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Chinese Qing Ming Festival / Tomb Sweeping Day

2 April 2014 by Eileen

Qing Ming festival is a day where you pay respects at your departed loved one’s grave. The day varies each year as it goes according to the Chinese lunar calendar.  This year it falls on the 5 April 2014. However, it is an acceptable tradition for the families to pray to their ancestors 10 days before and 10 days after the actual day. This is to avoid major congestions at the cemeteries and temples.  As many countries like Singapore are densely populated and short of land, most of the deceased are cremated. If you would like to know how this festival originated, check out Chinese Culture for more details.

Chinese Qing Ming Festival Tomb Sweeping Day chinese culture

Now I like to share with you some photos of how it looks.  Besides offering the traditional types of gold ingots and money, there are now offerings that include high tech gadgets to allow the afterlife to “catch up” with trends!

My granddad passed away in 1989 on Chinese New Year day.  So on every Chinese New Year day, besides the celebrations, we will also offer joss sticks.  These photos were taken a couple years ago before the 25 years lease is up.  Now my family has moved and cremated my granddad and placed his remains along with my grandma who passed away on 24 March 2013.

The tombstone is very well decorated along with the Stone Lions. There were offering like chicken, dry candies, candles, and a cup of tea with tea leaves, flowers, paper money, a box of paper clothing and many more.  Once they had done the praying, one of them would toss the two wooden red divination blocks (cashew-shaped block) to check if he had finished his food.  If the red divination blocks turned both sides facing the same direction means he is not ready.  If the divination blocks are both facing different sides, it means he had finished.

Chinese Qing Ming Festival Tomb Sweeping Day Toa Payoh Temple pavilion
Chinese Qing Ming Festival Tomb Sweeping Day Toa Payoh Temple
Chinese Qing Ming Festival Tomb Sweeping Day Praying table
Chinese Qing Ming Festival Tomb Sweeping Day chinese culture food offering
Chinese Qing Ming Festival Tomb Sweeping Day offering on table
Chinese Qing Ming Festival Tomb Sweeping Day Designated burning area

After that, they would go to a designated area to burn the paper offerings. The paper offering can be anything from clothing, gadgets, cars, passports to maids! Chinese believe that the spirit would need these afterlife and the act of burning these provides an offering to the afterlife. If you were to rip open these paper offerings, in fact, they are just printed coloured cardboard. I know it is hard to believe how would spirit will be able to receive the offering and use it. It is not up to us but this is how Chinese culture and tradition has been going on for years!

Once again, I would like to thank my uncle for taking his time to take these photos! Please remember never said anything bad or give your opinion on any deceased’s tombstone/photo. (Please refer to Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories on 31 March 2023 podcast.  It is a real story happened to someone who disrespect the dead.) Show some respect, behave your thoughts and do offer joss sticks to your deceased relative’s neighbours.

Read more about the paper offerings trade here.

Chinese Qing Ming Festival Tomb Sweeping Day Paper Boxes of bank notes Eight billion
Chinese Qing Ming Festival Tomb Sweeping Day Paper Car Television Set
Chinese Qing Ming Festival Tomb Sweeping Day Paper clothes
Chinese Qing Ming Festival Tomb Sweeping Day Paper Gadget Set
Chinese Qing Ming Festival Tomb Sweeping Day Paper gold bars
Chinese Qing Ming Festival Tomb Sweeping Day Paper LV bag
Chinese Qing Ming Festival Tomb Sweeping Day Paper shoes
Chinese Qing Ming Festival Tomb Sweeping Day Paper Western food
Chinese Qing Ming Festival Tomb Sweeping Day Paper Game Set
Chinese Qing Ming Festival Tomb Sweeping Day Paper Grooming Set

Related

Filed Under: Chinese Festivals Tagged With: chinese culture, ghost, Singapore

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Comments

  1. Tina Deacon says

    22 June 2017 at 8:47 am

    So so beautiful I love learning about different cultures and the Chinese is one of my favourites , I’ve learnt something new by reading this

  2. Michelle Kinsey says

    13 April 2014 at 12:52 am

    Beautifully written post, I love learning about new things and why people do what they do. This post has prompted me to look more into the qing ming festival and educate myself a bit more! Thanks Eileen x

  3. Agata Pokutycka says

    8 April 2014 at 11:40 am

    I love posts like this, which teach me something new I’ve never knew before

  4. Nell@PigeonPairandMe says

    4 April 2014 at 6:52 pm

    What a beautiful tradition. You’ve captured it so well in this post.

  5. Claire Toplis says

    3 April 2014 at 7:45 pm

    What a brilliant post , I love to read about your culture x

  6. Healthier Mummy says

    3 April 2014 at 7:38 pm

    I read about this the other day, and think it’s fascinating. Thanks for posting this – it’s always interesting to read more about your culture.

