REDSTAR Hangzhou October 2020

广
LIFESTYLE 告 生 活 方 式
SARDINIA
(ITALY): SU
MORTU MORTU
All Souls Day is a religious affair in
Italy, called Festa dei morti, where
people remember their late loved
ones, but people on the island of
Sardinia called it Is Animeddas,
Su mortu mortu, Su Prugadoriu
or Is Panixeddas depending on
the area. This festival is an ancient
tradition that has many similarities
with the ancient rituals of
Shamain. The children go around
the houses of the villages to ask
for a small offer and adults, on the
other hand, remember their dead
with a dinner, then gather around
the fireplace to tell facts of the past
or legends of the area. They then
leave the table set for the dead all
night and in some countries even
the beliefs remain open for them
to feed. Pumpkin is also not a
Halloween prerogative. In Sardinia
they were carved to represent
ghostly beings, to entertain and
scare children.
JAPAN: OBON
Originated from the Chinese Ghost Festival,
the Japanese Buddhist Obon ( お 盆 ) is
a festivity to honour the spirits of one's
ancestors. It has been celebrated in Japan
for more than 500 years and today this
Buddhist–Confucian custom has evolved
into a family reunion holiday. During
three days of celebration people return to
ancestral family places and visit and clean
their ancestors' graves when the spirits
of ancestors are supposed to revisit the
household altars. Traditionally the festival
includes a dance, known as Bon Odori (Bon
dance) which differs from region to region.
CHINA: THE HUNGRY
GHOST FESTIVAL
Halloween lasts one day in western countries
but in Asia ghost and spirits are the leading
actor of a whole month: the seventh month or
the so called Ghost Month. The Hungry Ghost
Festival -Zhongyuan Jie ( 中 元 節 ), Gui Jie ( 鬼
節 ) or Yulan Festival ( 盂 兰 盆 节 ) in Chinese -
can be defined as the Chinese Halloween and
is celebrated starting on the 15th night of the
seventh month for a whole month. During this
month people honour the spirits including
deceased ancestors, which come out from
the lower realm. Festivities include parades,
operas, burning incense, food for the dead and
operatic performances to entertain the spirits.
NEPAL: GAI JATRA
Gai Jatra is a festival of dancing, singing,
mirth and laughter. The festival (also called
the festival of cow), is celebrated in the
Kathmandu Valley to commemorate the
death of loved ones. As part of the festival
family members of the deceased of the
past year send people mostly children,
dressed as cows to parade on the streets.
HAITI: FÊTE
GEDE
Fête Gede or "Festival
of the Ancestors," is the
Haiti's 'Day Of The Dead'
Celebration. It is one of the
most important voodoo
festivals celebrated in Haiti
and many other Voodoo
communities around the
world. In Haiti the event,
which is commemorated
yearly on the first and
second days of November,
is marked by converging
on cemeteries to honour
Haitian ancestors with
rituals and sacrifices.
People take part by lighting
candles, journeying to their
ancestors' burial places
and drinking rum infused
with chilies. Singing,
dancing, and drinking are
accompanied by animal
sacrifices, various other
offerings, and “actual”
possessions by the spirits.
8 myredstar.com