A Bridge to the Past - ACE409.2

Young Chinese woman holding up paper lantern walks slowly towards painted doors, beats her fists against them and screams. Young (dead) woman describing how her daughter, now living in Britain, and older than her mother, has not forgotten her and burns joss sticks and offers food for her, particularly during the Hungry Ghosts’ Festival, during which the Gate of Hell will be open for thirty days. She explains that Hell does not judge by physical appearance but by the heart. The young woman, "an ancestor, not a ghost" introduces Chung, a hungry ghost, who eats food left out by the daughter, now offering paper money. The story of Mu Lian, a disciple of the Buddha, who went to Hell in search of his mother. He sees spirits being beaten and tortured. Ancestor dancing with Chung while her daughter offers a paper aeroplane to help her return to China, a paper tape recorder, etc. Ancestor explains that Chung gets no offerings from his wife because he was an adulterer, and says he was probably castrated in Hell.