Qingming Festival, a Time for Tomb-sweeping and Spring Outing

By Tang Lin & Zhao Mengchen

Qingming Festival, also known as Clear and Bright, one of the 24 solar terms, normally falls in the middle and the end of spring. The day has also been regulated as one of the official holidays in China. This year, Qingming Festival starts from the 5th to the 7th of April.

At the very beginning, Qingming is only one of the solar terms used for guiding the agricultural production. In this period, temperature rises up, rainfall increases and illumination intensity grows, signaling everything comes back to life. Many proverbs, such as “Qingming is a good time for spring plowing and sowing” and “Clear and Bright is the best season to plant trees,” fully demonstrate the importance of this particular day in agriculture. Later on, people gradually honor it as a public holiday.

The tradition of sweeping tombs dates back to the end of the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC). According to one version of legends, Liu Bang, one of the anti-Qin leaders, defeated his rival Xiang Yu on the day of Qingming. He then returned to his hometown to pay respect to his mother, yet couldn't find her tomb for that year after year of wars destroyed the burial ground. So Liu Bang had no way but take some paper out from his sleeve, tear it into pieces and hold them in hand tightly. He prayed to the heaven sadly, “Mother, if you are in the heaven, please let me know where your tomb is. I will throw these paper fragments up to the sky. The place where one falls down and do not move is your tomb. ” After saying so, he threw them away and as expected, one piece fell on a graveyard and stayed motionless! He went ahead and found the name of his mother in the gravestone. Since then, the story of Liu Bang has been spread among the folks. And people followed his suit and began to mourn their deceased ancestors in each Qingming Festival. It was a tradition to press the paper pieces with a clump of soil above on the tomb to indicate that their descendants have visited.

On Qingming Festival, all relatives and family members come back to their hometown to pay their respects to their ancestors in front of their graveyards. People burn paper money, sweep the tombs and set off fireworks to commemorate ancestors in the hope of the prosperity of their family. Burning paper money was used to be a main activity. It is believed that it can bribe the ghosts and made them treat their deceased relatives well. The paper money can be rolled into the shape of gold or silver ingot or a string of paper ingots with colorful paper tassel. But nowadays, people tend to present a bunch of flowers instead of the burnt paper money which may cause serious pollution, for flowers can add color and fragrance to the tombs as well as their ancestors.

Besides sweeping tombs of their ancestors, another popular activity is going for a spring picnic, which metaphorically means spring outing in the ancient times. Since spring comes, everything is green and it is a good time to go outing. Therefore, after visiting tombs in the graveyard, people also take this chance to return to the nature. Flying kites and picking up edible field vegetables are the most favorite activities.

I can still remember that my grandma always took me to pick up wild plants after sweeping the tomb. Those edible plants grow in a range of wild grass and even in the crack of stones. Within less than a half day, we could pick up a full basket, still with dewdrops. Scrambled eggs with wild chilves and sautee with dried bean curd are delicacies that I love to eat on Qingming Festival. When I enter university, my roommate from the southern China once tells me one custom in her hometown, that is, eating sweet green rice balls. People there will make the rice balls as sacrifices to ancestors. The whole family, young or old, all goes out to pick up the bromes around the river bank and in ditches. This plant has a strong smell and excellent dyeing power. Taking the braised rice balls from the steamer, you can find that they look oily, smell sweet, yet taste tender. Picking up wild plants and eating delicious foods are the good recipe for adults and kids to enjoy leisure in the hustling and bustling world.

Qingming Festival is a time of refreshing and renewing. People can fully enjoy the blue sky, fresh air and green landscape in the drizzle of spring rain.

春和景明 掃灑踏青

文/唐琳 趙夢晨

清明處于仲春與暮春之交，既是二十四節氣之一，又是國家法定節假日。今年的清明假期被定于四月五日至七日之間。

清明最早只是作為節氣，用來指導農業生產。這一時節氣溫逐漸升高，雨水增加，光照也隨之越來越好，大地呈現出吐故納新、萬物復蘇的大好景象。農諺“清明前后，點瓜種豆”“植樹造林，莫過清明”就說明了清明對于農耕的重要性。后來，清明才慢慢演變成節日。

清明祭祖掃墓的傳統可以追溯到秦朝末年。相傳，劉邦打敗項羽衣錦還鄉時正值清明。他思念去世母親，想要到墓前祭拜，卻因為連年的戰爭，四處荒蕪，無法找到自己母親的墳墓，劉邦無奈，只得從衣袖里拿出紙，撕成許多小碎片，緊緊捏在手上，然后向上蒼禱告說：“母親在天有靈，我將把這些紙片拋向空中，如果紙片落在一個地方，風都吹不動，就是母親墳墓。”說完，劉邦把紙片向空中拋，果然有一片紙片落在一座墳墓上，不論風怎么吹都吹不動。劉邦上前一瞧，果然看到他母親的名字刻在墓碑上。自此，劉邦清明祭祖，祖先顯靈的故事在民間流傳開來，后來民間百姓也紛紛效仿，每年清明都到祖先的墳墓前祭拜，并且用小土塊壓幾張紙片在墳上，表示這座墳墓是有人祭掃的。

每年清明，家里的親人都一定會回鄉祭祖。燒一捧紙錢，燃一封響鞭，還要給墳頭鋤草添土，修整一番。不僅是紀念逝去的親人，也向他們祈禱，希望家族興旺。燒紙錢曾是其中最重要的環節，以禮鬼神，也供先人享用。紙錢形式豐富，有的用金銀紙疊成元寶、錁子，有的還要用線穿成串，下邊綴上彩紙穗。現在，去公墓祭奠，我們會帶上一捧鮮花，取代污染嚴重的紙錢，給先輩帶去人間的一抹亮色、一縷清香。

除了掃墓，清明時節另一個不得不提的傳統就是踏青。踏青古時叫探春、尋春等，即為春日郊游，也稱“踏春”。清明時節，春回大地，自然界到處呈現一派生機勃勃的景象，正是郊游的大好時光。人們乃因利乘便，掃墓之余亦一家老少在山鄉野間游樂一番，放放風箏，采采野菜，感受鄉情野趣。

記得兒時祭完祖，外婆總會帶著我挖野菜，長在野草間、石頭縫里的野菜生機勃勃，用不了一上午，就能薅滿滿一籃子，還帶著清晨的露珠。野韭炒雞蛋，香干馬蘭頭，都是我幼時一期一會的美食。上大學后，來自江南的同學分享了南方的清明習俗——食青團。江南人每逢清明祭祀一定會制作青團。全家齊上陣，在河岸、溝渠邊采雀麥草。這種野菜味濃，有極強的上色能力。蒸熟出籠的青團油綠如玉、糯韌綿軟、清香撲鼻。采野菜，食野味，不管是孩童還是大人，都在大自然的懷抱中遠離喧囂，放松心情。

清明時節，春和景明。春雨洗刷大地，帶來愁思，但萬物生發，天朗氣清，也紓解了漫長寒冬的憋悶。