What's the difference between Mid-Autumn Festival and Halloween?

What's the difference between Mid-Autumn Festival and Halloween? The difference between Halloween and China Ghost Festival.

1, different dates

The English name of Halloween is Halloween, which comes from "All Hallows' Eve". It coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival in China, and it is also an annual day when the gates of hell are wide open. On this day, especially when night falls, all kinds of monsters and ghosts are rampant in the world, and hundreds of ghosts haunt and fly around at night.

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on July 15 of the lunar calendar every year, usually around August and September of the solar calendar, and Halloween falls on June 65438+1October 3 1 of the solar calendar every year. It seems that the gates of hell in the east and west are also staggered to open, so that ghosts can let the wind out.

2. The festive atmosphere and cultural connotation are different.

People treat the two Halloween festivals in different ways with different dates. In the Mid-Autumn Festival in China, the traditional program is to worship ancestors and hold charitable activities such as "Purdue" and "Shigu" to popularize the ghosts and gods in Beyond and prevent them from bringing disasters to the world. At the same time, we also pray for ghosts from all walks of life to help eliminate the epidemic and protect the safety of our homes.

On the Mid-Autumn Festival, adults will tell children not to go to the streets after dark. If someone worships and burns paper on the street corner, don't step on it and don't disrespect the dead. There are also many taboos in Mid-Autumn Festival, asking people not to offend the dead, so as not to bring disaster to themselves and their families.

Compared with the solemnity of Mid-Autumn Festival in China, the main theme of Halloween in the West is funny carnival. The most essential difference in performance is that it is not ghosts who dance in the street on Halloween, but people in various costumes.

The elements of makeup come from the typical Halloween theme, including ghosts and things related to death, magic and monsters, including pumpkins, ghosts, ghouls, witches, bats, black cats, owls, spiders, graves, elves, vampires, zombies, skeletons, demons and other Halloween symbols, as well as fictional characters such as cartoon characters and Frankenstein.

3. Differences in customs

65438+1October 3 1 is Halloween. Before the Christian era, the Celts held a ceremony in late summer to thank God and the sun for their kindness. At that time, fortune tellers lit and practiced witchcraft to drive away monsters who were said to be wandering around. Later, the harvest festival celebrated by the Romans with nuts and apples merged with Celtic 10 and 3 1.

In the Middle Ages, people wore animal-shaped costumes and terrible masks, which were said to drive away ghosts on Halloween night. Although Christianity later replaced the religious activities of Celts and Romans, the early customs still existed.

Now, children wear all kinds of costumes and masks to attend Halloween dances. Witches, black cats, ghosts and paper-pasted bones are often hung on the walls around these dances, while grinning or ugly pumpkin lanterns are hung on the windows and doorways. Children often try to bite the hanging apples.

Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Day of the Dead and July 30th, is an important festival of sacrifice in China. It is said that the dead ancestors were released by Yan for half a month at the beginning of July, so there is a custom of receiving their ancestors at the beginning of July and seeing them off at the end of July. When I sent it to my ancestors, I burned a lot of paper money for "ancestors to enjoy".

At the same time, put the money paper in a paper envelope with the owner's name written on it and burn it at the time of sacrifice. This is the so-called "burning bag". Burn new bags that died within the year, and burn old bags that died more than one year. No matter rich or poor, we should prepare food, wine and paper money to pay homage to the deceased to show our memory of the deceased ancestors.

Mid-Autumn Festival is different from Halloween.

Ghosts'Festival

Seto: On the Mid-Autumn Festival, Dongguan has the custom of eating Seto. Seto powder is a traditional food for Dongguan birthday party, which means long life.

Hua Mo: Before the Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, dough modeling activities were popular among folk women, especially in northern Shanxi. The flower buns for the younger generation should be shaped like sheep and called noodle sheep. I hope that the younger generation will not forget the kindness of their parents. The flower buns for the older generation should be shaped into an adult shape, which means that children and grandchildren are full of happiness and longevity; Steamed buns for peers should be shaped like fish, called noodle fish, which means more than one year.

Duck: On the Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, many places in China will choose to eat ducks. Why? It turns out that "duck" means "pressure", which is homophonic. Eating ducks is to crush ghosts. Another story is that the living will send some ducks down, let them swim and bring them back.

Flat food: In Jiangsu Province, many villagers eat flat food (a kind of food made of flour and sugar) during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Jiaozi: In Tiantai County, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, they will eat "jiaozi", a kind of food similar to spring rolls, on the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Halloween (1 1 month 1 day)

The highlight of Halloween is still at the dinner table. You should not only prepare delicious food to entertain those "children" who make trouble, but also decorate your dining table on this special festival. There are several things to eat on Halloween: pumpkin pie, apples, candy, and some places will prepare good beef and mutton.

Candy: "Trick or treat". The most classic Halloween candy comes in orange, brown and black packages, most of which are ghosts.

Pumpkin pie: Pumpkin pie is the most common food in early winter in the southern United States, but it is just more suitable for Halloween. In addition to pumpkin pie, pumpkin seeds are also common snacks in festivals.

Apple: 1 65438+1October1is not only a traditional Halloween in the west, but also an important festival in ancient Rome-Pomona Festival. Pomona is the "god of fruit trees", in charge of life and death, good harvest and bad harvest of all fruit trees. After the Romans ruled Celtic, Pomona Festival and New Year were combined to form the custom of eating apples on Halloween.

Compared with the joy and bustle of Halloween in the west, the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival in China is a quiet "ghost festival", but it also has many rich and interesting folk forms with profound cultural implications. As long as we understand it carefully, I believe we will like it, and the traditional festivals in China are no worse than those in foreign countries.