  7. Louisa says

    3 April 2014 at 6:51 pm

    What a fascinating post. I love to hear about your traditions and culture, it is so interesting.

  8. Wild & Grizzly says

    3 April 2014 at 5:10 pm

    I haven’t heard about this before, it’s so great learning about different cultures, thanks for sharing this with us. x

  9. fritha strickland says

    3 April 2014 at 2:36 pm

    so interesting finding out all these things about a different culture! x

  10. Michelle Ordever says

    3 April 2014 at 11:17 am

    I love reading your posts about your culture – fascinates me no end – thank you so much for sharing x

  11. Tina Mansfield says

    3 April 2014 at 10:29 am

    so interesting to see a tradition that is very different to my own but very fascinating

  12. Kara says

    3 April 2014 at 8:54 am

    such an interesting post – it is eye opening seeing other cultures and understanding why they do things

  13. Eileen Teo says

    3 April 2014 at 1:03 am

    Im not sure but it might.
    We also have Ghost Month Celebration (the seventh month) which I will cover in August, do look out for it!

  14. Happy Homebird says

    2 April 2014 at 11:40 pm

    Truly fascinating. I am really enjoying your insights into the Chinese culture. I never knew about these paper offerings before so I feel I am going to bed more knowledgeable. Thank you.

  15. over40andamumtoone says

    2 April 2014 at 10:29 pm

    A fascinating post Eileen, I love reading your posts about your heritage, really interesting.

  16. laura redburn says

    2 April 2014 at 8:57 pm

    so interesting learning about traditions in other peoples cultures!

  17. You Baby Me Mummy says

    2 April 2014 at 7:52 pm

    It is always so interesting to learn about another culture’s traditions x

  18. Katie Albury says

    2 April 2014 at 6:51 pm

    Wow, it’s so lovely to read posts about different traditions, thank you for sharing, I always find them so interesting x

  19. mummyoftwo says

    2 April 2014 at 6:48 pm

    What an interesting way to remember your loved ones.

  20. Cass@TheDiaryofaFrugalFamily says

    2 April 2014 at 6:24 pm

    Another really interesting post – thanks for sharing your traditions x x

  21. Oana Chirila says

    2 April 2014 at 5:57 pm

    We have similar traditions in Romania, after Easter people go and pay their respect to the dead and spend a whole afternoon in the cemetery!

  22. Victoria MyLittleLBlog says

    2 April 2014 at 2:24 pm

    thank you for sharing with us-your readers, its always interesting to know about culture and traditions of the blogger

  23. Pixee Pea says

    2 April 2014 at 1:24 pm

    This is such an interesting read, it’s always lovely to explore different traditions x

  24. Twinsplustwo says

    2 April 2014 at 12:48 pm

    Fascinating – I know so little about Chinese culture. Thanks for sharing 🙂

  25. TheBrickCastle says

    2 April 2014 at 11:47 am

    Wow, that really is fascinating. I couldn’t understand all those expensive gifts before, but now I know it is all paper it makes much more sense 😀

  26. Red Rose Mummy says

    2 April 2014 at 11:24 am

    Another fascinating post Eileen, so interesting to read about these traditions.

Trackbacks

  1. Cremation: The Last Journey of Bone Picking - ET Speaks From Home says:
    10 April 2024 at 8:30 pm

    […] Tong. Now his descendants would be able to visit his niche and continue to remember him. On the tomb sweeping day, his descendants are able to offer him things for the afterlife and pray for his […]

  2. Exhuming Your Loved Ones: Family Views - ET Speaks From Home says:
    9 April 2024 at 10:21 pm

    […] it is less burdensome for the family to carry on the Chinese traditions (tomb sweeping and the Chinese Hungry Ghost festival). My aunty who passed away in June 2020 chose to have a sea […]

  3. Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery Singapore - ET Speaks From Home says:
    14 November 2022 at 12:18 pm

    […] They celebrate Vesak Day annually with a variety of ceremonies such as “Bathing the Buddha”, and “Three-Steps-One-Bow”. If you are keen, do look out for their posters for more information. I did the “Three-Steps-One-Bow” in 2000 and it was not easy at all. So if you are physically unfit, you might want to think twice. They also do a praying ceremony for the Qing Ming festival. […]

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Welcome to ET Speaks From Home!

I'm Eileen, a proud mum of two teenagers (aged 17 and 16), my daughter is living with visual impairment. Since launching this blog in May 2012, we’ve continued to grow and evolve, sharing our family’s journey and passions.

I love cooking, crafting, DIY projects, writing about Chinese culture, and creating YouTube reviews.

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