Qingming Festival 2023: Date, History, Significance and Why This Festival is Vital

Qingming Festival 2023: The 2,500-year-old Qingming Festival (or Tomb Sweeping Day) takes place on April 5. This day marks the beginning of the fifth solar term according to the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. It is a time when people honour their ancestors with traditional food offerings and by cleaning tombs, primarily among the Han Chinese and the Chitty people of Malaysia. Interestingly, this festival also has close ties to agriculture. As temperatures rise and precipitation rises, Qingming is a signal for farmers to begin planting in the spring.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Visit the tombs of your ancestors

Cleanse the tomb, prepare traditional cold food offerings, and decorate tombstones with lilies and chrysanthemums.

Fly the “Lanterns of God.”

It is customary to fly kites with a string of small lanterns attached. People also fly kites at night.

Burn cash overnight

The Chinese believe that burning currency notes as an offering to the dead will assist the deceased in purchasing goods in the afterlife.

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4 THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOUR FIRST QINGMING FESTIVAL

Not every Chinese observe

It may be a national holiday, but only 24 ethnic minority groups in China observe it.

The cost of Pre-Qingming tea is greater.

In Chinese tea culture, tea leaves harvested prior to this date are of higher quality and command a higher price!

It signifies “pure brilliance”

Qingming means “pure brightness” in Chinese, and since this festival occurs at the beginning of spring, the sun is shining brightly.

A food festival as well

In the southern region of China, people eat “qingtuan,” a tasty rice and barley dumpling, while the Tujia eat pig heads and the Miao enjoy a pastry called Qingming.