Hungry Ghost Festival: Downpour, Uproar!

Background and Concept

The Hungry Ghost Festival (also known as Zhongyuan Festival or Yulan Festival) is a special celebration for the Chinese diaspora, observed with unique interpretations worldwide in places like Hong Kong, Singapore, and beyond. Marking the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, this festival signifies a time when the boundary between the living and spiritual realms blurs. It is a day when the most hungry and angry ghosts come to the human realms to seek solace–and yes, it can be scary. Rituals surrounding the Hungry Ghost Festival would seek to distract, exonerate, or calm these restless spirits. There would be foods, performances, and other offerings to the spirit world, and in turn, it can be a healing way to combat both our seen and unseen grievances and rage.

A little-known history is that before the 1920s, Chinese rituals that sought to pacify angry spirits such as Da Jiao (打醮) and the Hungry Ghost Festival were some of the most important and deeply relevant celebrations in early Chinatowns, where over 350 of such festivals were documented throughout California Chinatowns between 1860s and 1920s. Perhaps, amid migrations, wrongful deaths, and exclusions, that was a period where Ghost Festival and Da Jiao rituals offered a sense of peace to those grappling with grief, generational traumas, and the ache of familial separation. However, after the 1906 Earthquake, with the tabooing of superstitions and non-Christian practices, many of the temples that sustained this tradition were closed or never rebuilt. Despite that, the Hungry Ghost Festival in the American context endures as a key Chinese cultural heritage that embodies notions of resistance and resilience–with many iterations reviving today that continue a legacy of reconciling with anger and sadness.

In 2023, the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco (CCC) refreshed the decade-long Chinatown  Music Festival into the 1st Annual Hungry Ghost Festival–a contemporary neighborhood interpretation of this important holiday. The Festival brought together the Chinatown community, indigenous community, Latino communities, queer communities, international communities, and over 10,000 visitors in shared dialogue with the themes and spirit of the Hungry Ghost Festival. The night-time celebration included a diverse performance line-up, large-scale public art, altars,  and a traditional “Ghost King” parade that blessed the Chinatown neighborhood and beyond. To reach Citywide communities and their ghosts, the festival involved a sense of playfulness, humor, grassroots vibes, and a whole lot of artists, partners, and cultural practitioners.

For the 2nd Annual Hungry Ghost Festival in 2024, we will embrace the theme, “Downpour, Uproar!”, chasing the emotions and catharsis of rage and sorrow.  The festival will be a rousing celebration with unique performances, a lively procession, and a bustling marketplace. Honoring our ancestors and wandering spirits into the night, we hope that the darker it gets, the bolder or more empowered we feel.

歷史背景和主題

鬼節（亦稱中元節或盂蘭節）是華裔群體的重要慶典，在香港、新加坡等地都有衍生出多種解讀和慶祝方式。人們相信，每年農曆七月十五開鬼門關，此時人間與冥界的界線模糊，是餓鬼和怒鬼來人間尋求安慰的日子——是不是有點驚悚？所以鬼節的儀式，多是爲了招待、赦免、安撫這些不安的靈魂。但與此同時，生者把酒餚、表演和獻祭供奉給靈界，不也是我們對史上有名或無名的創傷和不平的一種闡釋和療愈？

其實，鬼節之於華埠有一段鮮為人知的歷史。上世紀20年代前，超度亡靈的儀式（如打醮）和鬼節曾是各地華埠最重要、最具意義的活動之一。據記載，19世紀60年代到20世紀20年代間，加州華埠舉辦過類似慶典至少350次。或許，在移民，冤殺和排華的語境下，鬼節和打醮為那些倍受代際創傷和分離之痛的家庭帶來了一絲慰藉。然而，1906年地震之後，隨著對迷信和非基督教習俗的打壓，有鬼節傳統的廟宇逐一關閉且未得重建。儘管如此，鬼節還是在美國存活了下來，它以一個文化遺産的名義，記錄了華裔社區的堅韌和不屈。今天，鬼節經過多版本的複興，延續着化解悲怒的傳統。

2023年，舊金山中華文化中心（CCC）將長達十年的華埠音樂節徹底更新，打造了第一屆鬼節，讓這個傳統節日更適時、更市井。該節日吸引了華埠、原住民、拉丁裔、酷兒、國際友人和超過一萬名觀衆來一同分享鬼節的主題和精神。慶典當晚不僅有多元的表演陣容、大型公共藝術、祭壇，還有“大士王”遊行為華埠和各區祈福。在諸多藝術家、合作方和文化工作者的努力下，這個詼諧又充滿草根氣息的節日，向全市的人和靈張開雙臂。

2024年第二屆華埠鬼節，我們將打響“迎風奮進”的主題，繼續宣洩憤怒和悲傷。這場盛大慶典會在獨特的表演、精彩的遊行和熙攘的夜市中展開。讓我們一起在夜幕下追念祖先和遊魂，願越黑的天，激髮我們越堅定的勇氣和力量！