Ghosts of our loved ones
Many people think things like ghosts(鬼魂) and death are scary. But in fact, we just had a festival celebrating(庆祝) these things.
Every year, on the 15th day of the seventh month in the Chinese lunar calendar (阴历), we celebrate Zhongyuan Festival, or Ghost Festival. It is on Aug 22 this year. On this day, families light lanterns to help dead people find their way home. But at the same time, living people don't want to stay out at night during Ghost Festival. They believe ghosts may hurt them.
Ghost Festival and Tomb-Sweeping Day, or Qingming Festival are both holidays that honor(对……表示尊敬) the dead. During Ghost Festival, the spirits(灵魂 ) of all dead people are honored. But we only honor our dead family members at Qingming. People believe the spirits of the dead would come back to Earth during Ghost Festival, but not during Qingming.
In Chinese culture, death is a scary and heavy thing. People are mostly afraid of it. But in some other cultures, death is a less gloomy(阴郁的) thing.
In the US, people remember the dead on Halloween. But they make it a fun festival. People wear scary clothes. Children do fun things, like trick-or-treating.
In Mexico, the Day of the Dead is a time for the living to connect(连接) with the dead. They make dolls of the dead and tell stories about them. There are also parties at night.
Whether you like it or not, death is a part of life. Understanding death can help us cherish(珍惜)our time here and live best lives.
