The Importance Of Hungry Ghost Festival

Large offerings of food, drinks and various goods, rows of empty chairs endlessly waiting to be filled, and mass amounts of people enjoying a live performance; these are all commonly seen sights at the annual Hungry Ghost Festival . In Malaysia and Singapore the Hungry Ghost Festival, also known as Zhong Yuan Jie, takes place during the seventh month of the lunar calendar. During this 'ghost' month, souls who suffer in the underworld are believed to walk freely among the living. The doors of purgatory open and entrance into the living world becomes possible (Singapore Infopedia, 2014). While this festival is specifically meant for the "ghosts of strangers and the uncared-for dead" (Stepanchuk & Wong, 1991, pg. 71), on the 15th day of the …show more content…
While many Asian cultures don't believe in indulging in life's pleasures and attachments, they seem to be very indulgent when it comes to matters of death. I now understand that when a death is not dealt with properly, the spirit of the person can become desperate and hungry. Even worse is when a person's death does not allow for proper care; child deaths, deaths away from a family, or cases where a person dies without any living friends or relatives to care for them are unfortunate because the person will automatically receive inadequate treatment into the afterlife. Even worse is when a murder or suicide takes place because the hungry ghost of the person will roam around seeking revenge (Stepanchuk & Wong, 1991, pg. 72). Zhong Yuan Jie is a second chance to treat the victims of these unfortunate deaths with care and sacrifices so that they won't feel hungry or desperate, at least for a while. Some legends of Zhong Yuan Jie even include cases where hungry ghosts are released from their negative states entirely and placed into a comfortable and pleasant afterlife (Singapore Infopedia,