July 15 of the lunar calendar is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Why celebrate one day in advance?

Hakka people observe the custom of "July 14th", and there is a saying:

It is said that at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Yuan army went south and abused the villagers. At that time, the Hakkas were very frightened when they heard the news, but it coincided with the "Mid-Autumn Festival" just around the corner, so they gave a festival the day before the arrival of Yuan soldiers-to worship their ancestors and purdue the dead, so as not to disturb the people. Since then, Hakka people are used to celebrating Ghost Festival on July 14.

The second is from Yongding Hongkeng in western Fujian. According to legend, there were two brothers Lin, who lived in Hongkeng and Yantai respectively. In order to repay their mother's kindness, they agreed to spend the Dragon Boat Festival, the Double Ninth Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival at Hongkeng's mother's place one day in advance to show filial piety. In recent years, it has become a law, and it has been used ever since.

The legend of July and a half

There are many legends about July 30. The most important legend is that Yan Luowang opens the gate of hell on the first day of the seventh lunar month every year, releasing a group of ghosts who are not worshipped and enjoying people's sacrifices among the dead. In July and a half (or the last day), before the gate of hell closes again, these ghosts will return to the underworld. So July is also called "Ghost Moon".

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a Taoist saying. In ancient China, 1 month 15, July 15 and 10/5 were called Shangyuan, Zhongyuan and Xia Yuan respectively: Shangyuan was the day when God blessed the people, Zhongyuan was the day when local officials forgave sins, and Xia Yuan was the day when water officials forgave Eritrea.

Taoist Mid-Autumn Festival Ceremony

Another important source comes from the story of Mu Jielian's rescue of his mother in Buddhist scriptures: Mu Jielian is one of the top ten disciples of Sakyamuni, and his mother fell into the hungry ghost road and lived a life without food. Mu Jianlian turned it into food with his own divine power and gave it to his mother, but her mother did not change her greed. When she saw the food coming, she was afraid that other evil spirits would take her food. As soon as the greedy food entered her mouth, it turned into charcoal and could not be swallowed.

Although Mu Jianlian has magical powers, as a son of man, he can't save his mother, which is very painful. What about Buddha? The Buddha then described the "bonsai" and told him to make a bonsai to worship monks on July 15. In modern times, offering melons and fruits and Chen Hippo as sacrifices to ancestors certainly means tasting new things, and it is also a legacy of basin sacrifices.