Qingming Festival

TheQingming FestivalorChing Ming Festival,also known asTomb-Sweeping Dayin English (sometimes also calledChinese Memorial Day,Ancestors' Day, theClear Brightness       Festival, or thePure Brightness Festival),is atraditional Chinese festivalobserved byethnic Chinesein mainland China,Hong Kong,Macau,Taiwan,Malaysia,Singapore,Cambodia,Indonesia,Philippines,Thailand, andVietnam. A celebration of spring,it falls on the first day of the fifthsolar term(also calledQingming) of thetraditional Chineselunisolar calendar. This makes it the 15th day after theSpring Equinox, either 4, 5 or 6 April in a given year.During Qingming, Chinese families visit the tombs of their ancestors to clean the gravesites and make ritual offerings to their ancestors.Offerings would typically include traditional food dishes and the burning ofjoss sticksandjoss paper.The holiday recognizes the traditionalreverence of one's ancestorsin Chinese culture.
The origins of the Qingming Festival go back more than 2500 years, although the observance has changed significantly. It became apublic holidayin mainland China in 2008, where it is associated with the consumption ofqingtuan,green dumplings made ofglutinous riceandChinese mugwortorbarley grass.
InTaiwan, thepublic holidaywas in the past observed on 5 April to honor the death ofChiang Kai-shekon that day in 1975, but with Chiang's popularity waning, this convention is not being observed. A confection calledcaozaiguoorshuchuguo, made withJersey cudweed, is consumed there.
A similarholiday is observedin theRyukyu Islands, calledShīmīin thelocal language.
The festival originated from theCold Food or Hanshi Festivalwhich is said to commemorateJie Zitui, a nobleman of thestate of Jin(modernShanxi) during theSpring and Autumn period.Amid theLi Ji Unrest, he followed his masterPrince Chong'erin 655BC to exile among theDi tribesand around China. Supposedly, he once even cut flesh from his thigh to provide his lord withsoup.In 636BC,Duke Mu of Qininvaded Jin and enthroned Chong'er as its duke, where he was generous in rewarding those who had helped him in his time of need. Owing either to his high-mindedness or to the duke's neglect, however, Jie was long passed over.He finally retired to the forest aroundMount Mianwith his elderly mother.The duke went to the forest in636 BCbut could not find them. He then ordered his men to set fire to the forest in order to force Jie out.When Jie and his mother were killed instead, the duke ordered that thenceforth no one should light a fire on the date of Jie's death.The people of Shanxi subsequently revered Jie as animmortaland avoided lighting fires for as long as a month in the depths of winter, a practice so injurious to children and the elderly that the area's rulers unsuccessfully attempted to ban it for centuries. A compromise finally developed where it was restricted to 3 days around theQingmingsolar termin mid-spring.
The present importance of the holiday is credited toEmperor Xuanzong of Tang. Wealthy citizens in China were reportedly holding too many extravagant and ostentatiously expensive ceremoniesin honor of their ancestors. InAD 732, Xuanzong sought to curb this practice by declaring that such respects could be formally paid only once a year, on Qingming.
Qingming Festival is when Chinese people traditionally visit ancestral tombs to sweep them.This tradition has been legislated by the Emperors who built majestic imperial tombstones for every dynasty. For thousands of years, the Chinese imperials,nobility,peasantry, andmerchantsalike have gathered together to remember the lives of the departed, to visit theirtombstonesto performConfucianfilial piety by tombsweeping, to visit burial grounds, graveyards or in modern urban cities, the city columbaria, to perform groundskeeping and maintenance and to commit to pray for theirancestorsin the uniquely Chinese concept of theafterlifeand to offer remembrances of their ancestors to living blood relatives, their kith and kin. In some places, people believe that sweeping the tomb is only allowed during this festival, as they believe the dead will get disturbed if the sweeping is done on other days.
The young and old alike kneel to offer prayers before tombstones of the ancestors, offer the burning of joss in both the forms of incense sticks (joss-sticks) and silver-leafed paper (joss paper), sweep the tombs and offer food in memory of the ancestors.Depending on the religion of the observers, some pray to a higherdeityto honor their ancestors, while others may pray directly to the ancestral spirits.
People who live far away and can't travel to their ancestors' tombs may make a sacrifice from a distance.
These rites have a long tradition in Asia, especially among the imperial who legislated these rituals into a national religion. They have been preserved especially by the peasantry and are most popular with farmers today, who believe that continued observances will ensure fruitful harvests ahead by appeasing the spirits in the other world.
Religious symbols of ritual purity, such aspomegranateandwillowbranches, are popular at this time. Some people wear willow twigs on their heads on Qingming or stick willow branches on their homes.There are similarities topalm leavesused onPalm Sundaysin Christianity; both are religious rituals. Furthermore, the belief is that the willow branches will help ward off misfortune.
