An annual ceremony providing offerings for ghosts with no living relatives was staged Aug. 4 by Lingji Temple in Anping District, Tainan City.
Taking place on the ninth day of the seventh lunar month, the ceremony is held in an eye-catching structure built from 6-meter-high bamboo poles and draped with a white roll of cloth leading into the nearby canal. It features offerings of meat, vegetables and an assortment of tasty treats laid out on the west-facing altar or strung in baskets from the poles.
Ou Yu-chan, director of the temple’s management committee, said the cloth functions as a bridge for the ghosts to travel to the altar. “The spirits need a little help to find their way to the feast. It is important none of them are neglected during the ghost month festival.”
According to Ou, one pole holding nothing but a basket of water spinach, carried special meaning. “The vegetable’s stems are hollow, signifying that those making the offerings have no intention of keeping the ghosts after the feast.”
While the ceremony has remained fairly faithful to its Qing dynasty (1644-1911) origins, there has been one change this year certain to please ghosts and locals alike. A pig was traditionally sacrificed as part of proceedings, but this time around replaced by an offering equal to its weight in sausages.
“The change definitely proved popular with temple-goers,” Ou said, adding that many of them fell upon the sausages with near-religious fervor after the ceremony.
But the ceremony is not all food, sweetness and light; it has a darker side rooted in violence and miracles.
In 1852, a foreman killed a laborer by mistake during a brawl at Anping Port. Sentenced to death, local residents pleaded with officials for his release but their efforts were in vain. Unwilling to accept his fate, they gathered at the temple and prayed for his release, which occurred against all odds months after his arrest.
“From that day on, the residents of this area decided to honor the god with the ceremony we see today,” Ou said. “Such cultural rites play an important part in preserving rich history of Anping.” (SSC-JSM)
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