Qingming Festival

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Qingming
Official name	Qingming Jie (TC: 清明節, SC:清明节)
Also called	Tomb Sweeping Day All Souls Day
Observed by	Chinese Buddhists, Taoists, Chinese folk religion believers
Type	Asian festival
Significance	Remembering past ancestors
Date	15th day from the Spring Equinox Apr.4th or Apr.5th
2008 date	April 4
Observances	Cleaning and sweeping of graves, Ancestor worship, offering food to deceased, burning joss paper

The Qingming Festival (traditional Chinese: 清明節; simplified Chinese: 清明节; pinyin: Qīngmíngjié, Vietnamese language: Tết Thanh Minh), 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 (see Chinese calendar). Every leap year, Qing Ming is on April 4. Astronomically, it is also a solar term (See Qingming). In solar terms, the Qingming 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 People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Prior to 2008, the holiday was not official in the People's Republic of China since the Communist Party of China classified it as superstition.^[1] It was officially celebrated as a public holiday for the first time on April 4, 2008.^[2]

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 (official in Hong Kong^[3])
• Ching Ming Chieh

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Qingming in Chinese Tea Culture 3 Qingming in painting 4 Qingming in literature 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] 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
• Chinese Memorial Day
• Tomb Sweeping Day
• Spring Remembrance

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 at grave sites. Young and old pray before the ancestors, sweep the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks, (joss) paper accessories, 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]}

[edit] Qingming in Chinese Tea Culture

The Qingming festival holiday has a lot of significance in 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' or 'mingqian' 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 ^[4].

[edit] Qingming in painting

Main article: Along the River During Qingming Festival

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.

[edit] 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 winehouse be found to drown his sadness?
A cowherd points to Xing Hua village in the distance.

• Note: (The word: 酒家 can have multiple meaning. 1. Winehouse or restaurant; 2. Hostel, Hotel or Motel)

In the Vietnamese epic poem The Tale of Kieu, Qingming is also mentioned as the occasion where the protagonist Kieu meets a ghost of a dead old lady. 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.

[edit] See also

• Traditional Chinese holidays
• Cold Food Festival, three consecutive days starting the day before the Qingming Festival
• Double Ninth Festival, the other day to visit and clean up the cemeteries in Hong Kong
• Ghost Festival
• Day of the Dead
• Hansik, a related Korean holiday on the same day
• Along the River During Ching Ming Festival by Zhang Zeduan

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Qingming Festival for more pictures, and traditions in mainland China.