Tuesday 21 August 2007

Pictures of Paper Items of Lunar 7th Month (中元節紙扎)




Dear all, in this series, you'll be able to see pictures of paper-crafts that are associated with our Chinese 7th Month Rituals/Ceremonies.

The most common one will be Da Shi Ye, in hokkien will be Dai Su Yah. Da Shi Ye, in Buddhist Context will be the transformation of Guan Yin to a Ugly and scary Ghostly Lord, in-order to keep all the wandering souls in order, etc.

Whereas in Taoism, Da Shi Ye is consider as a Ghostly General who's there to keep order, preventing any wandering souls from making troubles, etc.

Besides that, some paper houses are made for the souls too.

Paperhouse_1: Separate rooms for the male and female souls.

Paperhouse_2: Name as Han Lin Yuan, this is a room that are dedicated to scholars who passed-away with no-one giving offerings to them.

Paperhouse_3: Wash-room for the souls. Usually the Priests will guide the souls into this wash-room for cleaning themselves up, change clothin, etc, before Rituals start, etc (different places will have different uses).

7 comments:

  1. Hahahahaha, I know someone will sure ask :P

    One of them is Tu Di (Earth Deity) and another is Pan Guan (Recording Officer).

    Different places will have different combinations, some will have Mountain Deity, some will have General, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  2. haha .. ya i seems rather interesting wit this type of things ..

    oh okok .. but da shi ye dont have any hu fa (escort) right ??

    ReplyDelete
  3. hahahaha, where got Hu Fa. He's already so "powerful".

    If he needs a Hu Fa, he wont be there to keep order of all wandering souls liao, rite :P

    ReplyDelete
  4. wonderful pics! Please take more pictures during this 7th month and if possible include more explanations on the significance.

    ReplyDelete
  5. i doing joss paper n joss stick business if any thing call me at 92111998 / 91707333 my shop at ang mo kio ave 3 st.12 blk 133 #01-1645

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just to add to the discussion: some folk beliefs state that Da Shi Ye is not a manifestation of Guan Yin, but a disciple of hers - a demon king whom she subdued and converted to good.

    ReplyDelete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.