Pedestrians in Taiwan found themselves facing obstacles just walking around on Tuesday as they tried to dodge clouds of ash and smoke from incense and the burning of paper money on the day that marked Mid-summer Ghost Festival.
Many residents could be seen arranging tables of fruits and food outdoors, while they lit up huge wire bins and other burners of "ghost money", in a centuries-old custom that is observed to please visiting spirits from the "other world", often at the expense of air quality on the already polluted island.
Most people of Han ethnicity worldwide believe that if the living fail to please the "good spirits" during their visits to the mortal world, misfortune would occur all year.
The Mid-Summer Ghost Festival, the climax of a series of rituals to mark Ghost Month, is celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh month on the Chinese lunar calendar. In Chinese culture, it is believed that during Ghost Month, lost spirits are released back to the mortal world.
Other Mid-Summer Ghost Festival rituals include burying and releasing miniature paper boats and lanterns on water, which signifies "giving directions to the lost ghosts." The activities all represent a connection between the living and the dead, heaven and earth as well as the body and soul, according to ancient Taoist and Buddhist beliefs.
Although the Environmental Protection Administration issued formal regulations on the burning of incense and ghost money, it exhorted people to cut down on burning incense and paper money in Chinese folk rituals, citing the Air Pollution and Prevention Control Act that states burning of objects outdoors can result in fines of up to NT$1 million. It did not comment on any enforcement of the act, however.
A recent survey conducted by the Consumers' Foundation showed that burning ghost money and incense releases hazardous substances such as benzene, methyl benzene and ethyl benzene.
The EPA acknowledged that conforming to tradition was a display of respect for Chinese culture, but warned that living standards and the natural environment could not take the strain of the air pollution from the rituals.
The EPA urged the public to take advantage of a centralized ghost money burning service during Ghost Festival and other Chinese holidays to reduce air pollution, noting that environmental protection authorities in various counties and cities are offering centralized ghost-money burning service during specific festivals, and said that the amount of ghost money burnt in this manner has increased from 260 tons to 1,800 tons over the past three years.
Source:Taiwan News(2006/08/09 14:08:15)
http://english.www.gov.tw/TaiwanHeadlin ... rdid=97946
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