Moginlin or Moggalana is said to have Liu Qingti (劉欽提) as his mother. She never took refuge in the Buddha while she was alive. Moreover, she committed many a sin, and that¡¦s why she had to go to Hell to suffer as a hungry ghost after death. The son, who had already acquired supernatural power, could see her suffer in Hell. So he had to beg for mercy from the Buddha. He wanted to know what he could do to rescue her. The Tathagata told him Moggalana alone couldn¡¦t help her. The disciple was then told to ask for help from arhats or arhans (羅漢), monks who are capable of attaining nirvana. Incidentally, an arhat is also a “valuable person worthy of being supplied with food and what else he may need.” Moggalana had to provide water for arhats who had to cleanse themselves after practicing Buddhist asceticism in a deep mountain cave. With the help of many arhats, the Buddha said, his famous disciple would be able to save his mother. Mulian obeyed and his mother was rescued. But as she was leaving Hell, a host of hungry ghosts followed her in order just to escape from their dark purgatory where, however, they could never be cleansed. They could go as far as the end of Hell that separates it from the world of the living. The Buddhist faithful were then convinced that something had to be done to help the ghosts. They started celebrating the Putu or Zhongyuan festival (中元節) in the seventh moon of the lunar calendar.

The legend or legends about Moginlin were adapted by playwrights over the past millennium. Zheng Zhizhen (鄭自珍), a playwright during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), is best known for his “Mulian jiu-mu” or “Moginlin Rescuing His Mother.” His story begins with the apostasy of Moginlin’s mother.

Once upon a time, there lived a woman who was a very pious Buddhist. She was on a strict Buddhist vegetarian diet all her life. She observed ahimsa or the Buddhist doctrine of refraining from the harming of others or the taking of life. She regularly worshipped the Buddha as well as other deities. Her religious life wasn’t disturbed when her husband was taken ill. She chanted sutras and prayed every day for his early recovery. But he did not recover. After a long bout with an unknown disease, he died, leaving his widow and their only son helpless.

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