Explainer | What is Ching Ming Festival, known as tomb-sweeping day, and how is it marked?
Traditionally a Chinese spring ritual, the tomb-sweeping festival is said to have its roots in an emperor’s cruelty to a follower
Ching Ming Festival, also known as tomb-sweeping day, is celebrated 15 days after the spring equinox in the Chinese lunar calendar, and in 2025 falls on April 4. 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”, according to People’s Daily. The literal translation of the Chinese ching is “clean” or “pure”, while ming means “bright”. The festival was traditionally seen as marking both the beginning of warm spring weather and of farm work.
The customs of the festival as we know it today 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.
The fire raged for three days and eventually the emperor saw Jie and his mother clinging, dead, to a charred willow tree. He buried them under the tree.
Out of remorse, Wen decreed no fires were allowed on the anniversary of Jie’s death, forcing people to eat only cold food; this marked the beginning of the Cold Food Festival.