A brief introduction to Qingming Festival and holiday notice

Qingming Festival, or the Tomb-Sweeping Day is one of the Chinese Twenty-four Solar Terms. It’ s on April 4th or 5th of the Gregorian calendar. It is the crucial time for plowing and sowing in the spring. From that date, the temperatures begin to rise and rainfall increases.

The Origin of Qingming Festival

During the spring and autumn period and the warrin states period. Duke wen of jin, one of the five barons of the spring and autumn period, forced to flee at the age of 41 due to a dispute over his throne. Among the retinue, there was a minister named jie zitui. When he saw that chong er was tired, he secretly cut a piece of meat from his thigh and made a bowl of soup for him to drink. Later, chong ‘er came to the throne. ln order to find jie zitui, he did the foolish thing of setting fire to the mountain. That haccidentally killed him and his mother. Later, in order to commemorate jie zitui. Duke of jin set this day as the “cold food festival”, which is now the qingming festival.

The Customs of Qingming Festival

Tomb Sweeping
Cleaning the tombs and paying respect to the dead with offerings. These two are the two important practices to remember late relatives. Weeds around the tomb will clearing away. And fresh soil is added to show Acare for the dead. The dead person’s favorite food, wine and chopsticks offering on their tombs, along with paper money.