Ghost Month in Taiwan, 2007

A short documentary about Ghost Month in Taiwan. Shot in Xindian City, a suburb of Taipei. And check out my web page where I have my blog, pictures of China and Taiwan, and more videos.
http://www.burningjoy.net

Also see my blog on Orthodox Christian Missions in Asia:
http://www.burningjoy.net

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Ghost
• Month
• taiwan
• burning
• money
• religion
• buddhism
• daoism
• taoism

[plwk]

Very nice video. Good example of what Chinese folk religion is about. Nothing in common with orthodox Buddhism nor Taoism though.

[ShaoLeFen]

Actually, some of the rituals practiced here are in accordance with orthodox Buddhist practice. The preparation of the food for the 'burning mouths' at 4:18 was originated by a Buddhist monk when he discovered his mother couldn't eat in the afterlife. Buddhism isn't simply philosophy as western people like to reduce it to.

[kennedy072]

lucky im not chinese

[Kerpal2253]

\Î love it

[ericown]

chinese Ghost Month  are scary >.>

[bookspinnerGM]

scary

[puppybunny1]

Thank you so very much for the video. The buddhist Monk was Mahāmaudgalyāyana. He was one of the Buddha's disciplines. He had supernatural abilities. He saves his mother from hell.

Metta...

[ShaoLeFen]

Religion isn't only books. It's the practice of the people as well. We can't sweep them aside as if they don't matter just because their rituals don't fit some imagined ideal.

[yeena83]

LOL not only in taiwan buddy.

[plwk]

That's why so many Venerables are trying their best to bring back proper perspectives to counter all these 'compromises' that have been tolerated for way far too long. Chinese Mahayana Buddhism which was inherited from India is way far more pristine than to be reduced to a rubble of folk practices and it's the responsibility of those who called themselves 'Buddhists' to preserve and propagate the Proper Dharma.

Again, thank you for the video and the comment space. Ami Tuo Fo!

[plwk]

I agree that Buddhism is not a mere philosophy or as some think that it is 'whatever you like it to be'. The Theravada Tradition does not share this festival of Ullambana strictly speaking but only the Mahayana side.

There is still no such thing in Buddhism nor Taoism as 'ghosts' having an 'annual month long leave'. That's the result of misreading the Sutra and leaving it to folk religion to turn it into a mega event of superstition in the name of misplaced filial piety.

[plwk]

Yes I agree that the 'Yan Kou' and 'Meng Shan' are Chinese Buddhist Esoteric rites but let's not forget that the evolution and development of this Festival is skewed and not according to the Ullambana Sutra and has turned into a folk religious practice. A resemblance of an idea is not necessarily the original.