@Everyone today, pay attention to this!

Today is the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, which is the traditional Chinese "Zhongyuan Festival". People have the custom of paying homage to their deceased relatives on this day.

The Zhongyuan Festival is one of the four traditional Chinese festivals for worshipping ancestors, along with New Year's Eve, Qingming Festival, and Double Ninth Festival. It is said that on the day of the Zhongyuan Festival, the lonely ghosts in the underworld will be released. In order to remember their ancestors and worship the earth god, people in the world will prepare rich offerings, burn incense and paper, and worship these ancestors from the underworld.

In fact, the connotation of Zhongyuan Festival is much richer than we think. It integrates the traditional Confucian "autumn festival" sacrificial ceremony, the universe view of the rise and fall of yin and yang in the Book of Changes, the Taoist belief in the Three Officials, and the Buddhist Yulan Festival, and is a concentrated embodiment of China's filial piety culture.

In some places, customary activities such as "releasing river lanterns" and "making magic boats" are held during the Ghost Festival. The Ziyuan River Lantern Festival, Tanghe beliefs, and the Chaozhou people (referring to people from the Chaoshan area) Yullambana Festival have been included in the national intangible cultural heritage list. Their core is to respect ancestors and be filial, rather than to promote feudal superstition and "ghost tricks".

Around the Ghost Festival, the number of fire-related activities such as burning paper and lighting candles increases, and the time span is long, which poses a prominent fire hazard. In recent years, fires caused by inadvertent sacrificial activities such as burning incense and paper and setting off Kongming lanterns are not uncommon.

When remembering the deceased, personal safety is the most important thing. When visiting the graves on the Ghost Festival, be sure to pay attention to fire safety!

Comprehensive sources: Ministry of Emergency Management, Xinhuanet, etc.