{"id":13179,"date":"2017-04-04T08:00:37","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T12:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=13179"},"modified":"2017-04-03T20:16:10","modified_gmt":"2017-04-04T00:16:10","slug":"history-and-customs-of-tomb-sweeping-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/history-and-customs-of-tomb-sweeping-day\/","title":{"rendered":"History and Customs of Tomb Sweeping Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today is the Qing Ming Festival<\/strong> (\u6e05\u660e\u8282 \u2013 q\u012bng m\u00edng ji\u00e9)) in China. More commonly referred to in English as Tomb Sweeping Day<\/strong><\/em>, it’s a day to honor the deceased by visiting and cleaning tombs as well as leaving offerings. As with most Chinese holidays, there’s an interesting story behind the Qing Ming Festival and unique customs associated with it.<\/p>\n

History<\/h2>\n
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Image by istolethetv from flickr.com.<\/p><\/div>\n

Thousands of years ago, a prince named Chong\u2019er<\/strong> (\u91cd\u8033 \u2013 lit. \u201cdouble ears\u201d) of the Jin had fled the kingdom and was on the move for 19 years. One particularly hot day, Chong\u2019er found himself tormented by hunger. Luckily for him, one of his loyal followers, Jie Zhitui<\/strong> (\u4ecb\u4e4b\u63a8) prepared some delicious meat soup for him. Thankful for the sustenance, Chong\u2019er was always curious as to where his friend obtained meat, seeing as how they were in exile and were constantly moving around. To his surprise, Jie had cut off a piece of his own thigh to make the soup; that\u2019s how dedicated he was to serving his Prince. One day, promised Chong\u2019er, he would reward his friend for his selfless deed.<\/p>\n

Eventually, Chong\u2019er ascended to the throne as Duke of Jin. At this time, Jie resigned and went to live in the forest with his mother. After returning many favors to people who had helped him in his struggles, the Prince decided it was time to repay Jie. He extended invites to Jie and even went out in the forest in search of him, but to no avail. In a desperate attempt to get Jie out of the forest, the Duke ordered a fire in order to force him out. Unfortunately, this plan didn\u2019t work out so well \u2013 Jie and his mother both ended up dying in the fire. Feeling guilty, Chong\u2019er named a mountain after his deceased friend, and he ordered that a period of three days every year be used to remember Jie. During this time, fire was banned (for obvious reasons), and all food was eaten cold. Hence the name, the Cold Food Festival<\/strong> (\u5bd2\u98df\u8282 \u2013 h\u00e1n sh\u00ed ji\u00e9). The county where Jie died in Shanxi Province is still called Jiexiu\u00a0<\/strong>(\u4ecb\u4f11), meaning \u201cthe place where Jie rests forever.\u201d This practice of remembering the deceased eventually evolved into the Qing Ming Festival.<\/p>\n