Da Jui
Chinese festivals are religious in origin, ritualistic in character,
fulfilling an occult purpose which has, over time, been replaced by government-authorized
"tourist teasers," such as the Lunar New Year parades or Dragon
Boat races. Nevertheless, despite local variations, the Chinese have managed
to keep the spirit -- no pun intended! -- of their rituals alive, honoring
gods, ghosts, and ancestors in festivals throughout the year. In their
annual festival cycle, for example, the Chinese celebrate two "Festivals
of the Dead." The first, Ching Ming, occurs, ironically, in the spring,
when the family must visit the grave sites of its relatives and/or ancestors.
The second, Da Jui, or The Hungry Ghost Festival, occurs on the fifteenth
day of the seventh moon. However, unlike Ching Ming, which stresses ancestral
remembrance, Da Jui seeks to pacify the ghosts of strangers and the un-cared-for
dead.
According to myth, the gates of hell open during the seventh lunar month,
allowing its furloughed spirits to roam the earth, seeking whatever comfort
they can find. To keep these souls amused, the Chinese stage street operas
and various other public entertainment, in a kind of Chinese Halloween,
Day of the Dead, or All Soul’s Day. It is for this reason that the seventh
lunar month is considered the most dangerous month of the year. In the
Chinese tradition of ancestor worship, during this period souls of the
dead "live" very close to the living. Benign souls -- those of
loved ones -- protect their descendants. However, the souls of those who
have died by their own hands, in auto accidents, or by drowning or hanging,
have been denied entry into heaven. These blighted souls seek other souls
to take their places in hell. To dissuade these "gangsta" souls
from their goals, the living use lanterns in the water to guide them away;
or they make sacrifices in a safe place outside the home to buy them off.
Japan’s Obon Festival, another celebration for the derelict dead, resembles
the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival, but adds drumming and dancing to the
revelry.) The origin of the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project’s annual Chinese Festival is the Hungry Ghost Festival, for which San Jose’s Chinatown
was renowned a century ago.
Ghost Month
The Japanese Obon Festival is essentially the same as the Chinese ghost
month activities. Obon (Chinese yu-lan) is derived from the Sanskrit
name for a Buddhist ritual performed for departed spirits. The Sanskrit
term is ullambana. Placing paper boats on the water is a Chinese
custom, part of the practices of attracting departed sprits during the
so-called "ghost month" (lunar seventh month, likely to fall
in August). During this month, especially on the fifteenth day, people
are concerned with feeding departed spirits, including those who are believed
to be temporarily released, for a month, their underworld hellish existence.
In order to show kindness, people place food for them outside homes and
shops. In order to attract spirits to come and eat, various methods of
cajolery are used, including paper boats. Recommendation: Stephen Teiser’s
The Ghost Festival in Medieval China, Princeton University Press.
Excerpt from Chinatown, San Jose, USA
by Connie Young Yu
Heinlenville [San Jose’s Chinatown] was
famous for a traditional village celebration held each summer that was
not observed anywhere else in California in such splendid style....Da
Jui was San Jose’s own distinctive celebration. Heinlenville’s Da
Jui was derived from the old Cantonese village festival -- an "all
souls day" or literally, "feeding the hungry ghosts" --
an appeasing and honoring of the departed....
According to the Chinese calendar Da Jui as supposed to be celebrated
the fifteenth day of the seventh month, but the Chinese in San Jose with
their work schedule revolving around harvesting of crops, chose to celebrate
it earlier.
