The Ching Ming Festival
meaning Clear and Bright Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival on the 104th day after the winter solstice (or the 15th day from the Spring Equinox), usually occurring around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar.
Every leap year, Ching Ming is on April 4. Astronomically, it is also a solar term (See Qingming). In solar terms, the Ching Ming festival is on the 1st day of the 5th solar term, which is also named Qingming. Its name denotes a time for people to go outside and enjoy the greenery of springtime (踏青 Tàqīng, "treading on the greenery"), and also to tend to the graves of departed ones. It is an official public holiday in the Republic of China, as well as in Hong Kong and Macau though not in the People"s Republic of China.The transcription of the term Qingming may appear in a number of different forms, some of which are:
* Qingming
* Qing Ming
* Qing Ming Jie
* Ching Ming
* Ching Ming Chieh
Introduction
The holiday is also known by a number of other names in the English language:
* All Souls Day (not to be confused with the Roman Catholic holiday, All Souls Day, of the same name)
* Clear Brightness Festival
* Festival for Tending Graves
* Grave Sweeping Day
* Memorial Day
* Tomb Sweeping Day
* Spring Rememberance
Tomb Sweeping Day and Clear Brightness Festival are the most common English translations of Qingming Festival. Tomb Sweeping Day is used in several English language newspapers published in the Republic of China.
For the Chinese, it is a day to remember and honour one"s ancestors. Young and old pray before the ancestors, sweep the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks, (joss) paper acessories, and/or libation to the ancestors. The rites are very important to most Chinese and especially farmers. Some people carry willow branches with them on Qingming, or put willow branches on their gates and/or front doors. They think that willow branches help ward off the evil ghosts that wander on Qingming. Also on Qingming, people go on family outings, start the spring plowing, sing, dance, and Qingming is a time where young couples start courting. Another popular thing to do is fly kites (in shapes of animals, or characters from Chinese opera).
The April Fifth Movement and the Tiananmen Incident were major events on Qingming that took place in the history of the People"s Republic of China. When Premier Zhou Enlai died in 1976, thousands visited him during the festival to pay respect. In the Republic of China, April 4th coincides with the passing of Chiang Kai-shek and the date is designated as a national holiday.
On a note, the overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asian nations such as Singapore and Malaysia also practice this custom. However the practice is in decline in these regions.
Hanshi, the day before Qingming, was created by Chong"er, the Duke Wen of the state of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period when he accidentally killed his personal friend and servant Jie Zhitui (介之推) (or Jie Zitui) and his mother in a fireblaze in the hope of making him return to him (Chong"er). On Hanshi, people were not allowed to use fires to heat up food, thus nicknaming it the Cold Food Festival. Eventually, 300 years ago, the Hanshi "celebration" was combined with the Qingming festival, but later abandoned by most people.
Qingming itself was created by the Tang Emperor Xuanzong in 732. It is said that because the wealthy held too many expensive, elaborate ancestor-worshipping ceremonies, in a needed effort to lower this expense, Emperor Xuanzong declared that respects could be formally paid at ancestor"s graves only on Qingming.[citation needed]
Qingming in painting
The famous Qingming scroll by Zhang Zeduan is an ancient Chinese painting which portrays the scene of Kaifeng city, the capital of Song Dynasty during Qingming period.
Qingming in literature
Qingming was frequently mentioned in Chinese literature. Among these, the most famous one is probably Du Mu"s poem (simply titled "Qingming"):
Traditional Chinese / Simplified Chinese / pinyin
清明時節雨紛紛 / 清明时节雨纷纷 / qīng míng shí jié yǔ fēn fēn
路上行人欲斷魂 / 路上行人欲断魂 / lù shàng xíng rén yù duàn hún
借問酒家何處有 / 借问酒家何处有 / jiè wèn jiǔ jiā hé chù yǒu
牧童遙指杏花村 / 牧童遥指杏花村 / mù tóng yáo zhǐ xìng huā cūn
English translation
A drizzling rain falls like tears on the Mourning Day;
The mourner"s heart is breaking on his way.
Where can a wineshop be found to drown his sadness?
A cowherd points to Xing Hua village in the distance.
In the Vietnamese epic poem The Tale of Kieu, Qingming is also mentioned as the occasion where the protagonist Kieu meets a ghost. The lines describing the sceneries during this festival remain some of the most well-known lines in Vietnamese literature:
Ngày xuân con én đưa thoi
Thiều quang chín chục đã ngoài sáu mươi
Cỏ non xanh tận chân trời
Cành lê trắng điểm một vài bông hoa
Thanh Minh trong tiết tháng ba
Lễ là Tảo mộ, hội là Đạp thanh
Gần xa nô nức yến oanh
Chị em sắm sửa bộ hành chơi xuân
English translation
Swift swallows and spring days were shuttling by
of ninety radiant ones three score had fled.
Young grass spread all its green to heaven"s rim;
some blossoms marked pear branches with white dots.
Now came the Feast of Light in the third month
with graveyard rites and junkets on the green.
As merry pilgrims flocked from near and far,
the sisters and their brother went for a stroll.
| Ancestor worship is a Chinese tradition dating back thousands of years. | |
Also known as the Grave-sweeping or Spring Remembrance, Ching Ming ("clear and bright"), is when Chinese families show their respect by visiting the graves of their ancestors to clear away weeds, touch up gravestone inscriptions and make offerings of wine and fruit. Public transport is widely used, particularly on routes along which cemeteries are located, and the Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR) East Rail runs extra services to cope with the increased traffic to burial areas in the New Territories. You should expect delays on public transport and on roads with access to cemeteries. | |
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