法苑珠林 97.22

97.22

Question: "Why must one write their surname and personal name on the banner?" Answer: "The banner summons the hun and is placed on the dry ground (qian position), so that the hun recognizes its name, follows the name, and enters the dark room, and also entrusts itself to the po, or enters the zhong chamber (chong, pronounced zhi-long fan; zhong [ancestral tablet / food pavilion] is chong [layered], pronounced tu-yong fan). Within the zhong, the sacrificial offerings of food are fully arranged. Because life and death are distinct and light and darkness are different, ghosts and spirits eat in darkness, while living people eat in light. Therefore, the zhong uses coarse bamboo mats to wrap the food vessels, so as to place them inside the zhong, situating it in the earth (kun position)."