Burying the Dead in 21st Century China
The Chinese traditionally divide the year into twenty-four seasons, each being two weeks long. The seventh season following the start of the Lunar Year, is Qing Ming, the first of China’s three annual festivals of the dead. The season starts with a historically rooted “Cold Food Day”, and the pagan aspects of the ancient festival of welcoming the Spring. This is usually enacted in the form of outdoor activities like picnics and sports, and of course, the honouring of ancestors with the first cleaning of their tombs since winter. (http://snowpavilion.co.uk/traditions-of-qing-ming/).
Posted in Blog and tagged burial rite, cemetery, china, Chinese, culture, ecological, festival, festival of the dead, Qing Ming, tomb sweeping by Xueting Ni
National Holidays in China
As we are enjoying our first bank holiday weekend of the year in England, eating hot cross buns, and looking forward to a four-day week ahead of us, I have been thinking about national holidays in China. Even If you are based in the West, you may increasingly have to deal with the Chinese calendar, as companies you work with suddenly shut up shop for “Tomb Sweeping” or “Double Nine”.
Posted in Blog and tagged china, Chinese, Chinese New Year, culture, Dragon Boat Festival, festival, Golden Week, May Day, Mid Autumn, Moon Festival, National Day, national holiday, public holiday, Qing Ming, Spring Festival, tomb sweeping by Xueting Ni
Qing Ming (It’s Not Just about Tomb Sweeping!)
清明 Qing Ming Festival originated about 2500 years ago in the Zhou Dynasty. It takes the name of a season in the third month of the Chinese agricultural calendar, the season of seed sowing and spring ploughing, when the sky is clear and the air is bright, as indicated by its name. Apart from being an important agricultural season, Qing Ming is also China’s festival of the dead, and a national holiday. Here I outline some traditions observed during the festival. Just so you don’t get bored I am enlivening them with some personal experiences.
Posted in Blog and tagged ancestor, china, Chinese, culture, festival, festival of the dead, Qing Ming, spring, tomb sweeping, tradition by Xueting Ni