The Qingming Festival

The Origin of the Qingming Festival

Many years before the Warring States period, in the Western Zhou Dynasty, the culture of worshiping and sweeping tombs had been highly developed. But at that time, worshiping and sweeping the tomb was not done on the Qingming Festival, but on the Hanshi Festival.

The festival had some relation with the story about a loyal minister Jie Zitui. It’s said that when Duke Wen of Jin all was still a prince, he was persecuted and had to drift from place to place. A batch of ministers followed him and they suffered hunger and cold together. One day, when he was starving to death, his loyal minister—Jie Zitui—cut a piece of flesh from his thigh and cooked soup for Chong’er (the birth name of Duke Wen), which saved his life. Later, when Chong’er became the King of Jin State, he rewarded many ministers, who once followed and helped him in his hard times, but he forgot Jie Zitui.

However, Jie Zitui was a noble person of high ambition. In hard times, he went through thick and thin with Chong’er. However, when Chong’er became a King, he didn’t want to share his riches and honors. Therefore, he took his old mother to Mianshan to live in seclusion. Later, the King Chong’er was reminded that his most meritorious minister, Jie Zitui, who once cut off flesh to cook soup for him, was not rewarded. Suddenly, the King was enlightened and ordered his people to look for him. When they found him, Jie Zitui didn’t want to live the mountain. Then, one of his ministers gave him a lousy idea. He suggested that they use fire to drive him out. Jie Zitui, stubborn as a mule, embraced his mother and both of them were burnt alive in Mianshan.

Under an old willow, Chong’er saw his loyal minister who was already incinerated together with his mother. He felt sorrowful and then ordered his people not to eat hot food and make a fire on that day. Later that day becomes the Hanshi Festival and the ancient Chinese would worship and sweep the tombs on that day. In addition, during the Cold Food Festival, people were not allowed to make fire and had to eat cold food.

During the Three Kingdoms period in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao issued “Penalty Provision” to explicitly ban the custom of the Cold Food Festival. Those who disobeyed it would be sentenced to half a year’s imprisonment, and the local responsible chief and officials would undergo a 100-day punishment and have their one-month salary deducted respectively. Jin State, the birthplace of the Cold Food Festival, was located in Shanxi, a cold place in the north. And the Cold Food Festival fell in the chilly early spring. In such cold weather, cold food would harm people’s health. Therefore, Cao Cao, afraid that people would get cold, issued such a ban.

After the Wei dynasty established by the Cao family was overthrown, the royal family began to encourage people to commemorate Jie Zitui again, so the custom of eating cold food on the Cold Food Festival was spread. During the Tang Dynasty, the Hanshi Festival and Qingming Festival became one. The Hanshi Festival is on the 105th day after the winter solstice, while the Qingming Festival is on the 106th day after the winter solstice. In the Tang Dynasty when Emperor Gaozong was in reign, he once forbade people to celebrate the Hanshi Festival and Qingming Festival. The reason is that the Hanshi Festival is for worshipping ancestors and on the followed Qingming Festival, people would have an outing, which was thought as disrespect for ancestors by Emperor Gaozong of Tang.

During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, this rule was lifted. Worshiping and sweeping tombs became one of five etiquettes. Emperor Xuanzong complied with the aspirations of the people, and due to the close interval of time between Hanshi Festival and the Qingming Festival, he united these two festivals into one. Thus, the customs of worshiping on Hanshi Festival and having an outing on the Qingming Festival integrated into one. Gradually, the custom of worshiping and sweeping tombs on the Hanshi Festival was transferred to Qingming.

There are three types of Qingming: Life Qingming, Ecology Qingming, and Political Qingming. Life Qingming: When we worship our ancestors before their tombs, we will reflect on problems such as who we are, where we come from, what the honor of the ancestor is, and what we should do so as not to let our ancestor down. Ecology Qingming: Because spring is a vivifying season when everything is full of vitality, it’s a good chance for people to go out to build up their bodies. For example, they can plant trees to get more close to nature and the environment. Political Qingming: It started at the Hanshi Festival. The pure and lofty sentiments of Jie Zitui represent Chinese people’s valued attitude towards power, wealth, and authority.

