At the Ghost Festival, people perform rites to deliver the souls of their ancestors.
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history
盂兰 transliterates Sanskrit ullambana ('hanging upside-down', metaphor for the suffering of hungry ghosts); 盆 ('basin') is the offering bowl. The festival merged with Daoist 中元节 and the folk Ghost Month tradition; in Japan it survives as Obon (お盆).
The legendary origin: the Buddha's disciple Maudgalyāyana (目连) finds his deceased mother suffering as a hungry ghost. The Buddha tells him to make offerings to the sangha on the 15th day of the 7th month - establishing the Yulanpen rite, which became the East Asian Ghost Festival.
