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Episode 32 Creepy Chinese Legends and Chinese Ghost Month
Episode 32 Creepy Chinese Legends and Chinese Ghost Month

Episode 32 Creepy Chinese Legends and Chinese Ghost Month

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In this podcast episode, in the spirit of Halloween, we talk about creepy Chinese legends and the Chinese Ghost Month.

Links to resources/articles referenced in the episode:

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TRANSCRIPT:

Hello!  Welcome to the Sally in the Zen podcast.  I’m your host, Sally. I’m a Zen Buddhist caregiver of my elderly folks and always in pursuits to find Zen moments in everyday loving. If you’re new to the podcast, welcome. If you’re not new and you’re returning, welcome back.

Hope all of you are doing well, staying safe, staying sane.  As I’m taping this episode, it’s Sunday, October 25th, and I can’t believe that it’s almost November. Just about a week away before November starts. It’s hard to believe that 2020 is almost over. But you know what? 2020 is still alive and kicking. We still have some time left before some other stuff, you know, just goes wild in the world.

So to catch up on the home front, we have our second dental appointment for Zen Master and that’s going to be this Friday October 30th, to pull out the bottom set of his teeth, and then he will be completely toothless in the head. And as for me, job-wise, I’m still currently slated to be laid off as of November 11th, unless I get another job before then. I did recently go on an interview and it went pretty well. So let’s see about that and I’ll keep you updated on the next episode. Fingers crossed. 

That’s what’s happening on the Sally in the Zen front, so let’s move on to today’s episode about Chinese legends and superstitions and all things creepy for the month of October.

So let’s close the door on the world and settle back for a little storytelling.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year and I found that as I’ve gotten older, life sometimes it’s just scary by itself. There’s no real need to supplement horror stories with it. And with the year being 2020 and being what it is, I really wasn’t feeling Halloween this year.

But as I started googling around prepping for today’s episode, I found myself actually getting back into it. And I actually surprised myself by learning something new of my own culture.  Who knew?

Now before I go into the couple of stories that I found, let me preface this. Yes, I am Zen Buddhist. And the Zen Master has taught me about giving respect to the ghosts, the creatures, the things that go bump in the night…the way we handle this in our particular household is, first off, not to be afraid. And whether or not you believe in the googly mooglies that are out there, whether you’re really practical, logical, analytical or kind of like Scully from X-Files – you see it and you believe it and have scientific backing behind it. Whatever floats your boat. And at a minimum, if you show some sort of decorum and respect and not make fun of these things, that’s the least that we can do to avoid the googly mooglies coming home with us. 

That’s how I was taught and raised by Zen Master. You listened with an open mind and open heart with no fear, and we move on from there. Because despite the stories, there’s probably reasons behind the stories, fanciful reasons, factual reasons but at the end of the day, they’re just stories. And what gives them power is your belief in these stories. But at the end of the day, these stories are still fun to talk about. So don’t say I didn’t warn you.

All right, let me put on some mood music.

The first story I came across was from the website Ranker. R.A.N.K.E.R.com. Graveyard Shift.  The article is called Creepy Chinese Legends and Myths by Jen Lennon, written on December 13th 2019.

So let me read her first paragraph here. China has a rich history of folklore mythology including creepy myths. Much of Chinese mythology focuses on ghosts and demons and if you think all ghosts are the same, you’re in for a surprise. There are so many different kinds of ghosts and demons, from women who will give you winning lottery numbers but expecting something in return to malevolent animal spirits that really, really want to take your soul. And of course, there’s plenty of just playing weird Chinese folklore too.

Second paragraph. China is one of the world’s oldest civilizations and its history is rich with stories that will truly frighten you. Chinese myths are richly detailed and fully realized, not just some half-baked ghost story you hear from a friend. 

So the list that Jen Lennon wrote out is a pretty diverse list but I’m just going to focus on the first story that’s called A Jealous Wife Keeps A Terrible Secret.

So the story goes, Gan Bao was one of the first Chinese writers to record tales of the supernatural. He was known to live from some time before 315 BC to about 336 BC. One of his well-known works is Records of an Inquest Into the Spirit Realm, which contains many ghost stories. But more than the stories themselves it’s the inspiration behind them that will make your skin crawl.

