Recently, while reminiscing my childhood with my mother, I was reminded of a tradition that most Vietnamese people “celebrate”. Most Asian countries follows the Lunar calendar – a calendar based upon the moon’s phases – in addition to the Gregorian calendar, and Vietnam is no exception. Nowadays, the Lunar calendar only serves as a way to keep track of religious festivals and ethnic holidays – including but not limited to:
- Tết/ Tết Nguyên Đán (Chinese New Year)
- Lễ Phật Đản (Buddha’s Birthday)
- Tết Đoan Ngọ (Midyear Festival)
- Tết Trung Thu (Mid-Autumn Festival)
Usually, these holidays are celebrated with an offering for the ancestors and a feast for the family. Although the practice of worshipping ancestors is primarily a Buddhist tradition, Vietnamese people tend to be quite superstitious and practice the tradition as a form of filial piety to the dead, regardless of their affiliated religion. However, one particular festival Cúng Cô Hồn (Hungry Ghost Festival) is not “celebrated”, rather it is there to appease ancestral spirits and wandering ghosts.
Buddhist traditional beliefs believe that there is two parts to humans: the body and the soul in which the soul exists independently of the body, so when a person dies, their soul will leave the body and continues to exists. After death, the soul can either returns to heaven, be reborn, or be exiled to hell depends on the karma of that person’s life. However, if a person died an unjust death or were cursed due to bad karma, their soul will not or will be unable to “move on”. Instead, those lost souls will wander on earth hungry or bother the living. These lost souls are often pictured to have thin, elongated necks and protruding stomachs.
According to the Lunar Calendar, July is an unlucky month due to the belief that it is the month where the gates of hell open to allow souls to roam earth. During the month, ancestral spirits will return to their family and bless them with good luck. However, spirits that have died an unjust death, was forgotten, or without a family or anyone to offer anything will cause trouble and curse people out of anger.
As a result, those that believe in the superstition limit themselves from certain activities during the Lunar July month. For example, some people will refrain from traveling, starting projects, and some will even restrict their meat intake and temporarily become vegetarian. The Hungry Ghost Festival itself is held on July 15th of the Lunar calendar.
On the day of the festival, two “feasts” will be offered; one earlier in the day for the ancestors and one later in the day for the wandering spirits. Due to the nature of the festival as a Buddhist tradition, the feasts are vegan to “help” the spirits move on by helping them do no further harm – i.e. feasting on animals. Additionally, some people will offer or donate to temples where monks will pray to Buddha to forgive or alleviate the suffering of the wandering souls. At the end of the day, some people will light lotus-shaped lanterns and let them float down rivers to guide souls back to the afterlife.
Additionally, the Hungry Ghost Festival coincides with Mùa Vu Lan, otherwise known as Vietnamese Mother’s Day. The legend behind why the holidays are on the same day can be found here. Anyway, on that day, people will pay respect not only to their ancestors but also their parents. People with living mothers will wear a red rose and those whose mothers’ is deceased will wear a white rose. The rose symbolize the love between the parents and their children.
Replies
Hi Han,
It’s really interesting to hear about these different holidays. Although I am Korean, because I grew up in the United States, I never really used the Lunar calendar. My family also celebrates New Year on January 1st rather than Chinese New Year. It was also interesting to learn that July is an unlucky month due to the belief and that there is a festival called the Hungry Ghost Festival.
Han,
Thank you for sharing such an interesting post. After studying Chinese for several years, I am familiar with the more popularized holidays of such a culture, but I never had stopped to think about the different holidays of other Asian countries, such as Vietnam. I find it interesting that during the Hungry Ghost Festival, two "feasts" are held - one for the ancestors and one for the wandering spirits. Is there any significance to have one earlier in the day and one being later in the day? Also, are all wandering spirits mischievous? If so, I find it interesting that they are honored and not simply disregard due to their troublesome nature.