Qing Ming Jie (variant Ching Ming) is All Soul's Day for the Chinese. Qing Ming means "clear and bright", probably a reference to the weather at the time of the year of the festival - the third lunar month or early spring, usually on 5 April or 106 days after the Winter Solstice. It is a time to remember the dearly departed and to pay respect to one's deceased ancestors and family members. Because it reinforces the ethic of filial piety, Qing Ming is a major Chinese festival with many Chinese visiting the cemeteries of relatives. Offerings of food and drink are made; sometimes, joss money and paper images of houses, cars, servants, treasure chests are burnt at the graveside to ensure that the deceased has all that he needs in the other world. After prayers and prostrations, the food is gathered together and taken home to be consumed by the worshippers themselves.
Legend
Legend has it that during the last year of the Chou Dynasty, there was a certain Duke known as Jin Wen Kong who decided to press into his service all the able men living in his domain. A certain Chieh Chi-Tui (Jie Zhi-zhui) who happened to be a close friend of the Duke's, wanted to spend his days looking after his aged parents and did not heed the Duke's order for compulsory service. Incensed at Chieh's refusal to join his service, Duke Wen descended upon Chieh's frugal family home to enforce his instructions. Upon hearing this, Chieh fled into the hills with his parents. Duke Wen then ordered his men to set fire to the forest covering the hills in order to smoke Chieh out. The fire spread rapidly and soon enveloped the entire range of hills but there was still no sign of Chieh. When the flames had died out, Chieh was found burnt to death clinging to a tree with his mother beside him. Duke Wen, for all his cruelty, admired Chieh's noble principles, and mourned him as a brave and upright man. He ordered the wood to be carved into a tablet to commemorate his friend. He thereafter offered up prayers and sacrifices for the repose of Chieh's soul, and with each anniversary of Chieh's death, he made an annual pilgrimage to the hills to pay his respects in this way. Thus, Qing Ming began and the use of ancestor tablets in remembrance of dearly departed ones. As Chieh had so tragically met his death by fire, the Duke ordered that no fire should be lit on that day. This prohibition extended to the kitchen fire as well, and so the custom came about that the Chinese ate cold food on the day before Qing Ming Festival, known as the Cold Meal Festival.
Author
Koh Lay Tin
References
Lai, K. F. (1984). The Hennessy book of Chinese festivals (pp. 41-43). Kuala Lumpur: Heinemann Asia.
(Call no.: RSING 394.2 LAI).
Lee, S. M. (1986). Spectrum of Chinese culture (pp. 65-66). Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications.
(Call no.: RSING q301.2951 LEE)
Goodwood Journal, 2nd Qtr., 33, 39. (1979).
(Call no.: RCLOS 052 GHCHJ)
Further Readings
Wong, C. S. (1987). An illustrated cycle of Chinese festivities in Malaysia and Singapore (pp. 129-144). Singapore: Jack Chia-MPH.
(Call no.: SING q398.33 WON)
The information in this article is valid as at 1997 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
