The history of the Ching Ming Festival, Hong Kong’s tomb-sweeping holiday

Falling at the beginning of April or in the third lunar month, Ching Ming Festival is a celebration of spring that marks the beginning of farm work. The festival, meaning “clean” and “bright” in Chinese, is considered auspicious, or lucky, and will be observed on April 5 this year.

The ancient celebration dates back more than 2,500 years to the Zhou dynasty. At the time, emperors would offer sacrifices to their ancestors to bless the country with prosperity, peace and harvests for the coming year.

Check out photos of Hong Kong’s ‘villain hitting’ ritual

The festival draws from various traditions. Part of the custom originates from an ancient Chinese festival, Hanshi Jie, or the Cold Food Festival.

The legend goes back to the 6th century BC in the Chinese state of Jin. An exiled prince called Wen was penniless and had no food to eat, so a nobleman named Jie Zitui gave him some soup. Wen was grateful for his meal and wanted to pay Jie back.

When the prince returned to the palace and eventually became emperor, he rewarded those who stuck with him during his exile but forgot Jie. Feeling hurt, Jie moved to a remote mountain with his mother. Ashamed about forgetting Jie, Wen went to find him, but Jie hid. To force Jie out of the mountain, the emperor ordered his army to set the forest on fire, but Jie and his mother were killed.

In his remorse, Wen banned lighting fires on the date of Jie’s death, forcing people to eat only cold food and leading to the Cold Food Festival, which later combined with Ching Ming.

The traditional family business of crafting a Tuen Ng Festival dragon boat

Tomb-sweeping

People pay tribute to their ancestors by visiting their graves and tombs. During the visit, families sweep the area and clean away grass and weeds. Once cleared, people burn joss paper and make offerings of tea, wine, and the deceased’s favourite foods. Some people also pray at the graves and ask their ancestors to bless their families.

Today, the custom has been simplified, and people generally place flowers on the tomb to commemorate their relatives. Virtual tomb-sweeping has also become popular, especially during Covid-19, allowing people to pay their respects online by posting letters or messages to the deceased and offering virtual fruits, flowers, and incense as a tribute.

Eating qingtuan

In Southeastern China, it is a tradition for people to eat qingtuan, a green rice cake made with mugwort juice or barley grass, during the festival. But the glutinous rice cake is less common in Hong Kong.

The custom originated during the Cold Food Festival, as the cakes don’t need to be heated up. Over the centuries, it has evolved into a seasonal street snack – the grass used in the rice cake is only edible around the time of the festival – and many different versions and fillings can be found around China.

Kite flying

In ancient times, people would write down their illnesses and troubles on pieces of paper and attach them to a kite. Then, when the kite was high in the air, they would cut the string and let it fly away to ward off bad luck and evil spirits.

It was also believed that the gates of hell opened during the festival, and family members could send their greetings to the deceased with kites.

What do you do on Buddha’s Birthday? How different countries celebrate

The significance of willow branches

Willows and their leafy branches are thought to represent new life and ward off evil.

Therefore, during Ching Ming, some people wear soft willow branches and place the branches at gates and the entrances of buildings to ward off evil spirits. But this tradition is less known and less practised in Hong Kong.