Yuxu Palace was brightly illuminated, its entire structure glowing in a bluish-white hue. Against the backdrop of the vast, starry sky, it resembled a celestial palace in heaven.0

Among the three major Daoist festivals, the Shangyuan Festival was the most significant, followed by the Zhongyuan Festival, with the Xiayuan Festival being the least grand.0

The Zhongyuan Festival was the common name used in the Daoist community. Among common folk, it was known as the Ancestor Worship Festival, while in the Buddhist community, it was referred to as the Yulanpen Festival. The customs associated with it include ancestor worship, floating river lanterns, honoring wandering spirits, burning paper ingots, and making offerings to the Earth Celestial. The origins of this festival could even be traced back to the Ancient Shamanistic Sect’s ancestor worship and related seasonal rituals.0

The Book of Changes stated, “To and fro goes the way. On the seventh day comes the return. Such is the movement of heaven.”0

The number seven represented yang and the celestial order. After the yang energy between heaven and earth was completely depleted, it would take seven days to revive. This was the natural cycle of yin and yang, the alternation of growth and decline. The common folk believed that on this day, the gates of the underworld would open. Hence, the Zhongyuan...0