Qing Ming Jie Qing Ming Festival Tomb Sweeping Day

Chinese Culture Qing Ming Festival | Miss Panda Chinese

Qing Ming Jie is Qing Ming Festival – Qīng Míng Jié 清明節|清明节 in Chinese. It is also wildly known as Tomb Sweeping Day in the Chinese community.  This day always falls on the third lunar month, the date on the western calendar is April 5.

For world culture exploration, you can compare the similarities and differences between the following world festivals:

 

One important cultural fact that I want to point out about Qing Ming Jie (Qing Ming Festival) is that Chinese people DO NOT say “Happy Qing Ming Festival (Qīng Míng Jié kuài lè)”  This is a day to commemorate the passing of their loved ones and their ancestors.  It is considered a dignified and solemn occasion.  

Let’s take a close look at the Chinese Qing Ming Jie.

 

 

Geography

  • People in China and Taiwan observe the Qing Ming Festival.

  • Qing Ming Jie is a public holiday in China and Taiwan.

  • Many Chinese communities all over the world follow the tradition of the Qing Ming Festival.

Expressions to Know

  • Qing Ming Festival – Qīng míng jié 清明節

  • Qing Ming Tomb Sweeping – qīng míng sǎo mù 清明掃墓

  • Cemetery – mù yuán 墓園

  • During the Qing Ming Festival, (families) go to the cemetery to clean up family members’ tombs. 清明節到墓園掃墓 

 

 

A Poem for Thought

 

清明 Qīng Míng | Title of this poem is Qing Ming.

杜牧 Dù Mù |Name of the Poet is Du Mu (803–852).

唐代詩人 táng dài shī rén | This poet is from the Tang dynasty (618-907) in China.

Text of the Poem Qing Ming with Pinyin and English translation

On the day of Qing Ming it rained and rained, people walking on the road showed their deep sorrow.

Qīng míng shí jié yǔ fēn fēn, lù shàng xíng rén yù duàn hún.

清明時節雨紛紛,路上行人欲斷魂。

When asked where to find a tavern, the young cowherds directed me to the Xing Hua village.

Jiè wèn jiǔ jiā hé chù yǒu, mù tóng yáo zhǐ Xìng Huā cūn.

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Tradition

  • Chinese people usually avoid going to cemeteries.

  • However, during the Qing Ming Festival, you can see heavy traffic or even traffic jams on the way to cemeteries.

  • The Qing Ming Festival is the time of the year people visit cemeteries to clean up the tombs of their ancestors and loved ones.

  • Qing Ming means “clean and bright.”  During the festival, families clean up their families’ tombs, retouch headstone inscriptions, and worship the ancestors by lighting up incense, burning paper money for ancestors to use in the afterlife, and displaying fruit, food, and flowers for ancestors to “enjoy”.  Families will take the fruit and food home to eat later.

  • In recent years, in addition to paper money,  families might also burn paper mansions, paper laptops, paper phones, and even paper luxury cars as offerings to their ancestors.

 

Chinese culture Qing Ming Jie Qing Ming Festival | Miss Panda Chinese

Origin

Qing Ming Festival originated from Hán shí jié 寒食節|寒食节, also known as the Hán Shí Festival, or Cold Food Festival.  The Hán Shí Festival was in memory of Jiè zhī tuī 介子推, a nobleman who served Jìn Wén Gōng 晉文公, Duke Wen of Jin, during his exile in the Chinese Spring and Autumn Period known as Chūn qiū shí dài 春秋時代|春秋时代 (7BC-4BC).

The story was that when Duke Wen of Jin held power after all the hardship he went through with the loyal and devoted Jiè zhī tuī 介子推 on his side, the Duke did not award Jie.  Jie retired from the political scene and lived in the deep forest with his mother.  The Duke ordered the forest to be set on fire to force Jie to come out of hiding – however, it instead killed him and his mother.  When it was found that Jie had died, Duke Wen commemorated Jie every year, and these yearly commemorations eventually became the Cold Food Festival, Qing Ming Festival.

One dish that people eat on Cold Food Festival (or Qing Ming Festival) is the Chinese Spring Crepe-chūn bǐng (春餅|春饼), which is also called chūn juǎn (春捲|春卷) or rùn bǐng (潤餅|润饼).  These crepes are wrapped in thin wraps with cold fillings.  Do you see the relation to the Cold Food Festival?

 

Qing Ming Festival chun bing | Miss Panda Chinese

Introduction to Qing Ming Festival Video Stories

 

Qing Ming Festival – audio in Mandarin, subtitle in simplified Chinese

 

MOCACREATE: Celebrate Qing Ming & Welcome Spring!  Museum of Chinese in America

 

The story of Qing Ming – audio in Mandarin, subtitles in English and simplified Chinese

 

The Story of Qing Ming – audio in Mandarin, subtitle in traditional Chinese.

 

Story of Spring Crepe Rolls – Audio in Mandarin, subtitle in traditional Chinese

 

Story of Spring Crepe Rolls – Subtitle in traditional Chinese. Audio in Mandarin.

 

Story of Qing Ming Festival – Subtitle in traditional Chinese. Audio in Taiwanese.

Qing Ming Festival Families tradition – audio in Mandarin, subtitle in traditional Chinese

Qing Ming Festival Culture Exploration with Chinese Art 

A very famous of the Qing Ming Festival is 清明上河圖 (qīng míng shàng hé tú).  The English title of this famous painting is Up the River During Qing Ming.  Other translation versions of the title include Riverside Scene and Along the River.

  • This painting is from over 900 years ago.

  • This is a painting by Zhang Ze duan 張擇端 | 张泽端 (1085–1145) in the Song dynasty (960-1279).

  • The size of this artwork is 10.0 inches in height and 5.74 yards long.

  • There are 814 people, 28 boats, 60 animals, 30 buildings, 20 vehicles, 8 sedan chairs, and 170 trees in this delicate painting.

  • The original painting is currently in an exhibition at the National Palace Museum in Taiwan.

Let your child imagine the people and objects in this beautiful famous painting in motion.

Here is an award-winning animated digital version of Up the River During Qing Ming Painting.  Ask your child to spot all the animals.

 

Culture is fascinating and it is an important part of learning a language.  When children learn about a culture it deepens their understanding of the stories behind the target language and the people who speak it.  To explore more of the Chinese culture for kids series follow the links below.

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 Chinese Culture Qing Ming Festival | Miss Panda Chinese

Go and enjoy the Chinese Culture for Kids Series:

Chinese Lunar New Year 春節|春节

Lantern Festival 元宵節| 元宵节

Dragon Boat Festival 端午節 | 端午节

Chinese Valentine’s Day 七夕

Hungry Ghost Festival 中元節 |中元节

Moon Festival 中秋節 |中秋节

Qing Ming Festival 清明節 |清明节

Winter Solstice 冬至 |冬至