When Gan Bao’s father passed his mother secretly entombed a maid, with whom her husband was having an affair, alive in his crypt, sealing the two together forever and, she thought, conscripting the maid to doom. The family knew nothing of her plot. Years later, when Gan Bao’s mother passed, they opened the tomb to lay her to rest next to her husband. What they found was the maid weakened but very much alive. She said that the ghost of Gan Bao’s father had bought her food and water for 10 years, keeping her alive until she was freed.

Now the second tale is from Scary for Kids.com. Chinese Urban Legends, written April 21st, 2015.

Now the first paragraph. Chinese urban legends and ghost stories to read online. In China, there is a tradition called Ghost Month, which is the seventh lunar month when Chinese people believe ghosts are released from hell to wander the world for one month. Traditionally during Ghost Month, Chinese people tell ghost stories. And the story I’m going to share is called Single Braid.  And caution: it’s a little graphic so this is the only disclaimer to brace yourself now or to pause it or to move forward.

There is a road that runs along the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. They call it Single Braid Road and many students claim to have encountered a ghostly figure of a girl with long braided hair walking alone at night. It is said that one cold night, a girl with long braided hair took great pains to sneak into Hong Kong from the Mainland. 

She was an illegal immigrant and she came with her boyfriend. The couple took a train into the city. Unexpectedly, the girl saw a police boarding the train and checking passports and identification. Worried that they would catch her, she decided to jump off the moving train. As she jumped her braid got caught in the window frame. The hair was ripped off her scalp and the skin was ripped off her face as well. The girl stumbled onto Single Braid Road where she collapsed and died.

The next day, the police found the girl’s dead body lying in a pool of blood. They cleaned up the mess and that seemed to be the end of it. Her boyfriend saw what happened but he decided to continue on the train. When he reached his destination, he found a job and never looked for his girlfriend or even tried to find out what happened to her. 

However one night, a male student was walking along Single Braid Road when he saw a girl standing there. She had her back to him and all he could see was the long braid down her back. When he called out to her, she didn’t answer. When the student came near her, he tapped the girl on the shoulder. She turned around and the boy saw, to his horror, that she had no face, no eyes, no ears, no nose, no mouth. Then she just disappeared into thin air. They say the girl’s ghost has appeared many times since then but only male students can see her.

And this segways into something factual that’s called the Chinese Ghost Month. I actually didn’t know anything about Chinese Ghost Month until I started Googling this and it’s pretty interesting. 

Now a little color about why I don’t know about these things, and in all fairness there’s a lot of other Chinese festivals that I am unaware of and/or don’t observe because I was born here in the United States, specifically in New York City. And Mom and Dad were so practical. Even though Pop is a Zen Buddhist, he was all about bringing home the bacon. He was all about raising his family. All about logic, practical, no nonsense kind of living and he didn’t have time or the interest of indulging in superstitions and the whatnots. 

So that’s how I was raised and that’s why admittedly and…and with no regrets, I am ignorant with a lot of Chinese superstitions. So there you go.

This is from Your Chinese Astrology.com and it’s called Chinese Ghost Month. So what exactly is it? In Chinese folk legend, the seventh lunar month is the Ghost Month. It is said that every year on the first day of the seventh lunar month, the gates of hell will be wide open and the ghosts will come out until the gate is closed on the 30th day of the month.

For the safety of both ghosts and human beings, China has the tradition of worshiping the dead in lunar July since ancient times. In folk China, people would offer sacrifices on the first, second, 15th, and last day of the Ghost Month. 

There are many taboos in the Ghost Month. For example, do not wear clothes with your name. Do not pat other people on the shoulder. Do not whistle. Children and senior citizens should not go out at night. And that’s just a tip of the iceberg of what the article was talking about.

So, Chinese Ghost Month in the year 2020 – this year – was from August 19th to September 16th. And one of the most famous festivals in Ghost Month is actually Ghost Festival.  An ingenious name. But Ghost Festival is, or I should say, was September 2nd of 2020.

