Qingming (Tomb-sweeping) Festival, a four-day national holiday in mainland China has just come to an end. During this festival, Chinese nationals visit graves or burial grounds to pray to their ancestors and pay their respects. It is similar to ‘All Saint’s Day’ of Judeo-Christian tradition celebrated on November 1st each year.
This message is not about legal matters as most of our other posts (although it is a ‘legal’ governmental holiday in China). It is about economics, as the holiday is supported in the hopes that people will spend money and improve the economy by giving the population time-off from work (smart thinking in this country of savers).
What is this holiday, exactly? Well, it has certainly evolved over the course of my 30+ years as a continuous resident in mainland China. When I first arrived it was not an official government holiday. It was as I recall, actually a non-observed holiday condemned as silly & superstitious. Later, the holiday was tolerated. Now it is embraced and the general population have four consecutive days off work.
The Qingming Festival is an opportunity for celebrants to remember and honour their ancestors at their grave sites. In Beijing at the biggest gravesite Baobaoshan, the young and old pray before their ancestors, sweep the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks, joss paper, and/or libations (not unlike the urban custom of pouring a libation/Malt 45 to your departed ‘homeboy’) to their ancestors. I am told, the rites have a long tradition (more than my 30 years of observation that is) in China, primarily among farmers. In some years, I was in the countryside when the festival occurred and observed the locals carry willow branches with them on Qingming and put the branches on their gates and/or front doors. They believe the willow branches help ‘ward off’ an evil spirit that wanders on Qingming. This is similar to the tradition of Halloween, where costumes are used to fool the evil spirits that come the night before All Saints day.
On Qingming, people go on family outings, start the spring planting of gardens, many travel abroad or around the country for the long four-day holiday, and like most in my little neighbourhood in Beijing simply enjoy a long walk around our community.
As it is the start of spring, Qingming is also a time when young couples traditionally start ‘courting’, but truth be told in China it appears like all times are good for young people to start courting. However, unlike in the past, nowadays they simply use an app and a smartphone, not a matchmaker to accomplish the goals of courtship. Another popular thing to do is to fly kites in the shapes of animals or characters from Chinese Opera (although this does not happen in my community of upper-middle-class Chinese yuppies). Thankfully, no firecrackers are used in this celebration (at least where I live). I am still getting over all the fireworks from Spring Festival where I seem to suffer from PTSD as the fireworks seem to go off 24-7 for a few weeks.
As for me, my parents departed many years ago now. I cannot sweep their gravestones as they are currently working their way through eternity in a Cemetery just outside the city of Chicago. I just mark the day by saying a small prayer of remembrance for them. They were not perfect, they did the best they could in the time they lived on this earth, I loved them then, and love them still. I miss them. I then usually go out and look at the blooming spring flowers (my Mother always insisted we plant flowers and make a garden in the spring around this time). I hated the task as a kid, but now it is a bittersweet reminder, God is everywhere. They are with me still and all my other family who went before even though their remains are thousands of miles away. I know they rest-in-peace with that same God we all worshiped together as family when we were kids, somehow, in an ever-changing world, this at least brings me comfort. Happy Qingming. RIP Mom & Dad.