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... I thought I'd share with you the Chinese equivalent. Well, we don't really have an equivalent festive occasion, but an equivalent concept, sort of. Err, lemme explain.
I read in another thread that Halloween has its roots in the belief that the day before All Souls' Day (1 Nov) the wall between the physical and spiritual world thins and spirits can cross over. Something like that anyway.
The Chinese believe that once a year, the gates of hell are opened and spirits are free to wander around in the physical world. Don't ask me why the King of Hell (the deity responsible for hell in Chinese mythology) would want to do this, I haven't the faintest idea.
This happens for a month and takes place during the 7th month of the lunar calendar, which corresponds to August/September in the Gregorian calendar. Where I live (Lion City) it's called the Festival of Hungry Ghosts. There are no "festivities" per se, it is marked by the burning of joss paper as an offering to one's ancestors. Frequently people will burn paper representing gold and silver (just paper with a gold or silver patch stuck on it) and even "Hell banknotes" printed specially for this (you should see the number of zeroes on them, lol) in the belief that this "money" will find its way to the intended receipient, thereby easing their life in hell for another year.
Some families also lay out offerings of food (rice, some dishes) maybe to appease passing spirits? A superstition is never to allow young children to go outdoors in the evening of the first and last day of the festival (when the gates are opened and when the spirits need to return to hell), lest some calamity befall them.
Another unique happening is the auction. What this is that temples will organise a dinner (with singers, etc) and items will be auctioned off and I suppose the proceeds will go to the temple for the upkeep nad maybe their programmes. Items usually auctioned are houshold stuff (appliances, etc), idols/figurines of Chinese deities and charcoal - this often fetches the highest bids as I think in Chinese the name for charcoal sounds similar to black gold or it represents gold. Anuyways it is supposed to bring prosperity to the owner.
We don't have kids going around, however, trick or treating. Fortunately/unfortunately.
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