Life of Guangzhou - Qingming Festival

Common practices during Qingming

In traditional Chinese belief, death does not mean a person stops existing. Rather, it means that he or she goes to live in another world.

And paying respects to the ancestors' tombs is considered a rare, solemn occasion when people of two worlds can meet and communicate.

Therefore, a series of practices have been devised since ancient times for the grave visitors.

As the first step for honouring the dead, the visitors will do some clean-ups, uprooting the weeds, clearing up the dry leaves from nearby trees on the tombs of their ancestors, wiping the tombstones, and decorating the tombstone with fresh flowers.

And then, they will add some soil to the tombs, and plant some new trees beside the gravesites.

The major step is for the visitors to put offerings on the ground before the gravestone.

The offerings vary in different areas in China. They often included fruits, paper money, cakes, liquor or wines.

For example, in the southern provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, a baked pig head or even an entire piglet are must-have offerings unlike in northern provinces.

Then cups of wine or liquor would be offered as people, particularly the younger ones, kneel down and kowtow or bow, a gesture to show respect and remembrance to the deceased person.

However, the occasion is not just for mourning the dead.

The Qingming Festival is celebrated two weeks after the Vernal Equinox, and the dates usually turn out to be April 4, 5, or 6. Thus, people also go out to celebrate the coming of the new season, the advent of warmer weather, the start of spring plowing as well as of family outings.