Today is the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, which is commonly known as the "Moon Half Ghost Festival", it is said that on this day the gates of hell are opened, all the ghosts will run out, and people will burn incense and candles to worship the ghosts in order to keep them safe.

Zi Yuan is no stranger to this festival.

Sichuan attaches great importance to the half-moon festival, not only in rural areas, but also in cities. I remember until I was in college, my family still maintained the habit of burning paper every month and a half, and that was only a few years ago.

The month and a half was in August, which was the time of summer vacation, and every day on this day, my father would buy a lot of incense, candles, and paper money, and take my brother and me to burn outside.

My hometown is a small city on the edge of Chengdu, every month and a half night, the streets of the city can be seen everywhere piles of fires, one or several men, women and children squatting aside to share the burning of paper money, the street is filled with the smell of green smoke and incense and candles, and there is really some ghost in a trance.

Needless to say, this is a city-wide event. Almost every family will buy some to burn to a greater or lesser extent, and the fastidious people will also buy tens of billions of dead money (hellish inflation), paper villain cars, and so on. Therefore, around the month and a half, the business of the funeral shop will be very good, and there will be many farmers on the street pushing bicycles to sell paper money.

There is a great danger of causing fires everywhere in the streets, but the Chinese are the most important thing, and no one cares, so this custom is inherited year by year.

To get back to the point, there is a small river behind where my house is located, and people in the neighborhood go there to burn paper money. There is no light by the river, it is the night fire, the figure is moving, but no one can see whose face clearly, only feel that countless people are dangling in front of you, walking back and forth between the piles of burning paper money, occasionally reflected by the firelight, but it is also fleeting, the first time you experience this kind of scene, you can't help but be surprised whether there are really ghosts mixed in.

My family moved from a distant hometown to the city where they lived, and there was no relative in the city, so my father attached great importance to the moon and a half to worship the ancestors. That night, he solemnly took my brother and me out, and my mother did not accompany me as usual. Find a quiet place, put incense and light candles, and when the fire is getting stronger, my father will silently invite the old people who have passed away to be worshipped, and invite ghosts from all walks of life to invite them to do the same.

In fact, having received a materialist education since childhood, I did not pay much attention to this kind of sacrifice. However, in that atmosphere, people will be infected unconsciously, so they will solemnly divide stacks of thick dark coins into small sheets with my brother and throw them into the fire.

After graduating, he stayed in Chengdu and lived alone, never doing this again, and I don't know if my father still burns paper every year in his hometown.

After all, the big city has strict management, and you can't see burning paper on the street, but in every community, this wind still can't be stopped. Just yesterday, when I came home in the evening, I saw two piles of people around the fire in the garden of the community and didn't know what they were doing.

Now, in the corners of each building downstairs, piles of burning ashes can be seen from time to time.

Now that I think about it, many Chinese traditions are adhered to by the elderly, and young people like me are either running around for a livelihood or too lazy to pay attention to it, and I don't know how many people will remember this custom decades later?

Tonight, I suddenly felt something, so I made this essay.

May the ghosts of all walks of life be happy in the middle of the night and enjoy themselves in the places where they can be worshipped. I also ask Ziyuan's ancient ancestors to bless me in the spirit of heaven, and let me win 5 million.

Even if I write about this inhuman alliance, it has something to do with ghosts and gods, right?

Haha, don't blame.