A Festival for the Dead
April 5, 2013
The festival of Qingming (Pure Brightness), in which people in China perform services to honor their dead relatives, was celebrated yesterday. The festival was banned by the Chinese Communist Party in 1949, but it was reinstated as a national holiday in 2008. The New York Times reports that the festival has shown a resurgence since 2008. The number of people visiting cemeteries and tombs to honor the dead rose from 420 million in 2011 to 520 million in 2012.
On Qingming, Chinese people sweep and clean the tombs of dead relatives. They also burn incense and symbolic money made of paper. The paper money is an offering that is believed to allow dead relatives a way to purchase what they need in the afterlife. People may burn paper showing images of jewelry, cars, and houses. People also leave flowers and favorite foods of the dead as an offering. Honoring family members who have died and the family into which one was born is very important for the Chinese. It is also an important part of the philosophy of Confucianism, which is deeply embedded in Chinese culture.
During Qingming, Chinese people traditionally eat only cold food. Kites are flown during the evening of the festival, with tiny lanterns tied to the kite strings. Some Chinese people believe that cutting a kite’s string and letting it go free on Qingming brings good luck and protects against illness. People also place willow branches on gates and front doors at Qingming. These branches are meant to ward off evil spirits.
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