The Zhongyuan Festival is an important annual ritual for the Han Chinese in Taiwan. It not only honors gods and ancestors, but also, every seventh lunar month, households, businesses, and temples hold large and small worship services for wandering spirits, hoping to appease wronged and lonely souls and pray for peace.
But Pudu is also a science! What preparations are needed for Pudu? What should I avoid? When is the right time to pray? I even can't help but worry about breaking taboos and attracting ghosts...
Don’t worry, this article will solve your Purdue questions!
Lunar calendar for July 2024
Ghost Gate Opens 8/3 23:00 (Lunar 7/1 Midnight)
Ghost Festival August 18 (Lunar calendar July 15)
Ghost Gate 9/2 23:00 (Lunar 8/1 midnight)
Zhongyuan Festival Time
Many people choose to worship on the Ghost Festival (the 15th day of the seventh lunar month), but it can be performed on any day of the seventh lunar month, so that good brothers can have food to enjoy every day.
However, no matter when you worship, the time must be between the afternoon and dusk , that is, between 2 pm and 6 pm.
What should Purdue prepare?
\ | / Toiletries
Good brothers have been wandering around for a long time and come to enjoy a meal exhausted. Of course, they want to relax and cleanse their body and mind before eating.
Therefore, we must prepare toothbrush, toothpaste, washbasin, towel, peacefy bubble mousse, mugwort laundry detergent, natural wool brush, comb and cleaning comb to welcome them.
(The industry distribution came unexpectedly! Good brothers also need pure cleaning ~)
(Click on the image to view the product)
Of course, you can't bathe your good brother casually.
Take out peacefy! Share a gentle and comfortable cleaning experience with your good friends
\ | / Food/Fruits/Snacks
Some people will prepare hot dishes or "three kinds of meat" during the Pudu ceremony, but fresh food is more likely to spoil or get dirty in an outdoor and crowded environment. Therefore, in addition to fresh food, you can also prepare cakes, snacks, instant noodles, canned food, drinks, etc., and prepare 7 sets of bowls and chopsticks .
As for fruits, apples, mangoes, and kiwis are the best. It is common practice to prepare the "four fruits" , which refer to four unspecified fruits, unlike the three animals which refer to chicken, pork, and fish.
\ | / Tea, wine and beverages
Prepare 3 cups of tea or 7 cups of wine. You can also pour tea into the wine glasses.
\ | / Paper Money
The paper money given to good brothers is mainly in the form of handkerchiefs, small silver, and gold.
If you give money notes to big silvers, they will think it is too valuable and cannot accept it.
Incense burner
Use a teacup or bowl filled with rice as an incense burner.
\ | / flowers
It is not necessary to prepare flowers, but if you do, choose fully bloomed flowers.
Taboos in preparing offerings
Don't prepare bananas, plums, or pears as "蕉李梨" (jiao li li) in Taiwanese sounds like "招你来" (to invite you to come). It's also not recommended to prepare pineapples as "松梨" (pineapple) sounds similar to "旺来" (wang lai) in Taiwanese. Both "旺来" and "招你来" (to invite you to come) mean to attract. If too many good brothers come and you're not well prepared, it will be bad luck.
Don't prepare gladiolus and roses as flowers, as they will make your good brothers afraid to approach you.
process
1. Decoration: Place a table at the door of your home, and put a chair and a basin of water and a towel in front of the table.An incense burner is placed in the middle of the outermost side of the table, tea and wine cups are evenly arranged behind the incense burner, and then the food.
2. Hold incense to worship: You need to worship three times (Taiwanese: three incense burners). In the first round, you need to hold (the number of offerings + 3) incense sticks to worship. After the worship, insert the incense sticks into the offerings, one incense stick for each offering, and then insert the last three incense sticks into the incense burner.
When the first incense burner is halfway burned, you can start to worship the next one. When the third incense burner is halfway burned, pick up the gold paper and worship three times before you can start to burn the gold paper.
3. After the Pudu is completed, wine (tea) is sprinkled on the ashes of the burning paper.
4. You don’t have to worship, but if you do, you will have to worship during the Zhongyuan Festival in the future.
Mugwort cleanses the body and keeps it safe
When you visit your good brothers or participate in the Pudu ceremony, are you worried that your horoscope is too weak or that your zodiac sign happens to be in conflict or bad luck?
Don't worry! The treasure of peace is mugwort, Let you spend the Ghost Festival with peace of mind!
Mugwort is purely yang in nature and is often regarded as a substance with the power to exorcise evil and purify in cultures around the world, including in Taiwanese folk beliefs.
↪Mugwort Bubble Mousse
