Qingming Festival Rituals
Qingming Festival is also known as Tomb Sweeping Day the “Bright Clear Festival.” Usually held during the beginning of April, the exact date is based on the Chinese lunar calendar. Traditionally, Chinese take time on this day to visit graves, mausoleums and crematoriums to perform prayers, ceremonies and rituals to honor ancestors.
Burning paper money is one of the oldest Qingming Festival rituals that is still alive. Families take incense and fake paper money to a gravesite and burn it for deceased relatives.
It is also common to clean upthe grave site and leave fresh flowers. Weeds and other brush are cleared aside from the general area around the tomb. Sometimes firecrackers are set off before the rituals are conducted to scare off evil spirits.
Relationship to Chinese Ancestor Worship
Qingming Festival is uniquely tied to the Chinese concept of the afterlife and Chinese ancestor worship. Traditionally Chinese people believed that ancestors had the power to look after their descendents even after they had died. It was believed that offerings of food and incense could please their ancestors; burning paper money allowed ancestors to be wealthy in the afterlife.
According to traditional beliefs, by pleasing ancestors, families could secure their blessings and they themselves could ensure a happy life. Teaching children the rituals of Tomb Sweeping Day ensured that parents would be well-cared for after they had died as well.
Now many Chinese no longer strictly believe in Qingming Festival’s relationship to the afterlife but the rituals are still carried out as a type of cultural tradition.
Modern Practice
In modern China, many city dwellers to not live near their ancestral gravesites, so a Qingming Festival might mean a long trip into the countryside by car or bus. Graveyards that are normally empty other times of the year can be busy and full of visitors. To offset this somewhat, it is acceptable to come a week or so before or after Qingming Festival to perform the rituals.
In ancient China, feasts were often prepared to be left a gravesites; the richer the family, the more elaborate the food. This practice has largely been phased out now; now only fruit and small snacks are left if anything. Living family members themselves traditionally only ate cold food on this day, a tradition that is still practiced in rural, more traditional areas.
Other practices that are associated with the Qingming Festival are kite flying (especially at night) and planting trees. It is thought that a treat planted during this time of year will be healthy.
