The seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar is the month of Qiyue. The month of Qiyue occurs from approximately July 23 to August 23 on the Gregorian calendar.
Zhong Yuan Jie (中元节) takes place on the seventh month of the Lunar calendar. It is mostly observed by Chinese Buddhists and Taoists who believe that during this time, colloquially known as “seventh month” or 七月 (“seventh month” in Chinese), the gates of Hell are opened, releasing spirits who roam the earth.
The Qixi Festival (Chinese: 七夕), also known as the Qiqiao Festival (Chinese: 乞巧), is a Chinese festival celebrating the annual meeting of Zhinü and Niulang in Chinese mythology. The festival is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh lunisolar month on the Chinese lunisolar calendar.
Note: 7th lunar month from 16 August to 14 September 2023. It is a Chinese belief that wedding related events should not be carried out in the 7th lunar month.
In 2023, Lunar New Year begins on Sunday, January 22 and ends on Sunday, February 5. The first day of Lunar New Year is called the Spring Festival, and the final day is the Lantern Festival in Chinese culture, said Zhang.
Age counting in lunar age system: one year old at birth and add one year at every Spring Festival. Lunar Age = current year in Chinese lunar calendar – your birth year in Chinese lunar calendar + 1.
The night before the first day of the Ghost Month (28 July) To mark the opening of the gates of hell and heaven, people will prepare food offerings and burn incense, candles, and joss paper, also known as paper money.
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it” (Genesis 2:2–3). Now the Sabbath also commemorates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Sabbath day is every seventh day. It is a holy day ordained by God for us to rest from our daily labors and worship Him.
Ghost Month can be traced back to Buddhist and Taoist beliefs. According to tradition, spirits are said to break free during this time to roam the living world. This is observed on the seventh month in the Lunar calendar, from early to mid-August until early to mid-September.
For 3,000 years, the lunar calendar served the purpose of guiding agricultural affairs and farming activities by dividing the year into 24 solar terms. The solar terms are used to reflect the change of seasons, dividing the year into 4 seasons of exactly three months.
The term lunar month usually refers to the synodic month because it is the cycle of the visible phases of the Moon. Most of the following types of lunar month, except the distinction between the sidereal and tropical months, were first recognized in Babylonian lunar astronomy.
A lunar month is only about 29 days since that is the time it takes for the Moon to complete one lunar phase cycle. A calendar month follows a solar year or the time it takes for the Earth to make one orbit around the Sun. This equates to a calendar month being 30 or 31 days in length.
Cleaning during the Ghost Month
It is believed that salt counters bad energy. After doing a general cleaning of your place, make the final rinse of water with salt. Sprinkle some salt on your doorstep, window and corners. Also, always remember to keep your place well lit and well ventilated.
Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.
B GOD'S REST IN THE FIRST CREATION ACCOUNT
And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
God stopped on the seventh day. In Hebrew, the number "seven" has the same consonants as the word for completeness or wholeness.
Set up an altar with offerings for passing spirits.
Place joss sticks, incense, and traditional food offerings like uncooked rice, peanuts, candies, raw noodles, fruit, rice wine, beer, bags of salt, even sugar. It's perfectly okay to eat these foods afterwards.
In Chinese culture, the entire 7th month of the Chinese calendar, a.k.a. Ghost Month, is the month dedicated to the dead. Chinese people believe during the month, the ghosts of the deceased would come to visit the living world.
What is my Chinese lunar age? If the Chinese new year has passed, you are your age + 2 , and if not, you are your age + 1 . Your Chinese lunar age depends on whether the Chinese New Year has passed or not, because your age depends on the new year in the Chinese lunar calendar (and not your actual date of birth).
You take the mothers lunar age (their actual age + 1) when she fell pregnant. Add that to the number of the month of conception. Once you have these 2 numbers all you need to do is 49 + lunar month – lunar age of conception.
Multiply the number of years you've been alive by 365 days. Add an extra day for each year divisible by four (leap years). Add up the days since your last birthday and add that to the result in Step 2. Divide the total in Step 3 by 29.53.
This custom used to be more applicable in the past when electricity was absent. You can imagine that a haircut can be quite dangerous if done in the dark. To avoid ghosts from causing any accidents, haircuts are generally discouraged once night falls.