Qingming Festival (Tomb-sweeping Day), a Festival for Ancestors

04/02/2010 11:30:12

Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb-sweeping Day or Ancestors Day, always enrolls in the list of the most important Chinese traditional festivals in and outside the mainland. It is a special memorial festival for the ancestors, a time to pay respects to one's ancestors and to tidy up their gravesites.

Typically falling on either April 4 or 5, Qingming Festival is a precious heritage of brilliant Chinese cultures and customs, with a history of more than 2000 years. In China, "Qing Ming" literally means "Clear Brightness", which not only indicates the honesty and probity of people but also hints the coming of late spring. So the Qingming Festival signifies two crucial things to Chinese.

       Qingming Festival in Chinese Painting                     Ritual of offering sacrifices to ancestors in ancient time

First, one should never forget the passed beloved ones and their ancestors, and strive to be a person of honesty and probity. So, people in China, just as the name "Tomb-sweeping Day" suggests, often visit their family graves to tend to any underbrush and weeds that have grown out of hand around the grave. Weeds are pulled, dirt swept away and joss sticks, food and paper money is offered to the departed. In this way, they believe that the spirits of deceased ancestor will know that they have not been forgotten and return their offspring blessing and prosperity. School students are often organized to go to the Martyrs' Park to pay their respect to national heroes and martyrs who sacrificed their lives in battles for the happy life and prosperous country now.

Students marching to Martyrs Park with a wreath                   A lady is commemorating her beloved ones.

Second, the planting season has come and one should begin his farm work. Qingming Festival is a symbol of rebirth of Nature after the long harsh winter. From that day on, warm weather and nice rainfall will come to the Chinese farms; everything is perfect for spring plowing and planting. It is said that if farmers work hard then, they will probably enjoy a considerable harvest in the autumn.

Spring plowing after Qinging in a traditional way                 Flying a kite on Tomb-sweeping Day for good luck

Nowadays, for those who are engaged in busy life & indulging work in big cities, Qingming Festival becomes an ideal time for them to stop for a while, get away from concrete buildings to the green fields, sweep their ancestors' tombs, recall the sweet memory of them and take a deep breath in nature. Outdoor activities like taqing (also called Stepping-the-green, means taking a walk in the green world), swing, polo, willow-planting, kite-flying are favorite spring funs of the Qingming Festival, some of which even have developed into rituals of Qingming Festival.

Spring is a perfect time to take a China tour to explore Chinese countryside, viewing the prosperous the green world, watching traditional Chinese agricultural planting and enjoy the origin cultures of Qingming Festival.

Further Reading:

Hanshi Festival & the History of Qingming Festival