From a FB page:
Theravada Buddhist Council of Malaysia
Breaking Myths 21:
“Hungry Ghosts Festival” - Respect, Gratitude and Honour
To the senior generations, it is very important and many of the younger people have forgotten why, merely dismissing the practice as superstition. Our forefathers who came to malaria endemic Malaya and South East Asia clearing jungles for tin, rubber and pepper, had very difficult lives, eking out a living to survive and hoping to send some money home to their villages in China to help loved ones.
Mortality was thought to be about 50% for those foolishly brave poor folks seeking a better life from war and famine ravished China. To anyone bidding “goodbye” from their families at the village exit, each had a more than even chance that they may never meet again.
This 7th Lunar month tells of an important lesson in our history that i would like to share.
When our forefathers came to work as tin miners, rubber tappers, coolies or indentured workers, they came in groups of men. The womenfolk stayed back in China taking care of families, elderly and children in villages now devoid of men.
The menfolk who slaved in the hot, humid tropics had extremely hard lives. Mortality was high, many dying of malaria, beri-beri or sheer poverty. Their lives were miserable, and not a few squandered their hard earned wages on the temporary relief offered in alcohol, opium or gambling.
Knowing well that many will die alone in a foreign land, the men pledged to take care of each other should they die, making offerings and burying the deceased.
Clan associations sprang up to help with this too.
Their promise to honour and make offerings was a sacred pledge that they swore, and binding even to their descendants, who will continue to offer to these "good brothers", the 'Hao Xiong Di', who are without kin and descendants.
To this day during the Chinese 7th lunar month, the Chinese descendants of those who braved the South China Sea will offer at the roadside to these nameless and unknown "Hungry ghosts" of the "good brothers", recalling the comradeship forged by the hopes and sufferings of the forefathers who paced the way for us.
This is a tradition we must importantly, understand.
It is NOT superstition; it is Respect, Gratitude and Honour for those on whose shoulders the present generation stand in comfort.
- Posted by CFF
by Dr. Punna Wong
Many wonder why the Chinese especially of the older generation make offerings at the roadside this 7th lunar month.
To the senior generations, it is very important and many of the younger people have forgotten why, merely dismissing the practice as superstition. Our forefathers who came to malaria endemic Malaya and South East Asia clearing jungles for tin, rubber and pepper, had very difficult lives, eking out a living to survive and hoping to send some money home to their villages in China to help loved ones.
Mortality was thought to be about 50% for those foolishly brave poor folks seeking a better life from war and famine ravished China. To anyone bidding “goodbye” from their families at the village exit, each had a more than even chance that they may never meet again.
This 7th Lunar month tells of an important lesson in our history that i would like to share.
When our forefathers came to work as tin miners, rubber tappers, coolies or indentured workers, they came in groups of men. The womenfolk stayed back in China taking care of families, elderly and children in villages now devoid of men.
The menfolk who slaved in the hot, humid tropics had extremely hard lives. Mortality was high, many dying of malaria, beri-beri or sheer poverty. Their lives were miserable, and not a few squandered their hard earned wages on the temporary relief offered in alcohol, opium or gambling.
Knowing well that many will die alone in a foreign land, the men pledged to take care of each other should they die, making offerings and burying the deceased.
Clan associations sprang up to help with this too.
Their promise to honour and make offerings was a sacred pledge that they swore, and binding even to their descendants, who will continue to offer to these "good brothers", the 'Hao Xiong Di', who are without kin and descendants.
To this day during the Chinese 7th lunar month, the Chinese descendants of those who braved the South China Sea will offer at the roadside to these nameless and unknown "Hungry ghosts" of the "good brothers", recalling the comradeship forged by the hopes and sufferings of the forefathers who paced the way for us.
This is a tradition we must importantly, understand.
It is NOT superstition; it is Respect, Gratitude and Honour for those on whose shoulders the present generation stand in comfort.
Very often in our Prosperity today, we had forgotten about the sufferings and sacrifices of our predecessors. This “Hungry Ghost Festival” is Not even Honouring our own ancestors But to those without anyone to help, offer or share Merits. Simply poor people who braved the South China Sea with our ancestors who died nameless, unknown and unappreciated.
- Posted by CFF
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