Now of the handful of websites that I was searching around that was talking about Ghost Month, this one was more layman terms and it was easy for me to understand so…and it’s easier to read. 

So, the background on Chinese Ghost Month. Most people in ancient China believed in ghosts and gods. Legend has it that anyone who dies normally could reincarnate while those who are guilty or die accidentally would become ghosts wandering in the moral world. Some evil spirits even seize the opportunity to disturb the living souls, causing their deaths in disasters and accidents. As a result people who die unexpectedly during this ghost period are regarded as having been taken away by ghosts.

So people believed that holding sacrifice ceremony for these spirits would help them to escape from hell at an early date and prevent them from disturbing the living beings. Therefore Chinese people would hold sacrifice ceremony and burn money at the roadside in the month of Ghost Month to worship the ghosts. Which become the customs like setting lanterns and worshiping good brothers. Not quite sure what they mean but not going to Google that. Since the sacrifice ceremony has the meaning of praying for safety, Chinese people also invite theatrical tropes to play for gods and entertain guests at open air banquets, in addition to worshiping the good brothers with substantial offerings at the Ghost Festival. And Ghost Festival usually lands on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month. Nowadays China encourages frugality, the folk customs are improved and the sacrifice ceremony is simplified.

Last paragraph. Ancient Chinese people believed natural and man-made disasters were frequent in the seventh lunar month during which they had fears. Hence the cultural custom of avoiding anything in this month is formed. In modern society many taboos failed to stand the test of time but some are still unexplainable with science.

Now here are some of the taboos to avoid during Hungry Ghost Month.

Moving. Moving is not suggested in this month otherwise the evil spirits will be led to your new home. 

Weddings. The seventh lunar month is overlaid with a sad atmosphere of memorializing the ancestors and mourning the deceased. Wedding is a joyous occasion. Getting married during the month is disrespectful to the deceased and would deeply hurt those who love the deceased.

Weeping at midnight. It is fine to weep in the day but you better not cry at night in Ghost Month. It is said that weeping at midnight would be misunderstood as a call to the ghosts and they will come to you soon.

Tapping someone on the shoulder. There are three fires on human body. One on the head. One on the left shoulder and one on the right shoulder. If you tap someone on his or her shoulder, the fire could easily extinguish. Once one of the fires is extinguished, the body will be violatable to ghost especially when he or her is in poor health.  I have no idea what it means about the fires, the three fires on the body. I don’t think they are talking about chakras, but if you’re curious you can Google it on your own.

Okay, let’s see.  

Glancing back.  All right, let me go ahead and put on my sexy ghosty voice with this part. When you walk in the wilderness or somewhere sparsely populated, you may hear, you may feel as if someone was calling you but do not glance back because it could be a ghost.

Talking about ghosts at night. If you talk about ghosts outside at night, it doesn’t matter if you are saying something good but if you are speaking ill of the ghosts, something bad may happen to you.

Hanging clothes outside at night. Do not hang your clothes outside in the evening of the Ghost Month since ghosts prefer the living beings clothes. Those left outside can be touched by them which will be bad for you. Make sure that hanging clothes outside are taken back before you go to bed at night or before it gets dark or so as to not be borrowed by the ghosts.

Sitting in the front row during this month. Do not sit in the front row even if the seats there are not occupied. This is because the front row is for the ghosts and something bad may happen once you take their seats.

Taking the last train or the bus. You’d better not take the last train or bus in the Ghost Month. Generally speaking, it is not for the living beings. If you take the last bus or train, you might be surrounded by the ghosts. 

Isn’t that startling? 

Whistling. The ghosts hearing the whistles may think you are calling it and it also applies to hammering at night. In a quiet night, it’s best to keep quiet so as to not invite the ghosts and spirits.

Hanging a wind chime at night. Hanging a wind chime at bedside. Wind chime can invite the spirit and make you haunted in sleep. That’s pretty interesting. All this is pretty interesting. 

Here are some Hungry Ghost Festival facts and this is from China Highlights.com.

The Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month. Lunar versus Western calendar months are very different. This day falls in July or August on our Western calendar. In southern China there’s the Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated by some on the 14th day of the 7th lunar month. The people there are said to have begun celebrating the festival a day earlier during a time of long warfare to avoid being attacked by enemies during the inauspicious day.

So the Hungry Ghost Festival is one of several traditional festivals in China to worship ancestors. Others include the Spring Festival and the Double Ninth Festival. They performed special ceremonies to avoid the wrath of the ghosts such as putting the families ancestral tablets on a table, burning incense and preparing food three times a day.

The main ceremony is usually held at dusk. People put the family’s ancestral tablets and old paintings and photographs on a table and then burn incense near them. Plates of food are put out for the ghosts on the table and the people kowtow in front of the memorial tablets and report their behavior to their ancestors to receive a blessing on punishment.

People also feast on this night and they might leave a place open at the table for lost ancestor. They want to feed the hungry ghosts who have been wandering the land since the beginning of the Hungry Ghost Month. It is thought that after 2 weeks of activity, they must be very hungry.

So the first day of the Hungry Ghost Month. On the first day of the Hungry Ghost Month, people burn make-believe paper money outside their homes or businesses, along the side of the roads or in fields. Sometimes they go to temples for this task. On a trip to China during this time, you’ll probably see people occupied with this activity or find the ghost money on the ground with ashes and remains. They want to give the ghost the money they need during their special month.

Now I do know this for a fact, though. When you see ashes or when you see money being burned or for whatever purpose, it’s in your best interest and not touch the ghosts’ money.

Okay, so moving on down the article. People also light incense and may make sacrifices of food to worship the Hungry unhappy ghosts. People trust that the ghost won’t do something terrible to them or curse them after eating their sacrifices and while holding their money. 

They put up red painted paper lanterns everywhere including businesses and residential areas. There are street ceremonies, market ceremonies and temple ceremonies. During street and market ceremonies, people gather at the streets and markets to celebrate the festival. At Temple ceremonies monks in temples organized festive activities. Many believe it is important to appease the ghosts to avoid spiritual attacks.

Now on the last day of the Hungry Ghost Month of the seventh lunar month is marked with a special festival too. This is the day that the gates of hell are closed up again. People celebrate and observe this day in various ways. Many people burn more paper money and clothes so that the ghosts can use these things in their hell society. The pictures and tablets of ancestors may be put away on the shelves or hung back on the walls where they were before.

In order to drive the ghosts away, Taoist monks – T.A.O.I.S.T monks.. in order to drive the ghosts away, taoist monks chant to make them leave The ghosts are thought to hate the sound and therefore scream and wail. Many families flow to river of lanterns on little boats in the evening. People make colorful lanterns out of wood and paper and families right their ancestors names on the lanterns. The ghosts are believed to follow the floating river lanterns away.

Now the origin of the Hungry Ghost Festival and the Ghost Month in China is uncertain. Cultures in Asia from India to Cambodia to Japan share similar beliefs about the month and these traditions seem to date from before Buddha. More ancient folk religions cover the entire area.

Chinese believe that on the days of ghost month and especially on the night of the full moon, there is more of a bridge between the dead and the living. So they must take precautions and honor the dead. They perform ceremonies and traditions to protect themselves from attacks and pranks by the ghosts and to honor and worship their ancestors or famous people of the past. It is believed that the ghosts of dead people can help and protect them.

Well, that takes us to the end of today’s episode. Hope you enjoyed it and learned a little something-something of our Chinese Ghost Month Festival. Yes, I’m lacking as a Chinese person when it comes to these things. Because we don’t celebrate that, and you know, it’s just another day, another month, another year for us. 

It actually had a lot of fun with the sound effects to try to make it little googly moogly but let me give credit for the sound effects. The sound effects are from ZapSplat.com and can be obtained on www.zapsplat.com.  Z.A.P.S.P.L.A.T.com. 

So if you have any questions or comments, drop by my blog, Sally in the Zen.com. Click on the Contact page and send me your thoughts, your comments, your ideas, and depending on what they are, maybe I’ll feature them on a future episode.  We’ll see. 

Hope you stay happy, healthy, safe – you and your family. Have a happy Halloween and I will talk to you again soon.

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