After gathering on Qingming to perform Confucian clan and family duties at the tombstones, graveyards, or columbaria, participants spend the rest of the day in clan or family outings, before they start the spring plowing. Historically, people would often sing and dance, and Qingming was a time when young couples traditionally started courting.Another popular thing to do is to fly kites in the shapes of animals or characters from folk tales orChinese opera.Another common practice is to carry flowers instead of burning paper, incense, or firecrackers.
Traditionally, a family will burnspirit money(joss paper) and paper replicas of material goods such as cars, homes, phones, and paper servants. This action usually happens during the Qingming festival.In Chinese culture, it is believed that people still need all of those things in the afterlife. Then family members take turns to kowtow three to nine times (depending on the family's adherence to traditional values) before the tomb of the ancestors. TheKowtowingritual in front of the grave is performed in the order of patriarchal seniority within the family. After the ancestor worship at the grave site, the whole family or the whole clan feast on the food and drink they have brought for the worship.Another ritual related to the festival is thecockfight,as well as being available within that historic and cultural context atKaifengMillennium City Park (Qingming Riverside Landscape Garden).
The holiday is often marked by people paying respects to those who are considered national or legendary heroes.TheApril Fifth Movementand theTiananmen Incidentwere major events inChinese historywhich occurred on Qingming. After PremierZhou Enlaidied in 1976,thousands honored him during the festival to pay their respects.
InTaiwan, the Qingming Festival was not a public holiday until 1972. Three years later, upon the death of Chiang Kai-shek on 5 April 1975, theKuomintanggovernment declared that the anniversary of Chiang's death be observed alongside the festival. The practice was abolished in 2007.
Despite the festival having no official status, theoverseas Chinesecommunities in Southeast Asian nations, such as those inSingaporeandMalaysia, take this festival seriously and observe its traditions faithfully. Some Qingming rituals and ancestral veneration decorum observed by the overseas Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore can be dated back to the Ming and Qing dynasties, as the overseas communities were not affected by theCultural Revolutionin mainland China. Qingming in Malaysia is an elaborate family function or a clan feast (usually organized by the respective clan association) to commemorate and honor recently deceased relatives at their grave sites and distant ancestors from China at home altars, clan temples, or makeshift altars in Buddhist or Taoist temples. For the overseas Chinese community, the Qingming festival is very much a solemn family event and, at the same time, a family obligation. They see this festival as a time of reflection for honoring and giving thanks to their forefathers. Overseas Chinese normally visit the graves of their recently deceased relatives on the weekend nearest to the actual date. According to the ancient custom, grave site veneration is only permissible ten days before and after the Qingming Festival. If the visit is not on the actual date, normally veneration before Qingming is encouraged. The Qingming Festival in Malaysia and Singapore normally starts early in the morning by paying respect to distant ancestors from China at home altars. This is followed by visiting the graves of close relatives in the country. Some follow the concept offilial pietyto the extent of visiting the graves of their ancestors inmainland China.
During the Tang dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang promoted large-scaletug of wargames, using ropes of up to 167 metres (548 ft) with shorter ropes attached and more than 500 people on each end of the rope. Each side also had its own team of drummers to encourage the participants.In honor of these customs, families often go hiking or kiting, play Chinese soccer or tug-of-war and plant trees, includingwillow trees.
The Qingming festival is also a part of spiritual and religious practices in China, and is associated with Buddhism.For example, Buddhism teaches that those who die with guilt are unable to eat in the afterlife, except on the day of the Qingming festival.
The Qingming festival holiday has significance in the Chinese tea culture since this specific day divides the freshgreen teasby their picking dates. Green teas made from leaves picked before this date are given the prestigious 'pre-Qingming tea' (明前茶) designation which commands a much higher price tag. These teas are prized for their aroma, taste, and tenderness.
The Qingming festival was originally considered the day with the best spring weather when many people would go out and travel. TheOld Book of Tangdescribes this custom and mentions of it may be found in ancient poetry.
The famousSong dynastyQingming scrollattributed toZhang Zeduanmay portrayKaifengcity, the capital of the Song dynasty, but does not include any of the activities associated with the holiday, however, and the term "Qingming" may not refer to the holiday.
Qingming was frequently mentioned inChinese literature. Among these, the most famous one is probablyDu Mu's poem (simply titled "Qingming"):
Although the Qingming Festival is not celebrated inVietnam, the Qingming Festival is mentioned (under the nameThanh Minh) in the epic poemThe Tale of Kieu(which takes place in Ming China during the reign ofJiajing), when the protagonist Thúy Kiều (翠翹) meets a ghost of a dead old lady. The description of the scenery during this festival is one of the best-known passages ofVietnamese literature: