230
THE CHINESE “YUE LAN” GHOST FESTIVAL IN JAPAN: A KOBE CASE STUDY,
AUG. 31 SEPT. 4, 1982*
CHOI CHI CHEUNG
Kobe is one of the three places in Japan where the Chinese hold a community-wide celebration for the "Yue Lan" festival.1 According to 1974 statistics, there were 8585 Chinese living in Hyogo prefecture of which Kobe is the capital. About 82% of them lived in Kobe.2 Although only 11% of the Chinese living in Hyogo are Hokkienese, yet the Hokkienese Association has been in charge of the festival since the end of the Second World War. The festival I am describing here took place at the Kobe Kwan-ti Temple (關帝廟).
I. The Location
The festival area can mainly be divided into four parts:3
1) The Tao-ch'ang (道場) area, where the priests performed most of the rituals (this used the building normally the offices of the Association).
2) The Ming-che (冥宅) area. (Min-taku in Japanese meaning House of the underworld) (this used the temple courtyard, with a temporary tented roof).
3) The Temple area.
4) The Association Hall and the Kitchen area(s).
All rituals took place at these places except the Lantern Floating ritual which took place at the sea-shore half an hour's ride from the temple by mini-bus. In addition, there was a screen between the temple and the Tao-ch'ang where Chinese movies were shown for three nights.
* Unless specifically stated, all explanations of the rituals during the festival are as given by the participants. See Plates 15-32.
230
THE CHINESE “YUE LAN” GHOST FESTIVAL IN JAPAN: A KOBE CASE STUDY,
AUG. 31 SEPT. 4, 1982*
CHOI CHICHEUNG
Kobe is one of the three places in Japan where the Chinese hold a community-wide celebration for the "Yue Lan" festival.' Ac- cording to 1974 statistics, there were 8585 Chinese living in Hyogo prefecture of which Kobe is the capital. About 82% of them lived in Kobe.2 Although only 11% of the Chinese living in Hyogo are Hokkienese, yet the Hokkienese Association has been in charge of the festival since the end of the Second World War. The festival I am describing here took place at the Kobe Kwan-ti Temple ( 關帝廟 )
I. The Location
The festival area can mainly be divided into four parts:3
1) The Tao-ch'ang ( ) area, where the priests performed most of the rituals (this used the building normally the offices of the Association).
2) The Ming-che ( t ) area. (Min-taku in Japanese meaning House of the underworld) (this used the temple courtyard, with a temporary tented roof).
3) The Temple area.
4) The Association Hall and the Kitchen area(s).
All rituals took place at these places except the Lantern Floating ritual which took place at the sea-shore half an hour's ride from the temple by mini-bus. In addition, there was a screen between the temple and the Tao-ch'ang where Chinese movies were shown for three nights.
* Unless specifically stated, all explanations of the rituals during the festival are as given by the participants. See Plates 15-32.
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