Ching Ming Festival: Honouring Ancestors

Description

As one of the important dates in the traditional Chinese calendar, the Ching Ming Festival (cing1 ming4 zit3 清明節), also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, is observed on 5 April this year.

It is a day for the living to honour the dead and has been a significant holiday since the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC). Falling on the first day of the fifth solar term, 15 days after the spring equinox, Ching Ming marks the first term of spring and signifies clearness and brightness, which is considered an auspicious time. By 732 AD, the rituals surrounding ancestor worship had become particularly elaborate among China’s elites, sometimes stretching over several days. To curb the over-glorification of elite family ancestors, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang decreed that all rituals be restricted to the first day of Ching Ming.

Today, Chinese people around the world use this festival to remember their family ancestors. In Hong Kong, families visit the graves and tombs of their ancestors, tidying the headstones, clearing away grass and weeds, lighting incense and making burnt offerings as well as food such as roast chicken, char siu and fruits. Many Hongkongers also visit their ancestors at places such as Ching Chung Koon in Tuen Mun.

While Ching Ming means different things to different people, it is first and foremost a day for the living to connect with the dead. It is not a mournful occasion, but one of reverence combined with joy and family reunion.