Ghost FestivalPoetry

From Remote Antiquity to the Northern and Southern Dynasties

The oldest source of the Zhongyuan Festival lies in the ancient custom of “秋尝”, the autumn offering to ancestors. Autumn was the season of harvest, and people held rites in which seasonal delicacies were first offered to ancestral spirits and deities before the fruits of labor were enjoyed by the living, while prayers were made for another good harvest in the year to come.

According to historical records, ancestral rites associated with “秋尝” already existed in the pre-Qin period. At first they belonged to the Son of Heaven and the feudal lords, then gradually spread downward into popular society. In the beginning, the date of “秋尝” was not fixed. Over time, it became concentrated around the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, generally the first full-moon day after the Beginning of Autumn, when autumn had newly arrived and yin was growing strong.

During this period, the sacrificial customs of the “seventh-month half” had not yet entered the literary vision of poets, but they provided the deepest spiritual foundation for later Zhongyuan poetry.

The Tang Dynasty

The Tang dynasty was the formative period of Zhongyuan poetry. By then, the Daoist name “中元” had already taken shape, while the Buddhist Ullambana assembly had become an important religious ceremony. Tang poets writing about Zhongyuan reveal a cultural landscape in which Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism coexisted.

Lu Gong’s Watching a Daoist Rite on Zhongyuan Day (《中元日观法事》) describes a Daoist ritual held during the festival. “四孟逢秋序，三元得气中” identifies Zhongyuan’s place within the annual seasonal order. Yin Yaofan’s Walking in the Void While Watching the Zhongyuan Rite (《中元观法事步虚虚》) opens with “上界秋光净，中元夜气清”, portraying the limpid atmosphere of Zhongyuan night.

Li Ying’s Zhongyuan Night depicts the splendor of a waterside temple in Jiangnan during the festival. Red candles, green ornaments, orchid-and-musk fragrance, and splendid silk garments combine into a vivid picture of a bustling Zhongyuan religious assembly. Li Shangyin’s Written on Zhongyuan (《中元作》), by contrast, uses a Daoist ritual as its background to express an elusive and dreamlike love affair. Wei Zhuang’s Impromptu Poem on the Jiazi Zhongyuan (《即事中元甲子》) places the festival against an age of war and writes of national suffering through “三秦流血已成川”.

Tang Zhongyuan poetry therefore encompasses descriptions of Daoist rites, records of Buddhist Ullambana observances, personal emotion, and reflection on the fate of the country. Its range is broad and its layers richly varied.

The Two Song Dynasties

By the Song dynasty, the subjects of Zhongyuan poetry had become even more diverse. Fan Zhongyan’s Written at Baihuazhou on Zhongyuan Night (《中元夜百花洲作》) departs from the traditional sacrificial themes associated with the festival and instead portrays a bold and unrestrained evening of moon-viewing and drinking.

Zhu Xi’s Presented to Zijin in the Rain on Zhongyuan (《中元雨中呈子晋》) records a leisurely mood while encountering rain during the festival. Zhao Ding’s A Drunken Reply to Yanmei’s Quatrain on Zhongyuan Evening captures the festive warmth of “年年人月喜团圆”.

Song Zhongyuan poetry thus expanded beyond a single religious narrative into personal reflection, leisurely daily life, moon-viewing, drinking, and other dimensions, reflecting the gradual transformation of Zhongyuan from a religious festival into a broader folk celebration.

Yuan, Ming, and Qing

By the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, Zhongyuan customs had largely taken definitive form. Floating river lanterns, burning paper ingots, and holding Ullambana assemblies became established festival practices.

Wang Kaitai of the Qing dynasty writes in Reflections on the Zhongyuan Festival (《中元节有感》) about Zhongyuan customs in Fujian: “道场普渡妥幽魂，原有盂兰古意存”. Zhao Yi’s Watching Lake Lanterns Released at an Ullambana Assembly While My Boat Was Moored at Fanguang (《舟泊泛光看盂兰会放湖灯》) vividly describes the magnificent spectacle of lanterns released across the lake: “一灯两灯千百灯，满湖荧煌炳繁星”. Pang Kai’s Miscellaneous Verses on Chang’an in the Style of Bamboo-Branch Songs (《长安杂兴效竹枝体》) records children playing with lotus-leaf lanterns on Zhongyuan night.

