Halloween and Yu Lan Festival “ 盂蘭節 “(Nature and Commercialization)

Chan Kin Lok, Kenny 07007213Mak Ching Hang, Angela07007132

•celebrated on October 31•The name is derived from Old Irish and means roughly "summer's end“•Rooted in ancient pagan and Christian festivals that celebrated the inextricable link between seasonal and life cycles

•.

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• The Celts• celebrated their new year on 1st November• 31/10 the end of summer and the harvest the

beginning of the dark, cold winter• the boundary between the worlds of the living and

the dead became blurred• the people gathered to burn crops and animals as

sacrifices to the Celtic deities• the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of

animal heads and skins

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• 17th Century, replace the Celtic festival

of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday All-hallows or All-hallowmas

• the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve Halloween

Chan Kin Lok Kenny

• Tradition: closed to deceased relatives and friends, left treats on doorsteps loved ones find their way back to the spirit world.

• BUT Today's Halloween ghosts are often depicted as more fearsome, and our customs and superstitions are scarier.

• Spread Globally

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•Seventh Moon “Middle Origin Festival” 中元節•Bamboo poles some twenty feet high with colourful lanterns•Signpost for the spirit of the dead•--> Yu Lan Shing Wui (Yu Lan Wonderful Assembly) 盂蘭勝會

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• Three Taoist “Origin Festival”

• Middle Origin is connected with Earthly Official, is connected to dead

• Seventh Moon: start of second half of the year potentially dead

• 14/7 one day advance of the Taoist Middle Origin Festival

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• Yu lan = surface “Bowl of Orchids”, transliteration of Ullambana

• Mahamaudgalyayana (usyally known in Chinese as Muk Lin, 目連 ) saving his death mother

• Yu Lan = reflects the adoption and acceptance of Buddhism in China, and its adaption to native Chinese Taoist traditions

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•making incense out of candy and selling it to kids for Halloween strawberry-flavored candles•cookies made to resemble paper offerings and hell banknotes

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Candy sticks that could make grandma really upset

• Candles and incense are the food of the “dead”

• A taboo in Chinese society

• Respect the Ghosts rather than make fun of them

the candies are not very popular

Halloween

• an occasion for family gathering

• forget the origin of Halloween

• can still enjoy the festival

Mak Ching Hang Angela

• Special items provided by the department stores and supermarkets

• Special dishes that available during October only

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Halloween Bash

• Teenagers love to join the Halloween event in the Ocean Park and Hong Kong Disneyland

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Commercialization

• Department stores and restaurants can earn an extra revenue

• Halloween Bash is one of the most profitable event

• Encourage spending

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Yu-Lan Festival

• Not much advertisements as Halloween

• Do not have the atmosphere for partying

• Providing offerings to the dead

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Traditional offerings

• rice, bean-sprouts, fruits, candles, incense and yuen-bao元寶 (paper-made silver and gold)

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Nowadays offerings

• fancy and eye-catching paper-made offerings

• Paper-made luxurious goods

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Difference

• Both festivals go through the process of commercialization

• Special Halloween products are for the living

• Beautiful and improved Yu-Lan paper-made offerings are for the “Hungry Ghosts”

Mak Ching Hang Angela

Reference

Brandes, Stanley. Skulls to the living, bread to the dead. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2006.

Narváez, Peter, ed. Of corpse: death and humor in folklore and popular culture. Logan, Utah : Utah State University Press, 2003.

Rogers, Nicholas. Halloween: from pagan ritual to party night. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

The Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch. In the heart of the metropolis: Yaumatei and its people. Hong Kong : Joint Publishing (H.K.) Co., 1999.

Mall 852: <http://www.mall852.com/main_en.asp> [07 November 2009].