The Most Important Custom of the Qingming Festival
The most significant part of the festival is the act of Sao mu (扫墓), or sweeping the graves. It is a ritual as old as time.
In ancient China, people believed that one’s soul would find peace after death only if the living properly provided for it.
People were very superstitious about ghosts and gods, believing many kinds of gods existed in heaven and earth. They believed that evil spirits often haunted ancestral tombs. Therefore, from time to time, they would pray for peace at home to avoid disasters and take the opportunity to clean up their ancestral tombs.
The act of tomb sweeping was seen as an expression of filial piety and hope that one’s descendants would similarly honour one’s soul in generations to come.
People clean graves and burn paper offerings to ensure their loved ones live well in the afterlife.
The original tradition was to burn stacks of paper printed with currency symbols called 冥纸 / Míng zhǐ. It is believed that this money would then be accessible to ancestors to spend in their afterlife.
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Hope everyone enjoys the holiday. ODM staff in Hong Kong really earned a day off tomorrow.