The Custom of Burning Joss Paper

According to the “Di Jing Wu Lue” written in the Ming Dynasty and “Qing Tong Li” written in the Qing Dynasty, common people mainly conduct the ceremony of kowtow and burn joss paper when sweeping tombs. There is a legend about the custom of burning joss paper. After Cai Lun invented the paper, one of his apprentices pretended to be dead to promote the sale of the paper. Then, his wife told others that she would make the paper into joss paper to bribe the spirits to redeem her husband’s life. After she burnt the joss paper, her husband “came to life.”

In the Tang Dynasty, there is a notebook named “Feng’s Information,” in which the origin of Chinese joss paper was recorded. Before the Qin and Han dynasties, people didn’t burn joss paper. They buried Jade Bi, jade tablet, high-quality sills, and silk fabrics. In the Qin and Han dynasties, coppery money was buried. The custom of burning joss paper began after the Wei and Jin dynasties and after Buddhism was introduced to China.

Buddhism came from India, Central Asia, which means it may contain some traces of Zoroastrianism. The Zoroastrianism believes that burning some stuff can link up the hell or heaven with this world. So, from the Tang Dynasty, nobilities, as well as common people, would burn countless pieces of joss paper if they had relatives died. Thus, the custom of burning joss paper was handed down.

Today, people pay more attention to the environment. Burning joss paper may worsen air pollution. According to traditional Chinese etiquette, it is okay for people to bury but not burn joss paper. It is a way to both inherit the traditional custom and protect the environment.

Other Customs on the Qingming Festival

At the mention of sacrificial customs, “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” by Zhang Zeduan in the Northern Song Dynasty, one of the ten handed-down famous paintings in China, cannot be ignored. It tells many sacrificial customs during the Qingming Festival in ancient China. Opening the scroll of “Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” there is a shop named “Wang’s Zhima.” “Zhima” is something commonly used for sacrifice during the Qingming Festival. On both ends of the rainbow-shaped bridge, the most beautiful center of the painting, we can see three stalls selling a special item during the Qingming Festival—Huangpang. “Huangpang” refers to a kind of clay figure, a sacrificial offering used to replace human sacrifice in ancient times. At the end of “Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” the painter brought out the theme and drew a man holding “Baiba” joss paper in his hands. “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” skillfully shows various folk sacrificial customs during the Qingming Festival in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Another custom is called the burning bundle. The bundle is not a bundle made of cloth but a paper bundle sold in the southern paper shop. Some bundles are printed with a mantra for rebirth on the outside. Some bundles are plain. Bur all the bundles have a blank on the top for writing ancestor’s name. After bringing the bundle home, some people stuff it with joss paper and ingots made of golden and silver paper, and some people put letters expressing a best wish, gratitude, and yearning to a benefactor in it. They then place it in the middle of the central room together with dumplings, wine, and meat to start the memorial ceremony.

Chinese people have a strong concept of worshiping ancestors. Therefore, burning the bundle is equal to mailing the bundle to heaven by the natural power of fire from the burned bundle. With the development of the era and the change of society, more and more people leave their hometowns. So many of them adopted the method of the burning bundle to send wishes to family members.

Generally, there are several ways to pay homage to tombs on the Qingming Festival, if people have no time to return home. One is called overlooking worship. For example, if one lives in Shenzhen and can’t return to his hometown Tianjin, he might choose to reach a high place on Lianhua Mountain or Wutong Mountain and then face northward to the direction of his hometown Tianjin. Online worship is popular among young people now. They can establish ancestral memorial tablets on the internet by uploading an ancestor’s photos. They can light candles and incense online, which is considered very friendly to the environment.

Flowers or No Flowers

Qingming Festival is related to flowers. But, ancient Chinese people do not offer flowers on Qingming Festival. Take Yuan Zhen as an example. In his famous poem “An Elegy,” there are two lines “I’m very wealthy now, I hold a grand memorial ceremony for you.” He means that when in poverty, the poor couple felt sad every day. Unexpectedly, his wife died before he became a wealthy high official. At that time, what should he do with a high salary? “I hold a grand memorial ceremony for you.” He held some religious rites or bought some wine and food in memory of her. He doesn’t mention the use of flowers.

Now people use chrysanthemum in paying homage to tombs. Through reading the ancient poems of Qu Yuan, Tao Yuanming and Huang Chao and the novel “Dream of the Red Chamber,” people know that they took chrysanthemum as the symbol of loftiness and seldom use it as the sacrifice for their ancestors. The use of chrysanthemum in paying homage to tombs might come from western countries after 1840, especially during the transmission of western culture into China since 1919. From the perspective of biology, the chrysanthemum, if not cultivated in a greenhouse, naturally blooms in autumn. So, it is impossible for ancient Chinese to use flower blooming in autumn for memorial rituals held in spring.

