農曆七月十五日是佛教的「盂蘭盆節」，道教稱為「中元節」，俗稱鬼節。相傳這幾天鬼門關大開，讓餓鬼可以到人間接受施捨。每年到這個時候吉澳會舉行祭幽、分衣施食儀式。由七月十四日開始，天后宮的大門左邊便放一個 十呎高的紙紮鬼王，但吉澳人稱之為「山大人」。出動鬼王的意思有監管孤魂野鬼的作用，使幽魂有秩序地接受善信的施祭，令鬼眾排住隊領飯領衣，以免你争我奪鬼打架，鬼殺咁嘈。相傳鬼王的名字叫「面然」，是佛教餓鬼道中的鬼王。因其面容枯槁、口吐火焰，也被稱作「焰口」。「面然」後經觀音菩薩點化，皈依佛門，成為護法，人們尊其為「大士爺」。吉澳鬼王的造型與上面描述的有點不同，吉澳的「山大人」臉容凶惡，两隻大眼圓睜，血盤大口，右脚屈着提起較高，右手高舉握筆，左手拿簿（點名册？）放於左膝上，肚子大大的凸起。

 

七月十四吉澳人視為過節，節日的必然節目是拜神，日間帶着祭品香燭拜天后、觀音、皇爺、伯公等，當然拜「山大人」不可少。參拜「山大人」時，家長會鼓勵隨行的小孩由「山大人」的胯下捐過，聽說捐過「山大人」胯下的小孩得保平安快高長大。

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The 15th day of the 7th lunar month is known as the Bon Festival in Buddhism and the Zhong Yuan Festival in Taoism. It is also commonly referred to as the Ghost Festival. It is said that on this day, the gates to the underworld are opened wide, allowing hungry ghosts to enter the human world to receive alms. On Kat O, it was celebrated with ceremonies offering sacrifices to the ghosts and distributing clothes and food. Starting on 14th July, a 10-foot-tall paper effigy of the King of Ghosts, known as Shan Da Yan by the people of Kat O, was placed on the left side of the main gate of the Tin Hau Temple to supervise the lonely ghosts so that they would accept the offerings from the faithful in an orderly manner. This ensured that the ghosts would line up to receive the meals and clothes and not fight each other.

 

According to legend, the King of Ghosts is called Mien Ran and is associated with the Buddhist Hungry Ghost Path. Because of his withered face and flaming mouth, he is also called Flame Mouth. After being transformed by Kuan Yin, he became a Buddhist monk and was honoured as Da Shi Ye. The appearance of the Ghost King of Kat O is a bit different from that of Mien Ran. According to the local version, the Mountain Lord of Kat O has a fierce face, with two big round eyes, a big bloody mouth and a big belly. His right foot is bent and raised, his right hand holds a pen high in the air, and his left hand holds a book on his left knee.

 

The people of Kato celebrated a festival on the 14th of July to pay homage to the gods. Throughout the day, residents brought offerings and joss sticks to pay homage to Tin Hau, Kwun Yum, Wong Yeh, Pak Kung, and of course, the Lord of the Mountain. When worshipping the Mountain Lord, parents encouraged their children to pass through the crotch of  the Mountain Lord. It was believed that children who did this would be kept safe and grow up quickly.

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