越南路边的小桌子：农历七月摆给“孤魂”的

Traveling in Vietnam, you'll find that at the entrances of many shops and at street corners, there are small tables on the ground, laden with fruit, joss paper, and incense.

You need to distinguish between two kinds. One is for daily use—almost every shop entrance has a small shrine dedicated to the Earth God and the God of Wealth, with fruit and incense changed every day. The other appears only during the seventh lunar month, placed by the roadside or outside doors, intended for the “lonely souls.”

Vietnamese people call those who have no descendants to worship them “lonely souls,” including those who died in wars, those who were abandoned, and those who died in accidents. They have no food to eat, no money to spend, drifting everywhere, so someone must provide them with food.

The seventh lunar month is Vietnam’s “Month of Lonely Souls.” During this month, many people avoid doing business, moving house, or getting married, fearing they might offend them. The fifteenth day is the Ullambana Festival, also known as “Pardon Day.” On that day, temples hold rituals, and every household places a plate of rice, salt, candy, biscuits, and a bowl of congee outside their doors, along with paper clothes and joss paper, to burn for these uncared-for ghosts. Some people also scatter rice and candy into the air for them to pick up themselves; it is said this is for child ghosts.

This custom is very similar to China’s Zhongyuan Festival and was passed down from China, but nowadays, Vietnamese people have given it their own flavor. By the end of the month, the things laid out on the streets are slowly cleared away.

#Ghosts #网络转载 #东南亚