Qingming Festival – 清明节 Qīngmíng jié On Qingming, Chinese people celebrate the life of their departed ancestors in a rather somber way. Depending on the individual’s religious beliefs, people pray to a higher deity to honor their ancestors, and others may pray directly to their ancestral spirits. Traditionally Chinese people visit their ancestral tombs to sweep them on the Qingming Festival. The original Chinese belief is that tomb sweeping is only allowed during this festival because the dead will get disturbed if you sweep the graves on any other regular day. People also pay respects to those considered national or legendary heroes. Sometimes even exemplary Chinese figures who died in events considered politically sensitive. The April 5 Movement and the Tiananmen Incident were significant events in Chinese history that occurred on Qingming. In Chinese, Qingming (清明) means ‘clearness‘ and ‘brightness.’ The origin of the name was related to the climate and nature in this season. It becomes noticeably warmer and brighter at the beginning of April in China, and nature is waking up in the northern hemisphere. The day before the Tomb Sweeping Day was traditionally the Chinese Cold Food Day. After some time, these two festivals merged into one and turned into the Qingming festival. Traditionally, on the Cold Food Festival Day, people did not use fire and only ate cold food. Therefore, some people still have the custom of eating only cold food during the Qingming Festival. Origin Jie Zhitui, a nobleman, followed his master Prince Chong’er around the country. It was rumored, he once cut flesh from his thigh to provide his lord with soup. When Chong’er finally became a duke, he wanted to repay Jie’s years of loyalty. Nobody could find him in the mountain forest where he was living with his mother. The duke decided to set fire to the woods to force Jie out. The duke and his army found two dead bodies a few days later. Jie and his mother were lying in a cave under a willow tree. In honor of Jie, the duke held a memorial ceremony for the tomb and ordered his subjects not to use fire and only to eat cold food on that day. The following year, the duke climbed the mountain to commemorate Jie. When he arrived at the tomb, he saw the previously burnt willow tree was thriving with lush leaves and branches. He was so moved that he swept Jie’s grave and declared the day to be the “Cold Food Festival” (which is now part of the Qingming Festival). Artwork from the Qingming Festival 清明上河图 Along the River During the Qingming Festival painted by Zhang Zeduan (1085–1145) The original scroll is roughly 25 centimeters high and over 5 meters long. There are 814 humans, 28 boats, 60 animals, 30 buildings, 20 vehicles, 8 sedan chairs, and 170 trees depicted in the painting. This painting has been reproduced or copied over forty times. The young and old alike offer prayers before tombstones of the ancestors. They burn joss paper, aka spirit money (sheets of bamboo or rice pape...