Spring Outings on the Qingming Festival

There is a festival called the Chinese Zhongyuan Festival on the 15th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar, which also requires paying homage to tombs. Different from the Qingming Festival, its only custom is burning joss paper at the intersection at night to send warmth to family members. So, in terms of the degree of solemnity, it is inferior to the Qingming Festival. The Qingming Festival is a festival of great importance to the Chinese people. Besides paying homage to tombs, many people have a walk and sightseeing outdoor.

A popular activity during the sightseeing is called grass competition. Grass competition is a game that uses flowers and plants as competitive tools, which has a long history. Grass competition consists of verbal and martial competitions. For the so-called verbal competition, people would collect various flowers and plants and adopt the standard of won or loss by competing for the knowledge in plant species and the degree of the antithesis of plants' names. In the 62nd chapter of “A Dream of Red Mansions,” Xiangling and her female companions were looking for plants outdoors. They were preparing for the verbal competition.

One straw with one flower is orchid. One straw with multiple flowers is Hui (another species of orchid). The plant Hui is divided into two types. The one with flowers growing on its top and bottom is Brother Hui. The one with flowers growing side by side is Spouse Hui. This is the verbal competition in grass competition. The one who collects the most plants species or shows the highest ability of antithesis wins.

There’s a folk proverb saying “Having an outing in spring and harvest your destined love.” Cui Hao, a scholar in the Tang Dynasty, had become a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations when he was very young. Moreover, he was a very handsome man. On the Qingming Festival, he had a day off. Thus he came to a village in the south Chang’an. Then he stopped at a house with black bricks and green tiles. He knocked on the door, and it was opened. Here came out a young girl. Consequently, his heart immediately began beating fast. When they caught each other’s eyes, the flame of love blazed up between them. He asks the girl for a cup of water. After that young and beautiful girl gave him the water, she closed the door.

After Cui Hao went back, he was very busy, since he was a successful candidate and had an official position. When it was the Qingming Festival again, he thought of that girl. He then went to the village and only to find that the door was locked. Nobody was there. A sense of listlessness suddenly welled up in his heart, then Cui Hu wrote a poem on the door. It was “On this very day last year and at this very place. A pretty face outshone the peach blossom. I do not know today where shines the pretty face. Only the peach blossom still smiles in the vernal breeze”.

Several days later, he was still thinking about that girl. Thus he returned to that place. But before he entered the house, he heard someone crying. So he walked in and encountered an old man. That old man said, “Are you, Mr. Cui?” Cui Hao said yes. “You met with my daughter here last year, she then lost all her desire for food and drink and suffered lovesickness. She was sick for a year. Several days ago, she saw the poem you wrote, but it’s too late. She hardly had drops of water every day. And she passed away just now”. Upon hearing this, Cui Hu was shocked. He threw himself on the bier and cried bitterly stroking the dead girl, when a miracle happened. The girl in his arm began to breathe. It is a love story spreading through the ages. So the Qingming Festival is also related to love and youth.

Entertainments in Qingming

On the day of the Qingming Festival, besides the spring outing activities after mourning the ancestors, people also engaged in Cuju, a kind of football game, and tug-of-war. But one of these activities is relatively seen at present—cockfight. Speaking of the cockfight, people may think of a Chinese idiom—“It’s dumb as a wooden chicken.” The idiom is a literary quotation of the cockfight and a commendatory term as well. This idiom stems from an allegory of “Zhuangzi.”

King Xuan of Qi was crazy about cockfight. Thus he asked a cock-training master named Ji Shengzi to train his best cock. After ten day’s training, he was too impatient to wait and went to see how his cock was trained. Ji Shengzi denied him with the excuse of that the cock was still flighty and could not fight with other cocks. King Xuan of Qi left. Another ten days later, King Xuan of Qi came again. And Ji Shengzi denied him again. He said when the cock saw the shadow of other cocks, it jumped up immediately, so it was not calm. Then the King Xuan of Qi left disappointedly. Another ten days later, Ji Shengzi denied the request of King Xuan of Qi again. King Xuan of Qi asked why. He said, when it saw other cocks and the people, its eyebrow is straight, and its eyes moved quickly. It was still fickle. Then King Xuan of Qi left doubtfully.

