TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Ghost Festival is on Thursday, when people traditionally honor their ancestors and offer food and other items to wandering spirits.
The festival falls on the 15th day of the seventh month of the lunisolar calendar, halfway through Ghost Month. It is traditionally believed to be a time when wandering spirits return to the world of the living.
Offerings typically include rice wine, fruit, chicken, pork, fish, snacks, incense, and joss paper. Gold joss paper is traditionally burned for gods, while silver joss paper is burned for spirits, and some people choose fruits with leaves because they are associated with career and business prosperity.
Wandering spirits are often referred to as “Good Brothers” or “Good Sisters” rather than ghosts, as the terms are considered more respectful. Folk beliefs hold that generous offerings can help appease these spirits and bring peace and good fortune to a household, while failing to make offerings could invite bad luck.
Folk custom expert and the founding chair of the Taichung Numerology Education Association, Yang Teng-kei (楊登嵙), listed nine traditional taboos associated with the Ghost Festival, per CTWant.
1. Avoid getting married
Some Good Brothers are believed to have died before they could marry. Getting married on this day is traditionally considered likely to provoke their jealousy.
2. Avoid buying a new home
Traditionally, it is believed that one should keep a low profile during Ghost Festival, making major changes such as buying a home or moving less desirable.
3. Avoid elective surgery
Traditional beliefs hold that major physical changes, including surgery, could attract the attention of wandering spirits. Serious or emergency medical conditions, however, should be treated according to medical advice.
4. Avoid scheduled births
Some people avoid scheduling elective C-sections or inductions on this day out of concern that they could attract the jealousy of spirits. This does not apply to natural labor or medical emergencies.
5. Avoid opening a new business
Yang considers opening a business during the Ghost Festival an inauspicious beginning, as traditional beliefs associate the period with a higher risk of failure.
6. Avoid holding a funeral
Yang advises against holding a funeral on this day, but says that if one is necessary, the burning of joss paper should be postponed until after the seventh lunar month. This is traditionally based on the belief that wandering spirits could interfere with the proceedings.
7. Avoid buying a car
Many Taiwanese traditionally avoid buying cars during Ghost Month because they associate major purchases during this period with potential misfortune.
8. Avoid swimming in certain areas
Rather than avoiding swimming altogether, some traditions advise staying away from dangerous coastal areas and mountain streams during Ghost Month. This is based on the folk belief that water spirits seek people to replace them.
9. Avoid major milestones
Yang generally advises avoiding major activities or important undertakings during the Ghost Festival.