Qing Zhongyuan poetry ranges from grand narratives of the court to delicate depictions of folk life, and from Daoist ritual to Buddhist Ullambana observances, presenting an increasingly diverse cultural landscape.

The images that recur throughout Zhongyuan poetry form a distinctive “Zhongyuan image system.” These images are both literary expressions of Zhongyuan customs and vehicles for poetic emotion.

Zhongyuan Daoist Rites

Daoist Zhongyuan observances center on zhai-jiao ritual ceremonies, making ritual scenes one of the most distinctive images in Zhongyuan poetry.

Lu Gong’s “四孟逢秋序，三元得气中” places Zhongyuan within the rhythms of the cosmos. Yin Yaofan’s “上界秋光净，中元夜气清” captures the distinctive clarity of Zhongyuan night.

Images such as “羽衣”, “瑶毂”, “步虚声”, “扫坛”, and “投简” together construct a sacred religious space specific to Zhongyuan.

The ritual becomes a bridge between the human realm and the world of immortals. By writing about such ceremonies, poets complete their reflections on life and death.

Ullambana Assemblies

The Ullambana assembly is the central Buddhist observance associated with Zhongyuan. Zhao Yi’s “一灯两灯千百灯，满湖荧煌炳繁星” uses lake lanterns to portray its magnificence. Li Ying’s “江南水寺中元夜，金粟栏边见月娥” evokes the lively atmosphere of an Ullambana gathering at a waterside temple.

Floating lanterns, food offerings, and scripture chanting together form the full ritual landscape of the Ullambana assembly.

The core idea of this imagery is “普度”, universal deliverance: lanterns serve as guides, food as offerings, and scripture as a bridge, helping the souls of the dead escape suffering.

Lake Lanterns and River Lanterns

River lanterns, or lake lanterns, are among the most visually striking images in Zhongyuan poetry.

Zhao Yi’s “一灯两灯千百灯，满湖荧煌炳繁星” compares the multitude of river lanterns to a sky of brilliant stars. “人灯放入鬼界去，阳火变作阴燐青” describes their transformation as they pass symbolically from the human world into the realm of ghosts.

“一灯一鬼争来擎” directly links each lantern to a departed soul: every light becomes the hope of a spirit awaiting guidance.

The core meaning of the river lantern is “引路”, to illuminate the road home for departed souls and show wandering spirits a direction through the darkness.

Autumn Night and the Moon

Zhongyuan falls in early autumn, making autumn light, night air, cool wind, and the bright moon some of the most common natural images in its poetry.

Yin Yaofan’s “上界秋光净，中元夜气清” uses autumn light and night air to evoke Zhongyuan night. Fan Zhongyan’s “未到中秋先赏月” writes the Zhongyuan moon through comparison with Mid-Autumn. Bian Gong’s “不因逢闰月，今夜是中秋” directly places the moonlight of Zhongyuan beside that of Mid-Autumn.

Images of autumn night and moonlight carry Zhongyuan from religious solemnity into the clarity of nature, and from remembrance of the dead toward contemplation of the cosmos.

Daoist Temple Rites

Daoist Zhongyuan observances center on zhai-jiao ritual ceremonies. Lu Gong’s Watching a Daoist Rite on Zhongyuan Day is representative of this theme. “羽衣凌缥缈，瑶毂辗虚空” conveys both the sacredness and ethereal quality of the ceremony.

Yin Yaofan’s “扫坛天地肃，投简鬼神惊” expresses its solemn gravity. Li Shangyin’s Written on Zhongyuan, meanwhile, uses the festival rite to write a personal love affair, intertwining the religious atmosphere of Zhongyuan with the secrecy of private emotion and extending Daoist Zhongyuan ritual from sacred narrative into personal expression.

These poems use Daoist rites as their setting and connect Zhongyuan with the Daoist belief in “地官赦罪”, the Earth Official’s remission of transgressions.

Ullambana Deliverance

The central principle of the Buddhist Ullambana assembly is “救倒悬”, rescuing beings suffering in hell.

