Qingming Festival

 Our SPRSUN has a holiday of Qingming Festival yesterday.Today, Let's share some related culture about 

 our traditional day.  

Origin 

Qingming Festival,also known as Pure Brightness Festival or Tomb-sweeping Day, is one of the 24 segments of the 
Chinese calendar.  It normally falls on the 4th or 5th of April,  between spring plowing and summer weeding, and is a 
time to pay respects to one's ancestors and to tidy their gravesite.   On this day, whole families, young and old, go to 
the gravesite of deceased family members to burn incense and perform a ritual offering while clearing away plant ov
-er growth from the gravesite.Qingming Festival is when Chinese people visit the graves or burial grounds of their an
-cestors. Traditionally,   people brought a whole rooster with them to the graves visited but the occasion has become 
less formal over time.  The festival originated from Hanshi Day (literally,  Day with cold food only),  a memorial day for 
Jie Zitui .

Customs 

Qingming Festival is a time of many different activities, among which the main ones are tomb sweeping, taking a sp-
ring outing,flying kites.Some other lost customs like wearing willow branches on the head and riding on swings have 
added infinite joy in past days. The festival is a combination of sadness and happiness, perhaps bittersweet.

Tomb Sweeping or Ancestor Worshipping 

The major custom in Qingming Festival is tomb sweeping. According to folk religion, the spirits of deceased ances
-tors still live underground and look after the family; the tombs are said to be their houses; thus it is very important to 
keep the tombs clean.   The Qingming Festival is spent honoring the dead,  which is one of many ways good Confu-
cians demonstrate filial piety. On this day, people visit their family graves to remove any underbrush that has grown. 
They would uproot weeds near the gravesites,wipe the tombstones and decorate the tombstones with fresh flowers. 
And then they will set out offerings of food and paper money. 

Spring Outing 

Not only is it a day for commemorating the dead,    is it also a festival for people to enjoy themselves.  During March, 
everything in nature takes on a new look, as trees turn green, flowers blossom, and the sun shines brightly. It is a fine 
time to go out and to appreciate the beautiful scenes of nature during the festival. This custom can be traced back to 
the Tang Dynasty and followed by each dynasty later till today.  So visitors can be seen everywhere during the month 
of the festival.Spring outings not only add joy to life but also promote a healthy body and mind.

Flying Kites 

Flying kites is an activity favored by many people during the Qingming Festival.   Kites are not only flown at day time 
but also in the evening. Little lanterns are tied to the kite or to the string that holds the kite. And when the kite is flying 
in the sky, the lanterns look like twinkling stars that add unique scenery to the sky during the night. What makes flying 
kites during this festival special is that people cut the string while the kite is in the sky to let it fly free. It is said this 
brings good luck and that diseases can be eliminated by doing this.

Planting Willow Trees 

Because Jie Zitui died embracing a willow tree, the willow is believed to have miraculous powers against evil.During 
the Qingming Festival, willow branches are hung on door fronts and used to sweep the tombs.

Swinging 

The common swing has offered sport to many children throughout the world. During the Ming Dynasty,   swinging was 
a designated recreation on the Qingming Festival,  also known as the Clear and Bright Festival or the Tomb Sweep-
ing Festival. Because the festival generally occurs in mid-spring, many also use the occasion for family outings.Accor
-ding to the Annals of the Ming Court,    this day was also called Swing Festival,  when swings were suspended in the 
Hall of Earthly Peace of the Forbidden City  and in all the residential complexes where palace ladies resided. Ladies 
of the imperial household wore colorful silks especially made for the occasion, and amused themselves on swings.

A Time to Taste Tea 

Qingming Festival is also a time to enjoy a cup of tea, because the tea produced around Qingming Festival is said to 
be with high-quality.The plucking of tea usually takes place in spring, summer and autumn.     Tealeaves from different 
seasons have different appearances and inner quality.Tealeaves plucked in spring, from early March to the Qingming 
Festival, are calle “pre-ming tea” or “first tea.”    Its color is of light jade green,  and tastes pure with a touch of acerbity. 
Two weeks after Qingming, it is the Guyu solar term on the Chinese lunar calendar.During this time, the Jiangnan area 
will experience a round of fine precipitation for the moistening of crops.  And this brings forth the second peak season 
of tea picking.Tealeaves collected after the Qingming but before Guyu are called “pre-rain tea,”and the spring tea pick-
ed after that are called “post-rain tea.”Spring tea’s prices usually vary according to the time the tealeaves were picked,
with the prices being higher for earlier tea and lower for the later.    In most cases,  early-spring green tea is the best in 
quality among all available tea.Poems related with Tomb-sweeping Day.