Qingming is one of China’s four major traditional festivals and the fifth solar term of the year. It gets its name because, around this time, the weather becomes clear and bright, and nature flourishes.

Origin of Qingming Festival

Qingming combines the Cold Food Festival (Hanshi) and the Shangsi Festival. The Cold Food Festival dates back to the Spring and Autumn period. Jie Zitui, a loyal follower of Duke Wen of Jin, saved the duke’s life by cutting flesh from his own thigh. Later, Jie chose to live in seclusion in the mountains and was accidentally burned to death. To honor him, the duke ordered a ban on fire, and people could only eat cold food. The Shangsi Festival was an ancient spring outing where people went to riversides to bathe, pray for health, and ward off bad luck. After the Tang and Song dynasties, these three festivals merged into what we now know as Qingming.

 Main Customs

Tomb Sweeping and Ancestor Worship:** Cleaning tombs, offering food and gifts, burning incense, and bowing to express respect and remembrance for ancestors.

Spring Outings: Enjoying the beauty of spring, feeling nature’s vitality, and embracing the wisdom of “honoring the past while cherishing the present.”

Flying Kites: Cutting the kite string symbolizes letting go of bad luck and welcoming good fortune.

Wearing Willow Branches: Placing willow branches on doors or wearing them on the head is believed to ward off evil and bring blessings.

Playing on Swings:  An ancient traditional game that promotes health and brings joy.

Traditional Foods

Green Rice Balls (Qingtuan): Made with glutinous rice flour mixed with mugwort juice. Soft and green, they are a typical Qingming food in the Jiangnan region.

Fried Dough Twists (Sanzi):  Crispy and delicious, these deep-fried snacks come from the cold food tradition of the Hanshi Festival.

Qingming carries two deep emotions for the Chinese people:  remembrance of the departed – never forgetting where we come from, keeping our roots in mind; and care for the living – treasuring the present and loving life.

Green grass grows every spring, and memories renew every year. May we all have reverence for our past while embracing the warmth of spring.