Qingming Festival, a Time for Tomb-sweeping and Spring Outing

By Tang Lin & Zhao Mengchen

Qingming Festival, also known as Clear and Bright, one of the 24 solar terms, normally falls in the middle and the end of spring. The day has also been regulated as one of the official holidays in China. This year, Qingming Festival starts from the 5th to the 7th of April.

At the very beginning, Qingming is only one of the solar terms used for guiding the agricultural production. In this period, temperature rises up, rainfall increases and illumination intensity grows, signaling everything comes back to life. Many proverbs, such as “Qingming is a good time for spring plowing and sowing” and “Clear and Bright is the best season to plant trees,” fully demonstrate the importance of this particular day in agriculture. Later on, people gradually honor it as a public holiday.

The tradition of sweeping tombs dates back to the end of the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC). According to one version of legends, Liu Bang, one of the anti-Qin leaders, defeated his rival Xiang Yu on the day of Qingming. He then returned to his hometown to pay respect to his mother, yet couldn't find her tomb for that year after year of wars destroyed the burial ground. So Liu Bang had no way but take some paper out from his sleeve, tear it into pieces and hold them in hand tightly. He prayed to the heaven sadly, “Mother, if you are in the heaven, please let me know where your tomb is. I will throw these paper fragments up to the sky. The place where one falls down and do not move is your tomb. ” After saying so, he threw them away and as expected, one piece fell on a graveyard and stayed motionless! He went ahead and found the name of his mother in the gravestone. Since then, the story of Liu Bang has been spread among the folks. And people followed his suit and began to mourn their deceased ancestors in each Qingming Festival. It was a tradition to press the paper pieces with a clump of soil above on the tomb to indicate that their descendants have visited.

On Qingming Festival, all relatives and family members come back to their hometown to pay their respects to their ancestors in front of their graveyards. People burn paper money, sweep the tombs and set off fireworks to commemorate ancestors in the hope of the prosperity of their family. Burning paper money was used to be a main activity. It is believed that it can bribe the ghosts and made them treat their deceased relatives well. The paper money can be rolled into the shape of gold or silver ingot or a string of paper ingots with colorful paper tassel. But nowadays, people tend to present a bunch of flowers instead of the burnt paper money which may cause serious pollution, for flowers can add color and fragrance to the tombs as well as their ancestors.

Besides sweeping tombs of their ancestors, another popular activity is going for a spring picnic, which metaphorically means spring outing in the ancient times. Since spring comes, everything is green and it is a good time to go outing. Therefore, after visiting tombs in the graveyard, people also take this chance to return to the nature. Flying kites and picking up edible field vegetables are the most favorite activities.

I can still remember that my grandma always took me to pick up wild plants after sweeping the tomb. Those edible plants grow in a range of wild grass and even in the crack of stones. Within less than a half day, we could pick up a full basket, still with dewdrops. Scrambled eggs with wild chilves and sautee with dried bean curd are delicacies that I love to eat on Qingming Festival. When I enter university, my roommate from the southern China once tells me one custom in her hometown, that is, eating sweet green rice balls. People there will make the rice balls as sacrifices to ancestors. The whole family, young or old, all goes out to pick up the bromes around the river bank and in ditches. This plant has a strong smell and excellent dyeing power. Taking the braised rice balls from the steamer, you can find that they look oily, smell sweet, yet taste tender. Picking up wild plants and eating delicious foods are the good recipe for adults and kids to enjoy leisure in the hustling and bustling world.

Qingming Festival is a time of refreshing and renewing. People can fully enjoy the blue sky, fresh air and green landscape in the drizzle of spring rain.

春和景明 扫洒踏青

文/唐琳 赵梦晨

清明处于仲春与暮春之交，既是二十四节气之一，又是国家法定节假日。今年的清明假期被定于四月五日至七日之间。

清明最早只是作为节气，用来指导农业生产。这一时节气温逐渐升高，雨水增加，光照也随之越来越好，大地呈现出吐故纳新、万物复苏的大好景象。农谚“清明前后，点瓜种豆”“植树造林，莫过清明”就说明了清明对于农耕的重要性。后来，清明才慢慢演变成节日。

清明祭祖扫墓的传统可以追溯到秦朝末年。相传，刘邦打败项羽衣锦还乡时正值清明。他思念去世母亲，想要到墓前祭拜，却因为连年的战争，四处荒芜，无法找到自己母亲的坟墓，刘邦无奈，只得从衣袖里拿出纸，撕成许多小碎片，紧紧捏在手上，然后向上苍祷告说：“母亲在天有灵，我将把这些纸片抛向空中，如果纸片落在一个地方，风都吹不动，就是母亲坟墓。”说完，刘邦把纸片向空中抛，果然有一片纸片落在一座坟墓上，不论风怎么吹都吹不动。刘邦上前一瞧，果然看到他母亲的名字刻在墓碑上。自此，刘邦清明祭祖，祖先显灵的故事在民间流传开来，后来民间百姓也纷纷效仿，每年清明都到祖先的坟墓前祭拜，并且用小土块压几张纸片在坟上，表示这座坟墓是有人祭扫的。

每年清明，家里的亲人都一定会回乡祭祖。烧一捧纸钱，燃一封响鞭，还要给坟头锄草添土，修整一番。不仅是纪念逝去的亲人，也向他们祈祷，希望家族兴旺。烧纸钱曾是其中最重要的环节，以礼鬼神，也供先人享用。纸钱形式丰富，有的用金银纸叠成元宝、锞子，有的还要用线穿成串，下边缀上彩纸穗。现在，去公墓祭奠，我们会带上一捧鲜花，取代污染严重的纸钱，给先辈带去人间的一抹亮色、一缕清香。

除了扫墓，清明时节另一个不得不提的传统就是踏青。踏青古时叫探春、寻春等，即为春日郊游，也称“踏春”。清明时节，春回大地，自然界到处呈现一派生机勃勃的景象，正是郊游的大好时光。人们乃因利乘便，扫墓之余亦一家老少在山乡野间游乐一番，放放风筝，采采野菜，感受乡情野趣。

记得儿时祭完祖，外婆总会带着我挖野菜，长在野草间、石头缝里的野菜生机勃勃，用不了一上午，就能薅满满一篮子，还带着清晨的露珠。野韭炒鸡蛋，香干马兰头，都是我幼时一期一会的美食。上大学后，来自江南的同学分享了南方的清明习俗——食青团。江南人每逢清明祭祀一定会制作青团。全家齐上阵，在河岸、沟渠边采雀麦草。这种野菜味浓，有极强的上色能力。蒸熟出笼的青团油绿如玉、糯韧绵软、清香扑鼻。采野菜，食野味，不管是孩童还是大人，都在大自然的怀抱中远离喧嚣，放松心情。

清明时节，春和景明。春雨洗刷大地，带来愁思，但万物生发，天朗气清，也纾解了漫长寒冬的憋闷。