On the other hand, while food offerings for orphaned souls \u2013 spirits who have no family to pay respects to them \u2013 are more simplistic, they are no less sincere. There aren\u2019t any restrictions to types of food offered, but typically the offerings consist of buns, fruits, or vegetarian dishes. Sometimes coffee or a bottle of Yakult is offered.
It is common to see such offerings laid at small alters that are found on street curbs or the compounds of Chinese-run business.
In the past, these offerings were motivated by fear, as they were mostly done to protect the living from possible disturbances by roaming spirits. Business owners even tend to serve more elaborate offerings to encourage orphaned souls to either protect their business or leave it undisturbed.
Today, due to better communication which has allowed religious teachings greater outreach, there is now greater clarity of the purpose of these offerings. Being conscientious in taking time to prepare food offerings for orphaned souls is less about fear of spooky spirits, and more about having empathy and showing kindness to those less fortunate than ourselves \u2013 it just so happens that the recipient of our good will is a spirit!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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