Jhongyuan Ghost Festival    2007/08/26
Fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month
(農曆七月十五日)
The seventh month on the lunar calendar is the Chinese Ghost Month. Traditionally, it starts from dawn on the first day, when the gates of the netherworld open, and A ends on the 29th day of the month, when the gates close. People holt rituals to petition for salvation from disasters and misfortune during the celebration, which reaches a peak on the 15th day.

Jhongyuan General Salvation Ceremonies
(中元普渡)
In folk tradition, on the day of Jhongyuan Festival every household has to prepare meat, fruits, fresh flowers, and other sacrificial items; they then offer these to the hungry ghosts at a temple, or on a temporary altar table set up in front of their homes. They also ask monks to say prayers for their deceased loved ones as well as those lost souls who have no living descendants left on earth. This is known as Jhongyuan Pudu, or General Salvation.
The ceremonies take place in temple and on streets. On the afternoon of the Pudu, local residents prepare offerings and carry them to the main altar at a temple to join in the ceremonies there. For the street festivities, local residents prepare chicken, duck, and fish for offerings in front of their homes in a ceremony known as doorway worship.

Launching of the Water Lanterns
(放水燈)
The launching of water lanterns is a longstanding custom. Its most important purpose is to help light the way for the lost souls in the water, call the souls to come on land to enjoy the offerings, and pray for the early reincarnation of these souls. It is also said that the farther a lanterns floats, the better the fortune that the clan it represents will enjoy in the coming year.

Grappling with the Ghosts
(搶孤)
Grappling with the Ghosts is a pole-climbing competitions held during the Ghost Month. In Taiwan today, it is carried out only in Toucheng, Yilan County and Hengchun, Pingtung County. Of these two locales, Toucheng, has the bigger celebration.
In the early days, people migrating to Yilan from Guangdong and Fujian provinces were beset by natural disasters, accidents, and disease, and many of them died. Because they became afraid that nobody was going to be left to make offerings after they were gone, and that their souls would have nowhere to go, every year during this festival they held pole-climbing ceremonies to remember those who had passed away. Since Toucheng was the first city in the Yilan area to be developed, residents of its eight major districts jointly hold the general salvation ceremony. They also chose the last day of the month-the day when the gates of the netherworld close-to hold a major pole-climbing competition. 

資料來源：http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/

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