A ceremony for Chinese people to pay tribute to their ancestors was held at AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong on Sunday, ahead of the Zhongyuan Festival. The festival, also known as the Ghost Festival, falls this year on Aug 30 — the 15th day of the seventh month of the Chinese calendar. According to traditional custom, people will burn incense and joss paper, and prepare food offerings for their ancestors during the festival as a way of expressing gratitude and filial piety. (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)
The first post-pandemic, culturally-rich ancestor worship commemoration -- eye-catching for the Chinese and eye-opening for some Westerners -- took center stage at Asia Expo on Lantau Island on July 30 as the city roars back to normal to claim its place as an emerging international cultural hub.
Celebrating the harvest season also marks a commemorative date in the Chinese calendar for corporate ancestor worship in tribute to the forefathers. Some 11,000 Chinese compatriots from seven countries and regions in Asia and Europe converged on Hong Kong for a communion gathering to strengthen fraternal ties, making it one of the largest worship events in the special administrative region and the world.
READ MORE: Ancestral memorial ceremony held in Hong Kong
Executive Council member and lawmaker Gary Chan Hak-kan, who’s also vice-chairperson of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong – the city’s biggest political party -- represented local residents, as well as the peace-loving ethnic Chinese diaspora, in paying tribute to the “Ancestors of All Surnames”. The Hong Kong Buddhist Education Foundation, which organized the ceremony, traced about 12,000 different surnames in Chinese history, a symbolic map of the formation of the Chinese nation.
Chan believes that the public’s active involvement is an effective way of promoting a “faithful portrait of Hong Kong”.
As the HKSAR aims to become a “super connector” bridging cultures and civilizations, the city offers a showcase, as well as a stage, for diverse cultural legacies. Sunday’s event revived the traditions practiced in the Temple of Confucius in Taoyuan, Taiwan. The practice of remembrance was said to represent living relics of the “good old days” around the time of Jesus Christ.
Jeremy Smith, dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Performing Arts, University of Wales Trinity Saint David in Wales, said the beauty of commemorating ancestors emphasizes the commonality of humanities, which can be related to various traditions in the Western world -- from Judaic to Catholic rituals.
Smith, who was the only Westerner at the event, was invited by the organizer to be an “escorting officer” at the ceremony. He has dedicated seven years to promoting Chinese culture in Wales through the inspiration of the late Venerable Master Chin Kung.
The thanksgiving ceremony was also dedicated to the late master for his tireless promotion of the Chinese tradition throughout his 95 years in life. As a world-renowned Buddhist professor, Master Chin Kung had promoted the unity of religions at the United Nations for decades, making him a world-renowned educator and peacemaker. He also founded a number of educational institutions in Asia, Australia and the United Kingdom.
According to Smith, many universities have the foundation to appreciate the late Master Chin Kung’s call for religious unity and bridging the gap through teachings to create a harmonious world.
Representatives of the Daoist, Catholic, Confucian and other religions also attended the ancestor worship, and commemorated the late spiritual leader for upholding the unity of religions.
Chinese people traditionally believe that worshipping their ancestors lays the foundation for their civilization. The practice of expressing gratitude to their forefathers and teachers is one of the most cherished traditions that ethnic Chinese groups have managed to preserve through thick and thin.
