Explainer | Ching Ming Festival, or tomb-sweeping day: what it signifies, how it is celebrated, and the awful deed behind its customs, according to legend
- Traditionally a Chinese celebration of spring, the festival’s customs are said to have their roots in an emperor’s cruelty to a follower and later repentance
- On this day, families pay respects at the graves of ancestors and loved ones with flowers and offerings of food and by burning incense and paper goods
Ching Ming Festival, also known as tomb-sweeping day, is celebrated 15 days after the spring equinox in the Chinese lunar calendar and this year falls on April 5. In mainland China and Hong Kong, the festival is a public holiday.
What is the festival’s origin?
Its name originates from the saying “plants start to revive and prosper at Ching Ming in a clean and bright way”. Thus Ching Ming literally means “clean” and “bright” in Chinese, and marks both the beginning of spring and of farm work.
The customs of the festival as we know it today, however, originate from hanshi jie, or the Cold Food Festival.
According to legend, in the 6th century BC in the Chinese state of Jin, an exiled duke called Wen was starving and had no food to eat, so one of his followers, named Jie Zitui, cut a piece of his flesh from his thigh to make soup for Wen.
Wen was grateful for the meal and wanted to pay Jie back.
However, the story does not end well: when Wen eventually became the ruler, he forgot about Jie, who had moved to a remote mountain with his mother.
When he learned of his saviour’s whereabouts, he ordered his army to set the forest on fire, hoping to force Jie out of hiding.
