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Qing ming day, a time to learn to honor the elders

Tony Ryanto Contributor Jakarta The festivity of the spring festival, or the Lunar New Year, is over, and the time has come to remember and pay respect to the ancestors and deceased relatives.

The qing ming festival (literally means pure brightness) falls on the third day of the third lunar month, usually around April 4 or April 5. It has been celebrated for thousands of years in China. It is essentially the time to express grief for loved ones who have passed away, but is also associated with the living and the family.

Qing ming festival comes at the start of spring, when the days are clear and bright. It is a time when produce begins to grow, thus it is also a symbol of the coming of new life.

A lot of Chinese-Indonesians celebrate qing ming but rituals have, in the course of time, changed a great deal.

There are two significant values that underlines the festival: the filial piety and the Chinese people's recognition of rights and responsibilities.

Respect for elders applies not only to the dead but also to the living, meaning that children should be taught to honor their elders.

As a sign of respect, people take care of the graves of their ancestors. This duty consists of three things: cleaning the grave, making offerings of food and goods, and burning ceremonial money -- not just removing weeds or giving the tombs a face-lift.

After the clean-up, families make offerings of food, which may consist of cooked chicken (with the head still attached), a variety of fruits, cooked pork, rice, wine or whiskey and any particular food that the deceased favored in life.

The meal would be taken to the cemetery and laid out on the ground or a table-shaped flat slab of stone at the altar. The whole family would bow and pray to the ancestors, asking for mercy and protection.

The youngest child present would pick up a glass of whiskey or wine and pour it onto the grave, providing a drink for the ancestors. After a two-coin tossing ceremony asking the dead whether they have finished their meal, all present would partake of the food, assuring their ancestors that they would not have to dine alone.

Normally, the goods offered to the dead are made of paper (joss paper) and can take the form of anything from a shirt and tie to a wristwatch, a car or even a speedboat. The offerings are "sent" to heaven by burning them to ashes, along with some "hell" money. This money serves to do the trick of distracting evil spirits (to go for the money) thus preventing them from intercepting the offerings meant for the ancestors.

As graveyards are usually far from home, the family will have to make a trip. This means that each year there will be some kind of family outing, which in itself is a memorable event.

But there are families who do not bury their dead in graveyards. Instead, the ritual is performed in the "hall of remembrance", similar to the one in a crematory. A plaque is placed on the wall, usually with a picture or painting of the deceased.

Cold Food Festival

The qing ming festival is said to have originated from the Cold Food Festival of ancient times. On that particular day, people would consume only cold food or pre-cooked food. Heating by fire was not allowed.

It is told that in the spring and autumn period of 770-475 BC, there was in the State of Jin a prince named Chong'er. Because he had the potential of a good leader, one of the duke's concubines wanted to kill him so that her son would be named the crown prince.

A loyal retainer named Jie Zitui smuggled Chong'er out of the State of Jin. Once, when starvation threatened the prince, Jie cut a chunk of his thigh flesh, cooked it and gave it to Chong'er.

When the young master came to know of this, he was moved to tears. Kneeling down, he thanked and asked Jie what he wanted from him should he become a duke one day. Jie replied he would be happy if Chong'er would be a just ruler.

Three years after, the evil concubine died and Chong'er returned home to become the Duke of Jin. He rewarded those people who had served him well during exile but he forgot Jie. When someone reminded him, he and his ministers started looking for Jie, who was said to have gone to the mountains with his mother to live in isolation.

When all efforts failed to locate Jie, someone advised the king to burn the mountain, so that Jie and his mother could come out alive. The fire raged for three days and Jie, along with his mother, whom he had been carrying on his back, were found scorched to death under a willow tree.

The duke regretted what he had done. Terribly saddened, he decreed that day was to be the Day of Cold Food. No one was to use fire. Everyone had to eat cold food for a day to honor Jie.

The Cold Food Festival preceded the qing ming festival by one or two days. The rituals of both festivals bore strong resemblance to each other and in time, the Cold Food and qing ming festivals merged into one.

Garlands, kites and painting

In the past, willow blossoms were plaited into wreaths and worn by young women on their heads; it was believed that they would retain their youthful looks.

As the saying goes:" A woman who does not wear a willow garland on qing ming day will soon grow gray."

Another custom is flying kites on the day of the festival. The origin is thought to have come from the spring and autumn period (770 - 476 BC).

The story goes that Gongshu Ban created a wooden bird that he flew like a kite over the capital city of the State of Song in order to spy on the city. By the western Han period (202-24 BC) paper had replaced wood.

A new version of the kite was created by Li Ye during the Five Dynasties period (907-960 AD). When the wind blew through the bamboo tube that was attached to the kite, it created a sound similar to that of the Chinese musical instrument, the zheng, Hence, the name feng zheng (wind instrument) kites.

Riverside Scene At Qing Ming is a painting by Zhang Zeduan of the Northern Song dynasty (960 - 1127 AD). It vividly depicts the festival of qing ming in the city of Bianliang (modern day Keifeng). Zhang belongs to the school of realism.

What is particularly staggering about the painting (now stored in the Palace Museum in Beijing) is its scale. It shows 1,643 people, 208 animals, 20 ships and more than 30 buildings -- all in minute detail. It is a priceless record of the ordinary life of the people of that time, showing the full range of social backgrounds.