Ghost Month

Hi,

Anyone care to share the basics about Ghost Month? Things that a foreigner would need to / want to know about? I did a search – didn’t find anything. I will list here what I have gathered so far, and would appreciate anyone adding to or correcting the list. My info comes from informal interviews of Taiwanese people I happen to know.

Basic premise: Ghosts are spirits of dead people. People who died tragically, such as drowning in a river, are kept in hell for the first year. During Ghost Month (roughly Aug-Sep), the ghosts are released from hell. They are hungry and in search of a “replacement”. If a ghost can find an unlucky person to replace him/her in hell, the ghost is then free. The unlucky person “replaces” the ghost by dying in the same way that the ghost died originally.

The following is a list of characteristics of Ghost Month:[ul][li]This year, the first day of Ghost Month was yesterday, 8/16/2004.[/li]
[li]It is based on the Chinese Lunar Calendar and lasts for 29 days (this year?)[/li]
[li]Good luck and bad luck in a person’s life is cyclic, and people on the bad luck part of their cycles are at most risk from returning ghosts[/li]
[li]Ghosts return to the location of their tragic deaths in search of a replacement[/li]
[li]Drowning victims figure prominently in this observance (why?). [/li]
[li]During Ghost Month, people tend to avoid the rivers to prevent becoming a replacement for a ghost.[/li][/ul]
People also avoid certain activities or places:[ul][li]Buying a house[/li]
[li]Moving household[/li]
[li]Getting married[/li]
[li]Rivers[/li][/ul]What else?

People DO certain things:[ul][li]Give offerings to the ghosts[/li]
[li]Drive more carefully (this I have to see!)[/li][/ul]What else?

Thanks,

Seeker4

[quote=“seeker4”]

  • People DO certain things:

    – Drive more carefully (this I have to see!)
    [/quote]Not as far as I’ve ever noticed.

[quote]
– What else?

[/quote]-- Attempt to burn down perfectly good buildings with bonfires of paper money.
– Blame any and every fuck-up that occurs on the ‘good friends’ (ghosts) :unamused: They should rename it Pass-the-buck-month.

People are urged to be extra careful when going near water or swimming during this hot month because water ghosts are out and about and will pull you in the water if you aren’t a good swimmer or if you swim in dangerous areas.

A few other things you shouldn’t do especially during this month are:
[ul][li]stick your chopsticks like incense in your rice bowl[/li]
[li]step on joss money[/li]
[li]look in the mirror at night[/li]
[li]turn around too quickly when someone calls you from behind at night[/li][/ul]

It’s also a great time for us non-superstitious foreigners to move. You might be able to get a place a little cheaper and moving companies will also charge less because no one wants to move during ghost month.

During ghost month, white foreigners should not walk around at night wearing dark mascara or little black bellboy hats, and especially should not hop around like rabbits. They might find themselves beseiged by angry mobs intent on hammering wooden stakes through their hearts.

Although it WOULD be nice to go around and help oneself to whatever happens to be set out on those little outdoor altars.

I asked some friends once what the stripshows were about, the ones they run outside temples and so on. My friends all replied that the ‘good brothers’ (ghosts) requested the strippers via the tradtional throwing of wooden kidneys and so on, above all other forms of offerings. Now, afaik there should be as many female ghosts as male, if not more. So why is it that the votes are overwhelmingly in favor of a stripshow instead of some other form of offering?
Is there even worse male chauvinism amongst the undead, so the female ghosts don’t get to express an opinion?
Do the female ghosts change their minds about things, being undead and all, and enjoy the stripshows like the male ghosts?
:s

Interesting article in the LA Times…

latimes.com/news/nationworld … 7023.story

If there were an Army of ghosts following my unit around that were angered over the last civil war against China, I’d tend to think we would have the edge.

Don’tcha think?

Hmmmmmmmm…

BOO!

this is obviously and attempt to slander the poor taiwaners as backward superstitious people. as a foriegner who loves taiwan enough to die for it, i object. the taiwan people are no different from others. let’s not make distinctions.

“The Poor Taiwanese”…

Uh…

Do the Taiwanese want your sympathy?

Sympathy leads to what? Complacency that one believes they’re a victim. Once that sets in you have a nation or group of people who play the victim at every avenue they see fit.

Keep barkin!

[quote]The Poster:
this is obviously and attempt to slander the poor taiwaners as backward superstitious people. as a foriegner who loves taiwan enough to die for it, i object. the taiwan people are no different from others. let’s not make distinctions.
[/quote]

Ha ha ha, I get it now, combined with your tag, it’s a joke, right?

Taiwaner is a good one. Excellent!

HG

[quote]A recent survey of Taipei college students found that 87% were believers, and some say that could be on the low side.

“I’d say the other 13% would probably hedge their bets if you questioned them closer,” says Marc Moskowitz, an anthropologist at Lake Forest College in Illinois who has studied Taiwan’s spirit beliefs. “Many Taiwanese feel it’s best not to anger the ghosts, just in case they do exist.” [/quote]

Interesting stats.

The rest of the article is pretty lame and is mostly along the lines of “some” this and “some” that and “some” blah blah and “some” yadda yadda…

What wrong with being superstitious?

I ALWAYS put on my left shoe first.

What are your superstitions?

It could be a new thread. Let’s call it “Superstitions” or “Are you superstitious?” or “Interesting superstitions” or “Ghosts” or whatever…

Anybody?

Have any of you ever been given the ghost ash water from a temple to give your baby for colic?

Never touch the ash water !!-.-" or drink…

many ppl became vegetable by drinking that....but some of them got cured ....

anyway...it's weird

[quote=“Matts9791”]Never touch the ash water !!-.-" or drink…

many people became vegetable by drinking that....but some of them got cured ....

anyway...it's weird[/quote]

Yeah. The consumers foundation warned against even burning it as it has high amounts of benzene.
Definately not somethng you want to be feeding babies but I guess alot have it.

Ladies and gents, it’s July 25th, 2006 and the gates of hell are officially open. So remember, no swimming, no surgery, no buying a house, no getting married, no attending funerals, no traveling, no opening a business, no doing construction, no whistling, no leaving the laundry hanging out at night, aw hell, maybe it’s better to just not do anything at all. Actually, that’s not entirely true. A good astrologer can tell you the right days to get away with some of of this stuff: for example, you can still do construction if you face East or West, and if you’re a woman born in the year of the rabbit, rooster, rat, or horse, it’s okay to get hitched.

I haven’t seen anything about this in the English press, but the Chinese press has had plenty to say about the fact that 2006 has a double ghost month. Every three years there’s a lunar leap month (閏月), and this year’s just happens to be the seventh lunar month. So that means Ghost Month (鬼月) is from July 25 to August 23, then Intercalary Ghost Month (閏鬼月) is from August 24 to September 21. Some say the second month means nothing, others say all the same taboos are in force.

Yeah, right. In the heat of summer?

…during summer vacation…

Hey - fewer people on the roads and in the rivers = summer fun!!!

Now there is no way I am going to be able to sell my house any time soon.

Never heard of that hanging out the laundry overnight thing. Better go check that now…

Ghosts have a hold on Taiwan culture
seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/n … sts23.html

This year, because of a calendar anomaly, there’s a double ghost month, from July 25 to Sept. 21, extending the time the spooks are wandering around. Facing the prospect of a long drought, some wedding halls are cutting their ghost-month prices 15 percent.

Good thing is all the swimming pools/beachs will be empty for 2 months…