exposed remains, and this created the phenomenon in Taiwan of densely-packed graveyards for the unclaimed dead. In the small area of Mucha, Taipei, there are 26 such memorial temples. Because these wandering souls who had died in this foreign land of Taiwan were taken care of like brothers by other settlers here, the Pudu rite in the seventh month was given the name of "honoring our brothers," rather different from the "honoring strangers" which took place back in China.
孤魂野鬼在台灣社會裡的特殊意義
七月普渡在台灣漢人社會中，比其在原鄉還來得受重視。十七世紀以來，漢人冒險來台拓墾，毒蛇猛獸、瘟疫、勞累、械鬥、民變，奪走珍貴的人命。「九死一生」的諺語說明了其生活競爭的艱辛。遍地無人收埋的屍骨形成先民對鬼魂強烈的畏懼心理。但這些身死異鄉的孤魂野鬼有許多是來自原鄉的兄弟，在宗教與憐憫的驅使下，人民集資收埋曝露的屍骨，形成台灣有應公或萬善祠高密度的現象，台北一個小小的木柵區就有二十六間這樣的祠廟。由於這些客死台灣的孤魂野鬼都是在台灣如兄弟般互相照料的拓墾者，因此七月普渡在台灣稱為「拜好兄弟」，不同於原鄉的「拜人客（即外地人）」。
The connecting medium of interpersonal networks
If we look at the history of the development of Taiwanese society, the Chungyuan Pudu ceremony became and important medium for connecting interpersonal relationships in the regions of Taiwan, from the seventeenth century onwards. Many of these "good brothers" of the Chungyuan Festival lost their lives protecting their villages and defending the people there. In an age where consciousness of one's hometown identity was intense, people with different hometown identities would, through the Chungyuan Festival ceremony, form their own groups, mutually unite, and become a common body against their enemies. The Pao An Temple at Talungtung in Taipei was the center for the Chungyuan Festival rites for descendants of settlers from Tong'an County in Fujian Province, China, and within the Taipei Basin, three groups of Tong'an County descendants would take it in turns to preside over the Chungyuan ceremony. The Lungshan and Chingshui temples in Manka (Wanhua), were the center for ceremonies for the descendents of immigrants from Sanyi (the three Fujian counties of Nan'an, Jinjiang and Hui'an) and Anxi county in Fujian Province. Yimin Temple in Fangliao, in Hsinpu Township, Hsinchu County, is the center of the Chungyuan Festival ceremonies for Hsinchu Hakkas, and at the time of Lin Shuang-wen and Tai Chao-chun's anti-Qing revolts during the Qing Dynasty, the ceremony was carried out for countryfolk who sacrificed their lives for their hometowns. Qing officials bestowed upon them the name of the "Yimin men" [roughly translatable as "justice men"] on these anti-Qing resisters in order to placate the local people.

就台灣社會發展史觀察，中元普渡的祭典成為十九世紀以後，台灣社會區域人際網路連結重要媒介。這些中元節祭祀的好兄弟，許多是為了保鄉衛民而犧牲的。在祖籍別意識強烈的時代，不同祖籍別的人群各自透過中元節祭典，形成自己的集團，彼此團結，共同面對敵人。台北大龍峒的保安宮是祖籍福建同安縣人中元節的祭祀中心，台北盆地內同安籍人分三組輪流擔任中元祭典主持。艋舺的龍山寺、清水的祖師廟分別是福建三邑（即南安、晉江、惠安三縣）與安溪縣移民的祭典中心。新竹縣新埔鄉枋寮的義民廟是新竹客家祖籍為主的中元節祭祀中心，祭祀在清朝林爽文與戴潮春的反清事件中為鄉而犧牲的鄉民。因其為鄉抵抗反清者，清官方為拉攏賜予「義民爺」。
Giving the name "honoring brothers" to Taiwan's seventh month Pudu rite has its own special historical background. Apart from religious significance, the seventh month Pudu rite was the most important medium linking communities together in north and central Taiwan in the nineteenth century. If people could take the enthusiasm from the "honoring brothers" ceremony in the seventh month and apply it to helping their more unfortunate brothers, then they could reduce the number of wandering souls.
台灣七月普渡稱為拜好兄弟實有其特殊的歷史背景。除宗教的意義外，七月普渡成為連結十九世紀台灣中北部社會最重要的媒介。如果人們能以七月拜好兄弟的「熱情」來關懷幫助人間的弱者，則孤魂野鬼或可減少。