Qingming Festival

Qingming Festival

Qingming Festival usually falls on April the 5th every year. Besides being a traditional festival in China, it is also the fifth one (Qingming, or Clear and Bright) of the 24 solar terms. Rituals and customs on the day of Qingming centered around tomb sweeping, paying tribute to ancestors and outings, which reflect Chinese people's perception of nature and life.

Ancestor worship and spring sacrificial ceremonies in prehistory times gave birth to the Qingming Festival, and over time, Qingming customs have grown richer, including tomb sweeping and ancestor worshiping, spring outings, forbidding fire and eating cold foods, etc. Traditionally, people will bring sacrifices such as drinks, food and joss papers (spirit monies) to the grave of their deceased relatives, offer the food, burn the joss papers, earth up the tomb, stick young willow branches on the graveyard, and kowtow to pay tribute to their ancestors. Qingming, as the most significant ancestor-worship festival for the Chinese people, is an important cultural inheritance. It embodies the Chinese people's respect for the ancestors and their solemn attitudes toward death, as part of China's cultural traditions. All these function as a way of the emotional communication of the Chinese people.

清明节

清明节在公历4月5日前后，是二十四节气中的第五个节气，也是中国传统节日，以扫墓祭祖和踏青郊游为主要礼俗主题，兼具自然与人文内涵。

清明节源自上古时期的祖先信仰和春祭习俗，逐渐形成内涵丰富的清明节礼俗，包括扫墓祭祖、郊游踏青、禁火冷食等。按照传统习俗，人们在清明节携带酒食果品、纸钱等物品来到已故亲人的墓地，供祭食物、烧掉纸钱，为墓地培上新土、插上嫩柳，并叩头行礼祭拜。清明节自古传承、延续至今，是中华民族最隆重的祭祖大节，体现了中华民族礼敬祖先、慎终追远的文化传统，成为维系和促进中华儿女情感交流的重要纽带。