yesterday was one of my favourite hong kong holiday, ching ming. also known as the grave-sweeping holiday, or spring remembrance, ching ming (clear and bright), is when chinese families show respect to their ancestors by visiting their graves and clearing away weeds, (the chinese believe that too many leaves surrounding the graves disturb the spirit of the ancestors) touch up and repaint the gravestone inscriptions, make offerings of wine and fruit, and burn paper money.
let me explain. apparently the chinese believe that the dead are in a sort of prison. you come in and have no money, and rely on packages from relatives. so, living relatives burn paper money for their ancestors to spend in the afterlife. but it doesn’t stop there. there are intricate paper models of microwaves, boats, jets, fans, heaters, televisions, dvd’s, cigarettes, blackberries, and even i-pod’s that folk are burning for their relatives. i have even seen replica lear jets for sale.
as for the food on the gravestone, no, that’s not a picnic, that food is an offering to the spirits. apparently spirits come in groups of three, as three sets of chopsticks and three Chinese wine cups are also placed above the food, close to the headstone. it is believed that relatives are not eating well in the afterlife, so their favourite dishes are set out to tempt their tastebuds. at the end of the day, the food is cleared away.
family members might also pour wine on the grave or set off firecrackers to scare away evil spirits. the firecrackers also let deceased loved ones know they’re there to pay their respects. folklore has it that unhappy spirits wander the earth on ching ming. It’s considered bad luck to do important business or have an operation on april 5th. stick to hanging out in the cemetery and offering your ancestors food and fake money.
in ancient china, qingming (as it is called in mandarin) was by no means the only time when sacrifices were made to ancestors. such ceremonies were held very frequently, about every two weeks, not including other important holidays and festivals. the ceremonies got to be so costly and elaborate and time consuming that in 732A.D. (tang dynasty), emperor xuanzong declared that respects would be formally paid at the tombs of ancestors only on the day of qingming in order to reduce the expenses. this is a custom that continues to this date.
paying respect to ancestors is not the selfless act it seems….the chinese believe that remembering your forefathers increases their own chances of luck. apparently the spirits have the power to fulfill wishes, so you need to stay in their good books.
ching ming is not just a day of remembrance, it is also called spring remembrance, and after visiting the graves, the family often goes out for a picnic (a real one, eating the food that was on the grave in a different location) to enjoy the weather, which is definitely improving.
we live very close to a graveyard and we love watching the reams of people filtering into the graveyard. although i don’t agree with the spirits thing, i do respect and appreciate the concept of remembering ancestors and their lives and sacrifices. we sort of did that in antigua, and even though the people discussed were not my blood relatives, hearing about their lives and how they worked to make them, and the times they lived through was really interesting.
so there you are…one of my favourite hong kong holidays, gone for another year.
Reader interactions
9 Replies to “cha-CHING MING!”
Sounds amazing!
Brandy
Lovely post, Tess.
That was a fascinating read…….
i love the peeks into other cultures that you provide. you would think that living in a college town i would get some of that here, but i guess i’m just a bit isolated from campus these days. its always interesting to see what holidays other people have and how and why they celebrate.
we did celebrate april fools day here (well, i celebrated, marshall had a heart attack i think ;). next up here, cinco de mayo, 05-05-05! what is the next holiday in your hemisphere?
Tess, I love your blog. You are an interesting and entertaining writer. Sometimes I laugh with you and other times I cry.
I love your stories of your precious children. Especially enjoyed hearing about their births and loved hearing about the triplets climbing your legs.
Maddy & Jim and Macaroni Man are in Hawaii. Charmaine phoned this a.m. and Mac handled the flight well.
Take care!
Tess,
Thank you for yor insights into a different culture. It does make fascinating reading. Holidays are celebrated for such different reasons compared to here!
There’s similar customs in Japan, where I live, except it goes on from August 13 to 16. People visit the graves, clean them up, and lay out food for the ancestors. They even pour beer or sake over the gravestones, depending on what the ancestor liked. Along with traditional foods, I’ve seen chocolate cookies and butter cakes set out on the graves too. In some areas, they make tiny horses out of eggplants for the spirits to ride.
But yes, the spirits are back in the world for all those days — they’re sent back the final night with fireworks displays and various fire-related events. Again, it’s bad luck to do anything major during that time, and you don’t go swimming, either, because the spirits might pull you down.
Mainly it’s a chance for families to get together, the same as China. Don’t ever try leaving Tokyo during that period — it’s incredibly crowded!
I thought it sounded much better compared to pouring out a 40oz of malt liquor for your dead homey. good post, tess
Across the little lane in the cemetery my daughter is buried in is a grave with the sort of offerings you describe.
There is no headstone as of yet, so I don’t know any information on the person.
Yet everytime I go (once a week) there are dishes of food, firecracker remanents, burnt remains of paper and ash.
I’ve been very curious as to why they are there. It just seemed very loving, very full of meaning and a wonderful way to honor and pay tribute.
Your post explains a lot for me. Thank you!
ps. I keep waiting for the evil bas***** who run the cemetery to put a stop to it as they have almost other expression of love and memorializing a loved one.
Very interesting post! 🙂 Fascinating.
My sister is pagan, and goes to the graveyard in the fall for Samhain to leave apples on the graves. Apparently apples are the food of the dead.