On the fifteenth day of the seventh month after a person's death there was another important festival called the "Ghost Festival," which is said to have originated in the Tang dynasty. The following is a summary of the story of Mulian [Mu-lien]:

Since the death of his parents, Mu-lien (Maudgalyayana) has become a monk and has therefore given up his lay name of Lo-pu. Thanks to his good religious life he has attained to the grade of arbat and, "supported by the power of the Buddha," he comes at last to the hall of heaven. From here he begins to look round for his parents but finds only his father; of his mother there is no sign. In tears, he asks the Buddha after her and learns that, as a result of unpardonable misdeeds (which she need not necessarily have committed...