Finally, the King found that his best fighting cock became as dumb as a wooden chicken in Ji Shengzi’s house. Its eyes were immovable and just stared straight at what’s in front of itself. King Xuan of Qi then was very anxious about it and utterly discomfited. My best fighting cock becomes dumb as a wooden chicken. What’s wrong with it? Ji Shengzi answered him at once that it reached the highest state of fighting cocks. It was now imperturbable. It would also not fight against other cocks. But King Xuan of Qi didn’t buy it. So he picked out the best fighting cocks and put them into the cockfighting circle with it. When the best cock saw that transfixed one, it didn’t fight, but turned and ran away. Subduing the enemy without fighting is the highest level of fighting. Therefore, we can see that in ancient times, many small, trivial matters often convey deep, plain and dialectical philosophy. The Qingming Festival is a very cultural holiday.

Qingming and Family

For individuals, the Qingming Festival also symbolizes family reunion. During the Qingming Festival, every Chinese people will go back to their hometown to worship their ancestors. There is a saying “before you die, you’ll always misconceive that life is very long.” Sometimes in the lengthy life, people will be bothered by lengthy trifles, and the family ties also become thin, but when in the Qingming Festival, people will pay special attention to their family. From this perspective, the Qingming Festival is significant for expressing and enhancing the affection between family members.

Remember the Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor

The culture of the Qingming Festival exerts considerable influence on every Chinese. From the national level, the Qingming culture is also a crucial part of the Chinese culture. For example, there has been a ritual ceremony held to commemorate the Yellow Emperor in China since ancient times. The public memorial ceremony for the Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor is a grand worshiping ceremony of national level. It dates back to the pre-Qin period. Across the entire Chinese history, emperors from every dynasty paid much attention to the memorial ceremony for Yellow Emperor.

In the “Records of the Grand Historian” edited by Sima Qian, there is a line “the Yellow Emperor died and was buried in Mount Qiaoshan.” So, Mount Qiaoshan becomes the acknowledged place to worship the Yellow Emperor. During thousands of years, the activity of worshiping the Yellow Emperor’s mausoleum has never been interrupted.

Five thousand years ago, there was a tribe called “Youxiong,” and Yellow Emperor was the son of the tribal leader of “Youxiong.” He was particularly capable. He taught people in the tribe to log for housing and cook rice porridge. And most importantly, he invented a vehicle with wheels. He was titled as Xuanyuan by people in the tribe. But as his exploit was increasingly high, it was inappropriate for everybody to call him with the name of a vehicle, so they called him yellow land because all thing was born from the yellow land. Later he defeated Yan Emperor, Chi You, and unified the tribes. His tribe grew bigger and bigger. At that time people thought his achievements could match those of heaven and earth, therefore, people thought he was an emperor star from heaven, and they called him the Yellow Emperor.

The Grand Celebration for the Yellow Emperor

The Yellow Emperor is a symbol of our politics and culture. In history, each dynasty regarded the Yellow Emperor as the great ancestor of the Chinese nation. After the Xinhai Revolution, the revolutionaries headed by Mr. Zhongshan claimed to eliminate the narrow Anti-Manchuism. They emphasized that we were homologous multi-stream. To unite all ethnic groups and emphasize the big family of the Chinese nation, the revolutionaries placed the Yellow Emperor in a very high position and promoted the symbolic role of the Yellow Emperor. The ritual ceremony of the Yellow Emperor has been documented in the history book.

The ceremony is composed of seven steps including drumming and ringing the bell, reading elegiac address respectively, sacrificial dance with music and visiting the temple of Yellow Emperor. Each step has a special implication. For example, the ceremony would be held at nine fifty in the morning, which means the imperial throne. In the step of beating drums and ringing bell, the bell would be rung for nine times, which indicated supreme respect. The drum is powerful, and the sound of the bell travels far. 34 times of drumming stands for the 34 provincial in China and the sincere desire of the Chinese people from 34 provincial and municipal autonomous regions, municipalities, and special administrative regions. “Sacrificial dance with music” is also an important event. Dancers would dress Han Chinese Clothing, dancing while waving color sleeves or with arms in hands.

In 2005, the chairman of People First Party (PFP), James Soong worshiped the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor. There’re two sentences in his eulogy: “Chinese descendants shall not forget their origin. Seek cross-strait peace as a family.” In 2009, the Kuomintang Honorary Chairman Lien Chan went to worship the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor too.