"Qingming" redirects here. For the solar term, see Qingming (solar term).
Qingming
Burning paper gifts for the departed.
Official name
Qingming Jie (清明节) Ching Ming Festival (清明節) Tomb Sweeping Day (掃墓節)
Observed by
Chinese, Chitty[1] and Ryukyuans
Type
Cultural, Asian
Significance
Commemoration of the remembering of ancestors
Observances
Cleaning and sweeping of graves, ancestor worship, offering food to deceased, burning joss paper
Date
15th day after March equinox (between April 4 and April 6)
2023 date
5 April[2]
2024 date
4 April[3]
2025 date
4 April[4]
First time
732; 1292 years ago (732)
Qingming Festival
Traditional Chinese
清明節
Simplified Chinese
清明节
Literal meaning
"Pure Brightness Festival"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin
Qīngmíng jié
Wade–Giles
Ch'ing1-ming2 chieh2
IPA
[tɕʰíŋ.mǐŋ tɕjě]
Wu
Suzhounese
Tshin min tsih
Hakka
Pha̍k-fa-sṳ
Chhîn-mìn-chiet
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization
Chīng-mìhng jit
Jyutping
Cing1-ming4 zit3
IPA
[tsʰeŋ˥.meŋ˩ tsiːt̚˧]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ
Chheng-bêng-cheh/Chhiⁿ-miâ-cheh
Tâi-lô
Tshing-bîng tseh/Tshinn-miâ tsueh
Eastern Min
Fuzhou BUC
Chĭng-mìng-cáik
The Qingming Festival[5] or Ching Ming Festival,[6] also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day in English (sometimes also called Chinese Memorial Day, Ancestors' Day, the Clear Brightness Festival, or the Pure Brightness Festival),[7][8][9][10] is a traditional Chinese festival observed by ethnic Chinese in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. A celebration of spring,[10][11] it falls on the first day of the fifth solar term (also called Qingming) of the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. This makes it the 15th day after the Spring Equinox, either 4, 5 or 6 April in a given year.[12][13][14] During Qingming, Chinese families visit the tombs of their ancestors to clean the gravesites and make ritual offerings to their ancestors.[9] Offerings would typically include traditional food dishes and the burning of joss sticks and joss paper.[9][10][15] The holiday recognizes the traditional reverence of one's ancestors in Chinese culture.[9]
The origins of the Qingming Festival go back more than 2500 years, although the observance has changed significantly. It became a public holiday in mainland China in 2008, where it is associated with the consumption of qingtuan,[16] green dumplings made of glutinous rice and Chinese mugwort or barley grass.
In Taiwan, the public holiday was in the past observed on 5 April to honor the death of Chiang Kai-shek on that day in 1975, but with Chiang's popularity waning, this convention is not being observed. A confection called caozaiguo or shuchuguo, made with Jersey cudweed, is consumed there.
A similar holiday is observed in the Ryukyu Islands, called Shīmī in the local language.[17]
^"Meet the Chetti Melaka, or Peranakan Indians, striving to save their vanishing culture". Channel News Asia. 21 October 2018.
^"Qingming Festival – April 5, 2023". National Today. 4 April 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
^"Qingming Festival". National Today. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
^"Qingming Festival". National Today. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
^"Qingming Festival". Retrieved 28 March 2022.
^"108 years of Ching Ming Festival continuous holiday traffic evacuation information". Northeast and Yilan Coast National Scenic Area Administration. 25 March 2019.
^"General holidays for 2015". GovHK. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
^"Macau Government Tourist Office". Macau Tourism. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
^ abcdWei, Liming (2010). Chinese Festivals: Traditions, Customs and Rituals (Second ed.). Beijing. pp. 31–35. ISBN 9787508516936.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ abcStepanchuk, Carol (1991). Mooncakes and Hungry Ghosts: Festivals of China. San Francisco: China Books & Periodicals. pp. 61–70. ISBN 0-8351-2481-9.
^Eberhard, Wolfram (1952). "Ch'ing-ming, the spring festival". Chinese Festivals. New York: H. Wolff. pp. 112–127.
^"Traditional Chinese Festivals". china.org.cn. 5 April 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
^"Tomb Sweeping Day". Taiwan.gov.tw. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
^"Ching Ming Festival | Hong Kong Tourism Board".