Zhao Yi’s Watching Lake Lanterns Released at an Ullambana Assembly While My Boat Was Moored at Fanguang is representative of this theme, using lake lanterns to portray the deliverance of departed souls.

The imagination of “一灯一鬼争来擎” transforms the meaning of universal deliverance into a concrete image. Li Ying’s Zhongyuan Night, by contrast, takes an Ullambana ceremony in a waterside temple in Jiangnan as its background and depicts the bustle and splendor of a Zhongyuan temple assembly.

The imagery of Ullambana expresses the Buddhist spirit of “无缘大慈、同体大悲”, boundless compassion extended without distinction and great compassion born from shared existence.

Autumn Offerings to Ancestors

The oldest source of the Zhongyuan Festival is the ancestral custom of “秋尝”.

In remote antiquity, autumn was the season of harvest. People performed rites for ancestral spirits, first offering seasonal delicacies to them before tasting the food themselves.

Although Zhongyuan poetry contains relatively few direct descriptions of this practice, it remains the deepest spiritual foundation of the tradition.

Poets watching Zhongyuan rites, gazing at lanterns on the water, or looking toward the moon ultimately return to remembrance of the dead and reflection on life.

Moon-Viewing

Zhongyuan poetry also contains a distinctive theme in which the moon leads the festival from sacrifice toward aesthetic experience.

Fan Zhongyan’s Written at Baihuazhou on Zhongyuan Night is representative of Zhongyuan moon-viewing. “未到中秋先赏月” praises the purity of the moon on Zhongyuan night.

Bian Gong’s Seeing the Moon on Zhongyuan places Zhongyuan beside Mid-Autumn through “不因逢闰月，今夜是中秋”.

Such poems free Zhongyuan from the confines of religious ritual and give it an aesthetic dimension: beyond the solemnity of ancestral sacrifice, Zhongyuan can also be a beautiful occasion for admiring the moon.

Zhongyuan Festival poetry forms a distinctive and profound landscape within the treasury of Chinese verse. From Lu Gong’s “四孟逢秋序” and the sacred solemnity of Daoist ritual, to Li Ying’s “江南水寺中元夜” and the bustling splendor of Ullambana at a waterside temple; from Li Shangyin’s “绛节飘飖宫国来” and the obscure dreaminess of private love, to Fan Zhongyan’s “南阳太守清狂发” and the bold freedom of moon-viewing and drinking; from Zhao Yi’s “一灯两灯千百灯” and the magnificent spectacle of lake lanterns, to Bian Gong’s “坐爱清光好” and the ingenious juxtaposition of Zhongyuan with Mid-Autumn—Zhongyuan poetry has recorded, across a thousand years, Chinese remembrance of ancestors, compassion for departed souls, reflection on life, and celebration of moonlight.

Within these poems lies the limpid atmosphere of “上界秋光净，中元夜气清”; the brilliant bustle of “红烛影回仙态近，翠环光动见人多”; the compassionate deliverance of “一灯一鬼争来擎，凉燄不愁炙手热”; the bold freedom of “未到中秋先赏月”; and the ingenious association of “不因逢闰月，今夜是中秋”. The meaning of Zhongyuan poetry lies precisely in its ability to carry the light of river lanterns, the fragrance of ritual incense, the beauty of moonlight, and the remembrance of departed souls from a thousand years ago into every new age.

The poetic tradition of Zhongyuan records an evolution in Chinese festival culture from “sacrifice” toward “aesthetic experience”, and from “religion” toward “humanistic feeling.” From the ancient autumn offerings to ancestors, to Daoist rites in the Tang, from moon-viewing and banquets in the Song, to the Qing custom of floating lake lanterns—Zhongyuan poetry has witnessed a thousand-year inheritance of “祭” and “渡”, sacrifice and deliverance. In these lines, Zhongyuan is both the solemnity of “道场普渡妥幽魂” and the pleasure of “未到中秋先赏月”; both the compassion of “一灯两灯千百灯” and the eternity of “皎月当空一轮白”. Zhongyuan poetry is one of the deepest and most enduring declarations Chinese people have made to “祭” and “渡”, a “poetic scroll of the unseen realm” written in ink by generation after generation.

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[Language: es]