The 15th day of the 7th moon of the lunar calendar, which falls on August 8 this year, is known as Chung Yuan Chieh or Kuei Chieh (the festival of demons). Buddhists and older Chinese believe that the gates of the underworld are opened on this day. Condemned souls are allowed to visit their relatives in the mortal world.
As it is taken for granted that those in hell do not get enough to eat, their relatives set out rice, vegetables and meat to afford them a good meal. Paper money is burned and wine offered. A smaller sacrifice is placed in a far corner of the backyard to keep homeless ghosts away from the offerings intended for family members.
The day dedicated to demons owes its origin to Moginlin, a Buddhist monk who, like Orpheus, descended into hell but to raise his mother rather than his wife.
Legend has it that Moginlin's father was a devoted Buddhist and was deified by the Goddess of Mercy. On the day of his deification, he summoned his wife Liu and son Moginlin to his side and bade them adhere to vegetarianism and follow the discipline of Buddhism; otherwise he would not be happy in heaven. He said be would look after them from above.
Moginlin followed his father's orders to the letter. He read all the books on Buddhism he could lay his hands on and later became a scholarly Buddhist. His mother was a pleasure-seeking woman who had been suddenly left alone in the world with no one to guide her. She forgot her husband's instructions and pursued hedonism.
Liu and her brother Chia killed and ate a dog. They buried the bones under an apple tree in the garden. Moginlin didn't know until his father tearfully told him about it in a dream. The next morning, Moginlin asked his mother if the dream were true. She denied everything and asserted she had never tasted dog meat. The Goddess of Mercy heard her and was angry. She loosed a thunderbolt that uncovered the dog's bones. Liu fell dead at her son's feet. Her sinful soul was led into hell by Niu Tou and Ma Mien (the ox-headed and horse-faced demon-messengers sent by Yen Wang, the Chinese Pluto).
A sorrowing Moginlin went to a temple on a high mountain and became a monk. Because of his profound knowledge, he soon was appointed a lecturer in the Buddhist classics. Many beginners achieved satori (instantaneous enlightenment) under his tutorship.
One night his father appeared in a dream and told him to go save his mother from hell. "Be sure to take a big sack of rice. Your mother isn't getting enough to eat," his father told him. As a pious son, Moginlin immediately undertook the fearsome journey to the underworld. He had no lyre like Orpheus. His only support was the love of his mother and his trust in the Goddess of Mercy. Yen Wang, the king of demons, was so moved by his courage and filial piety that he ordered the gates of hell opened to him.
Once through the gates, Moginlin was followed by millions of hungry ghosts begging for food. When he finally found his mother, the rice he offered her was grabbed by other ghosts. He succeeded in giving her food by using black ink to darken the rice.
Moginlin's request to return his mother to the world was rejected. However, Yen Wang relented to the point of transforming her into a dog to replace the one she had slaughtered and eaten. As a dog she was permitted to follow her son back to the upperworld. That was better than to be eternally hungry in hell.
With his mother safe at home, even if a dog, Moginlin could not forget the plight of the hungry ghosts. The thought of doomed and starving souls, hands outstretched for the smallest crumb, haunted him ceaselessly. He returned to hell and asked the king of demons to set the ghosts free for one day each year to feast on the offerings of their families. Yen Wang consented. Although severe and fearful, Yen Wang had his soft spots. To provide maximum visibility, he set the date of the ghosts' holiday for the 15th day of the 7th moon. Tradition has it that the moon is brightest on this evening.
Superstitious people avoid going out on that night for fear of stumbling over a ghost. People never get married on the 15th day of the 7th moon, either. It would be sort of like a Halloween wedding.
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Those who make the laws must beware of the boomerang effect
制法犯法 Chih-fa fan-fa (Make law, break law).
Western equivalent – Lawmakers should not be lawbreakers.
(File photo)
During the Period of Warring States (403-221 B.C.), the Middle Kingdom was divided into seven rival states. In a bid for hegemony, King Hsiao of Ch'in appointed Shang Yang, a Legalist, as his premier in 359 B.C.
Shang Yang abolished the well-field system and compelled the people to take part in production under government supervision. He instituted a strict system of rewards and punishments and a system of mutual responsibility. Those who failed to denounce a transgressor were to be considered guilty of the same crime. Within a decade, Ch'in became one of the strongest states.
A few years after Shang Yang became premier, Crown Prince Huei Wen violated the new law. As punishment, the premier had the face of the prince's tutor tattooed. This incurred the displeasure of the royal family and nobles.
In 338 B.C., Prince Huei Wen became king upon the death of his father. At last the nobles could give vent to their hatred. They accused Shang Yang of treason. The premier fled to the countryside. As he was seeking a night's lodging, the innkeeper asked his identity. "According to the law promulgated by Premier Shang Yang, all travelers must register their identity," the innkeeper said. "Otherwise, I'll be put to death."
Shang Yang turned away from the inn and told his page: "I hadn't imagined that I would be hurt by my own law."
He sought asylum in the state of Wei but was rejected. Upon his return to Ch'in, he was arrested and executed.