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| A Chinese family gathers to offer prayers to their ancestors during Qingming Festival, also known as Cheng Beng, at a cemetery in Ipoh.. NSTP/Supian Ahmad |
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| A woman walked between tombstones at a cemetery. A Chinese family gathers to offer prayers to their ancestors during Qingming Festival, also known as Cheng Beng, at a cemetery in Ipoh.. NSTP/Supian Ahmad |
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| A man seen standing between tombstones at a cemetery. A Chinese family gathers to offer prayers to their ancestors during Qingming Festival, also known as Cheng Beng, at a cemetery in Ipoh.. NSTP/Supian Ahmad |
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| A Chinese family gathers to offer prayers to their ancestors during Qingming Festival, also known as Cheng Beng, at a cemetery in Ipoh.. NSTP/Supian Ahmad |
Qingming Festival is when Chinese people visit the graves or burial
grounds of their ancestors. Traditionally, people brought a whole
rooster with them to the graves visited but the occasion has become less
formal over time. The festival originated from
Hanshi Day (
寒食节, literally, Day with cold food only), a memorial day for Jie Zitui (
介子推). Jie Zitui died in 636 BC in the
Spring and Autumn Period. He was one of many followers of
Duke Wen of Jin(晉
文公) before he became a duke. Once, during Wen's 19 years of exile, they
had no food and Jie prepared some meat soup for Wen. Wen enjoyed it a
lot and wondered where Jie had obtained the soup. It turned out Jie had
cut a piece of meat from his own thigh to make the soup. Wen was so
moved he promised to reward him one day. However, Jie was not the type
of person who sought rewards. Instead, he just wanted to help Wen to
return to
Jin
to become king. Once Wen became duke, Jie resigned and stayed away from
him. Duke Wen rewarded the people who helped him in the decades, but
for some reason he forgot to reward Jie, who by then had moved into the
forest with his mother. Duke Wen went to the forest, but could not find
Jie. Heeding suggestions from his officials, Duke Wen ordered men to set
the forest on fire to force out Jie. However, Jie died in the fire.
Feeling remorseful, Duke Wen ordered three days without fire to honour
Jie's memory. The city where Jie died is still called
Jiexiu (介休, literally "the place Jie rests forever").
Qingming has a tradition stretching back more than 2,500 years.
[2] Its origin is credited to the
Tang Emperor Xuanzong
in 732. Wealthy citizens in China were reportedly holding too many
extravagant and ostentatiously expensive ceremonies in honor of their
ancestors. Emperor Xuanzong, seeking to curb this practice, declared
that respects could be formally paid at ancestors' graves only on
Qingming.
[3] The observance of Qingming found a firm place in Chinese culture and continued since Ancient China
Text source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qingming_Festival
