Picnics, mountain climbing and visiting graves -- that's what Chinese people are doing during their three-day Qing Ming (also spelled as "Ching Ming") Festival that runs April 4-6 this year. April 4 is the actual day of the festival (this year) and the other days are tacked on to give people a little time off work to travel or enjoy the spring weather.
The main purpose of the festival is to visit the graves of any family members who have passed away, possibly including parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. Chinese people leave plates of cooked food (with chopsticks), fruit, milk tea, and even cans of Coke at the graves, believing the deceased will enjoy the meals in the afterlife. Some burn incense, fake paper money, fake cell phones, and all sorts of fake things for the purpose of providing those in the spirit world material comforts. And it is apparently very important to bow at the graves, which is not seen as a cursory performance, but is considered a serious act of worship to the dead relatives.
In fact, Christians who refuse to bow/worship at the grave sites usually cause a huge rift within their families, with bitterness, yelling, and broken relationships ensuing.
A young Chinese man told me that his cousin, a Christian, refused to bow in worship on Qing Ming Festival day. His family therefore considers him, at age 25, the black sheep of the family. The cousin is tough-skinned though and doesn't care much about what his family thinks. He further annoyed his family by getting a job in Japan and finding a Japanese wife (Chinese people do not like Japanese people, not at all, not even a little bit, I'm sorry to say). They've pretty much written him off.
I am always puzzled by Qing Ming practices because most Chinese I have talked to tell me they do not believe in life after death. They believe that when you die, there is nothingness. But at Qing Ming, they worship the spirits of the dead. I believe there is a contradiction here, and I believe most Chinese would agree that they (many of them) have not settled this contradiction in their own hearts and minds. I do not make light of this, because I believe they sincerely struggle to understand. Until they figure out what is what, they continue to cover their bases by continuing the tradition.
No one is expected to go to great lengths to travel to grave sites. For example, a 25-year-old man who has lost his grandparents, but is working in a faraway city, will not be expected to return to his hometown during the Qing Ming Festival. He'll just enjoy a long weekend. But his parents and other family members who still live in his hometown will go visit the grave.
Anyway, I went to a cemetery last weekend, because I heard that people can start visiting the tombs on the weekend before the actual Qing Ming day. After their "duty" is done, they can enjoy their three-days off work a little better. I wanted to see Qing Ming activities for myself.
At the cemetery, there were people selling incense, candles, fake money, fake cell phones, flowers and food (both for laying at the tombs and for the visitors to eat).
Many cemeteries are built on the sides of hills or mountains. I think this is considered to be good "feng shui." People took their picnic lunches to the cemetery. There were a few picnic tables so people could enjoy their outing.
It seems slightly morbid to say so, but it was really quiet and peaceful at the cemetery. I haven't been to such a quiet spot in such a long time! It was beautiful too, with mountain scenery, pink buds on the trees, a pond and birds singing.
People say it always rains on Ching Ming Festival day, as if the heavens were crying for the dead. This year, the rain came a day late, but they are pretty close to being right. Almost every year it rains.
Pictured above is a Christian grave that I ran across. In the background you can see a group that is picnicking. This was the most beautiful grave marker I saw that day, and it was for two men with the same family name, perhaps brothers. The grave marker (the tall one) has a scripture passage from the Bible, John 11:25, Jesus' words from the story of Lazarus: "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.'"
Amen. And thank God for this beautiful testimony to those who visit this cemetery.
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