^"Why Chinese Burn Paper on Tomb-Sweeping Day". The Beijinger. 2 April 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
^"Across China: Sticky rice balls make tradition "stickier" for young Chinese". Xinhua. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
^"Festivals and Rituals of Okinawa – Seimei Ritual (Shiimii) –". www.wonder-okinawa.jp. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
that such respects could be formally paid only once a year, on Qingming. QingmingFestival is when Chinese people traditionally visit ancestral tombs to...
Along the River During the QingmingFestival (Qingming Shanghe Tu) is a handscroll painting by the Song dynasty painter Zhang Zeduan (1085–1145) and copied...
(diyu or preta). Distinct from both the QingmingFestival (or Tomb Sweeping Day, in spring) and Double Ninth Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants...
of eating qingtuan at QingmingFestival evolved from the ancient Chinese Cold Food Day (one or two days before QingmingFestival). As the name suggests...
Chinese holidays (QingmingFestival, Duanwu Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival). From at least 2000 until this reform, the Spring Festival public holiday...
Abundant mythology is associated with religious holidays and folk festivals. The Qingmingfestival is a good example of a Chinese holiday that involves family...
most part however, only Chinese New Year, QingmingFestival, the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival are statutory public holidays. This is the...
the Fujianese rùnbǐng and Teochew popiah, usually consumed during QingmingFestival. In Indonesia, lumpia has become a favorite snack, and is known as...
greatest jiehua masterpieces of all time, such as Along the River During QingmingFestival 《清明上河图》. Historian Wen Chien-Cheng suggests that the renaissance of...
Japan, Chilseok festival in Korea, and Thất Tịch festival in Vietnam. Qixi Tribute Seven Sisters' Fruit QingmingFestival Shangsi Festival Tanabata Zhao...
believe help ward off the evil spirits that wander on Qingming. Legend states that on QingmingFestival, the ruler of the underworld allows the spirits of...
four weeks. QingmingFestival: Set according to the solar term. Usually on April 4 or 5. Labor's Day: 1 May to 3 May. Dragon Boat Festival: Set according...
- QingmingFestival 1 May - International Workers' Day 15 May - Buddha's Birthday 10 June - Dragon Boat Festival 17 September – Mid-Autumn Festival 1–2...
Mountain Festival Mid-Autumn Festival Monkey King Festival Nadun Nian Li Nine Emperor Gods Festival Qingdao International Beer FestivalQingmingFestival Qinhuai...
2015 Xian Tang Village, Dongguan, China, 2015 Double Seventh FestivalQingmingFestival, a day to visit and clean up the cemeteries Curse of the Golden...
China. The incident occurred on the traditional day of mourning, the QingmingFestival, after the Nanjing incident, and was triggered by the death of Premier...
as shan shui. He is known for painting Along the River During the QingmingFestival. Chinese art Chinese painting Shan shui Lin Tinggui Zhou Jichang Culture...
assortment of fresh, dried, and cooked ingredients, eaten during the QingmingFestival and other celebratory occasions. The dish is made by the people and...
Hindu festival that bears similarities to the Obon festival Day of the Dead, a Mexican festival also revolving around the dead QingmingFestival Japanese...
from the original on February 5, 2015. Retrieved February 5, 2015. "QingmingFestival – The Cambodia Herald". Miles, Craig. "Khmer focus in giant puppet...
Goh Mei (十五暝). Other festivals celebrated by Chinese are the QingmingFestival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival. Malaysian Indians...
out from the lower realm. Distinct from both the QingmingFestival (in Spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in Autumn) in which living descendants pay homage...
paintings, with some famous examples being Along the River During the QingmingFestival and Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River. The word "panorama",...
Below is a list of festivals in Indonesia. The list is divided based on their respective calendar. Indonesia Menari Festival Baleo, Lembata Ngayogjazz...
Qian or Pre-Qingming (or Before Ching Ming) Longjing tea requires it to be produced from the first spring shoots prior to the QingmingFestival on the 5th...
social and domestic life, enjoying such public festivals as the Lantern Festival and the QingmingFestival. There were entertainment quarters in the cities...
such as the Duanwu (or Dragon Boat) Festival, QingmingFestival, Zhongyuan Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival come from the most popular of these traditions...
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