Each year, from the last day of the 6th Lunar Month until the end of the 7th Lunar Month, the souls in hell come to Earth to feast at the Festival of the Hungry Ghosts. They rewarded those who were kind to them while they were alive and took revenge on those who had treated them unkindly.

The annual Festival of the Hungry Ghost is celebrated by the Taoists and Buddhists and is attended by spirits who were being punished in hell for crimes they had committed when they were alive. They were permitted to attend the Festival because of their ‘good conduct’ and appeals made to Yen Lo Wang, the Lord of the Underworld, by family members for their temporary release. Some unruly ghosts refused to return to hell at the end of the Festival. They threatened to bring bad luck and even death to those who refused to hide them from Hell Guards who had been sent to arrest them. Some ghosts forced women into having love affairs.