Today, of course, is Easter — but it’s also a special day in Chinese culture. Both faithful readers know that I/we celebrate a lot of Chinese holidays — not because either of us have any particular ties to China, but because they’re interesting and almost all seeped in tradition.
Today, is one of those interesting Chinese holidays. Every year on the 15th day after the Spring Equinox, Chinese people celebrate Qīngmíng jié — the Tomb Sweeping Festival. This year it happens to fall on Easter — April 4.
It is said that the Qīngmíng Festival was originally held to commemorate a loyal man living in the Spring and Autumn Period (770 – 476 BC,) named Jié Zitui. Jié cut a piece of meat from his own leg in order to save his hungry lord who was forced to go into exile when the crown was in jeopardy. The lord came back to his position nineteen years later, and forgot Jié Zitui. But later he felt ashamed and decided to reward him. However, Jié had locked himself up in a mountain with his mother. In order to find Jié, the lord ordered that the mountain should be set on fire. Later Jié was found dead with his mother. In order to commemorate Jié, the lord ordered that the day Jié died was Hanshi (Cold Food) Festival — the day that only cold food could be eaten.
The second year, when the lord went to the mountain to sacrifice to Jié, he found the willows revived, so he gave instructions that the day after Hanshi Festival was to be Qīngmíng Festival. Later, the two festivals were combined as one.
The Qīngmíng Festival is a time for a number of different activities — one of the main ones being tomb sweeping. Others include taking a spring outing and flying kites. Some customs have been lost over the years like wearing willow branches on the head. The festival is a combination of sadness and happiness.
But of all the activities, tomb sweeping is regarded as the most important custom in the Qīngmíng Festival. Cleaning the tomb and paying respect to the dead person with offerings are the two important parts of remembering past relatives. Weeds around the tomb are cleared away and fresh soil is added. The dead person’s favorite food and wine are taken to sacrifice to them, along with paper resembling money, that is burned in the hope that the deceased are not lacking in the afterlife. In return for this it is believed that ancestors will bless their living family members and help them have a prosperous year in the temporal world. At the end of the entire ceremony all the family members gather around the tomb and throw up colored papers in the air to heaven for blessing.
Of course, the modern world has effected the way the Qīngmíng Festival is celebrated today… the modern version has gotten more materialistic. Paper goods in the form of cars, smart phones, iPads and other technological gadgets are made especially for this occasion, but people still ask for wealth and luck in return. And today, people that live too far from their ancestors tombs are now able to send flowers, candles or food through the Internet.
So even though in many places, the festival has been modernized, it’s still not only a day for remembering and honoring the departed, but also a day to be spent with family outdoors or traveling in the colors of spring after a long, gray winter.
Happy Easter — and — Qīngmíng.
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