Most of China's holidays are based on the lunar calendar, while many holidays elsewhere in the world are based on the solar calendar. However, there are a few in which the tables are turned and things are switched around.
Easter is a lunar holiday. Basically, Easter is on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox (There are some variations to how this is calculated based on Julian or Gregorian calendars, but I'm not going there!). Because of it being a lunar holiday, the date changes from year to year.
I'm used to this in China. As I said, most of their holidays float around and we have to check the calendar to figure out what's happening when. However, one of their "fixed" holidays is "Qing Ming Jie" . . . "Tomb Sweeping Day," which falls on April 4, 5 or 6 each year.
Qing Ming Jie dates back over 2000 years and is deeply rooted in ancestor worship. "Ancestor worship (also called ancestor veneration) is a ritual practice that is based on the belief that deceased family members have a continued existence, take an interest in the affairs of the world, and possess the ability to influence the fortune of the living. Early forms of ancestor worship were deeply rooted and extensively developed by the Late Neolithic Period in China. The goal of ancestor worship is to ensure the ancestors' continued well-being and positive disposition towards the living and sometimes to ask for special favors or assistance. The social or nonreligious function of ancestor worship is "to cultivate kinship values like filial piety, family loyalty, and continuity of the family lineage." (FROM: http://www.religionfacts.com/chinese_religion/practices/ancestor_worship.htm accessed April 5, 2010)
Qing Ming is also a time to clean graves after a long winter. If possible, family members tend the graves and offer sacrifices of paper "spirit" money and paper goods for their ancestors in their afterlife. Often, food items are left at the grave.
It is not uncommon to see people burning spirit money elsewhere if they are unable to actually go to their ancestral graves. Tonight, as I was coming home from dinner, I saw just that. If you look closely at the second photo, you'll see a small pile of this spirit money that was being burned. This was the third fire this person lit . . . for different people in her family.
Do people actually believe that this helps their ancestors? It's hard to say. The government banned the festival from its "official" calendars in 1949 with it being reinstated into the government calendar in 2008. More and more people say that the observance of the day is a sign of respect, but not necessarily a sign of belief in old traditions. However, there are definitely those who still cling to the old traditions and fear rejection by their ancestors if they don't "take care of them" now.
It's not often that Easter and Qing Ming fall back-to-back like they did this year. It makes the stark difference between the two so obvious. Easter embraces all symbols of new life. It's a joyous occasion with the common greeting of "Happy Easter" being heard everywhere. No one says, "Happy Qing Ming Jie."
The first photo shows my students having the first egg relay race they have ever had. I love the look on the students' faces in the background! Something this fun just can't be learning, can it?
I'll be posting some "signs of spring" in upcoming days.
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