English, is a traditional Chinese festival on the first day of the fifth

solar term of the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. This makes it the

15th day after the Spring Equinox, either 4 or 5 April in a given year.

Other common translations include Chinese Memorial Day and Ancestors' Day.

Qingming has been regularly observed as a statutory public holiday in China. In

Taiwan, the public holiday is now always observed on 5 April to honor the death

of Chiang Kai-shek on that day in 1975. It became a public holiday in mainland

China in 2008. In the mainland, the holiday is

associated with the consumption of qingtuan, green dumplings made of

glutinous rice and barley grass. In Taiwan, the similar confection is known

as caozaiguo or shuchuguo. A similar holiday is observed in the

Ryukyu Islands, called Shīmī in the local language.

Origin The festival originated from the Cold

Food Festival, established by Chong'er, Duke Wen of Jin, during the Spring and

Autumn period. The festival was a memorial for his retainer Jie Zitui, who

had loyally followed him during his years of exile. Supposedly, he once even

cut meat from his own thigh to provide Chong'er with soup. Once Chong'er was

enthroned as duke, however, Jie considered his services no longer

required and resigned. Although Duke Wen was generous in rewarding those who had

helped him in his time of need, he long passed over Jie, who had moved into the

forest with his mother. Duke Wen went to the forest in 636 BC but 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 was overcome with

remorse and ordered three days without fire to honor Jie's memory. The city

erected over the former forest is still called Jiexiu.

The present importance of the holiday is credited to the Tang Emperor Xuanzong.

Wealthy citizens in China were reportedly holding too many extravagant

and ostentatiously expensive ceremonies in honor of their ancestors. In AD 732,

Emperor Xuanzong sought to curb this practice by declaring that such respects

could be formally paid only once a year, on Qingming.

Celebration Qingming Festival is when Chinese people

visit the columbarium, graves or burial grounds to pray to their ancestors.

The Qingming Festival is an opportunity for celebrants to remember and honour

their ancestors at grave sites. Young and old pray before the ancestors, sweep

the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks, joss paper accessories,

and/or libations to the ancestors. The rites have a long tradition in Asia,

especially among farmers. Some people carry willow branches with them on

Qingming or put willow branches on their gates and/or front doors. They believe

that willow branches help ward off the evil spirit that wanders on Qingming.

On Qingming, people go on family outings, start the spring plowing, sing,

and dance. Qingming is also a time when young couples traditionally start

courting. Another popular thing to do is to fly kites in the shapes of animals or

characters from Chinese opera. Another common practice is to carry flowers

instead of burning paper, incense, or firecrackers.

Despite having no official status, the overseas Chinese communities in

Southeast Asian nations, such as those in Singapore and Malaysia, take this

festival seriously and observe its traditions faithfully. Some Qingming

rituals and ancestral veneration decorum observed by the oversea Chinese in

Malaysia and Singapore can be dated back to Ming and Qing dynasties, as the

oversea communities were not affected by the Cultural Revolution in Mainland

China. Qingming in Malaysia is an elaborate family function or a clan

feast to commemorate and honour 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 oversea Chinese community, the Qingming

festival is very much a family celebration and, at the same time, a

family obligation. They see this festival as a time of reflection and to

honour and give thanks to their forefathers. Overseas Chinese normally

visit the graves of their recently deceased relatives on the nearest

weekend to the actual date. According to the ancient custom, grave site

veneration is only feasible 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 of filial piety to the extent of visiting

the graves of their ancestors in mainland China. Traditionally, the

family will burn spirit money and paper replicas of material goods such as cars,

homes, phones and paper servants. 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 before the tomb of the ancestors. The

Kowtowing ritual 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 brought for the

worship either at the site or in nearby gardens in the memorial park, signifying

family reunion with the ancestors. Another ritual related to the festival

is the cockfight, as well as being available within that historic and

cultural context at Kaifeng Millennium City Park.

The holiday is often marked by people paying respects to those who died in

events considered sensitive. The April Fifth Movement and the Tiananmen

Incident were major events in Chinese history which occurred on Qingming. When

Premier Zhou Enlai died in 1976, thousands visited him during the

festival to pay their respects. Many also pay respects to victims of the

Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and Zhao Ziyang.

In Chinese tea culture The Qingming festival holiday has a

significance in the Chinese tea culture since this specific day divides the

fresh green teas by their picking dates. Green teas made from leaves picked

before this date are given the prestigious 'pre-qingming' designation

which commands a much higher price tag. These teas are prized for having much

lighter and subtler aromas than those picked after the festival.

In painting The famous Qingming scroll by Zhang

Zeduan is an ancient Chinese painting which portrays the scene of Kaifeng

city, the capital of the Song Dynasty during a Qingming festival.

In literature Qingming was frequently mentioned in

Chinese literature. Among these, the most famous one is probably Du Mu's

poem: Although the date is not presently a

holiday in Vietnam, the Qingming festival is mentioned in the epic poem

The Tale of Kieu, when the protagonist Kieu meets a ghost of a dead old lady.

The description of the scenery during this festival is one of the best-known

passages of Vietnamese literature: See also

Along the River During Ching Ming Festival by Zhang Zeduan

Cold Food Festival, three consecutive days starting the day before the

Qingming Festival Day of the Dead

Double Ninth Festival, the other day to visit and clean up the cemeteries in

Hong Kong Ghost Festival

Hansik, a related Korean holiday on the same day

Songkran, South and Southeast Asia equivalents

Traditional Chinese holidays References

External links