An ancient Asian tradition took on new life Saturday in San Francisco’s Chinatown with the Hungry Ghost Festival, a rousing celebration of heritage in which the living feed the souls of their ancestors.
The event shattered the symbolic boundary between the living and the dead, with surviving generations offering food and drink, burning incense and performing special ceremonies to fulfill the ghosts’ needs and avoid their wrath.
In Chinese culture, the gates of the afterlife are said to open and release spirits seeking sustenance on the seventh month of the lunar calendar, which runs from Aug. 13 to Sept. 10 this year…