Celebrated two weeks after the vernal equinox, Tomb Sweeping Day is one of the few traditional Chinese holidays that follows the solar calendar-- typically falling on April 4, 5, or 6. Its Chinese name "Qing Ming" literally means "Clear Brightness," hinting at its importance as a celebration of Spring. Similar to the spring festivals of other cultures, Tomb Sweeping Day celebrates the rebirth of nature, while marking the beginning of the planting season and other outdoor activities.

Qing Ming Jie in Ancient Times
In ancient times, people celebrated Qing Ming Jie with dancing, singing, picnics, and kite flying. Colored boiled eggs would be broken to symbolize the opening of life. In the capital, the Emperor would plant trees on the palace grounds to celebrate the renewing nature of spring. In the villages, young men and women would court each other.

The Tomb Sweeping Day as Celebrated Today
With the passing of time, this celebration of life became a day to the honor past ancestors. Following folk religion, the Chinese believed that the spirits of deceased ancestors looked after the family. Sacrifices of food and spirit money could keep them happy, and the family would prosper through good harvests and more children.

Today, Chinese visit their family graves to tend to any underbrush that has grown. Weeds are pulled, and dirt swept away, and the family will set out offerings of food and spirit money. Unlike the sacrifices at a family's home altar, the offerings at the tomb usually consist of dry, bland food. One theory is that since any number of ghosts rome around a grave area, the less appealing food will be consumed by the ancestors, and not be plundered by strangers.

Honoring Ancestors
Honoring ancestors begins with proper positioning of a gravesite and coffin. Experts in feng shui, or geomancy, determine the quality of land by the surrounding aspects of streams, rivers, trees, hills, and so forth. An area that faces south, with groves of pine trees creates the best flow of cosmic energy required to keep ancestors happy. Unfortunately, nowadays, with China's burgeoning population, public cemetaries have quickly surplanted private gravesites. Family elders will visit the gravesite at least once a year to tend to the tombs.

While bland food is placed by the tombs on Qing Ming Jie, the Chinese regularly provide scrumptious offerings to their ancestors at altar tables in their homes. The food usually consists of chicken, eggs, or other dishes a deceased ancestor was fond of. Accompanied by rice, the dishes and eating utensils are carefully arranged so as to bring good luck. Sometimes, a family will put burning incense with the offering so as to expedite the transfer of nutritious elements to the ancestors. In some parts of China, the food is then eaten by the entire family.

Kites
Besides the traditions of honoring the dead, people also often fly kits on Tomb Sweeping Day. Kites can come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and colors. Designs could include frogs, dragonflies, butterflies, crabs, bats, and storks.

清明节的传统

    Ancestor worship is a Chinese tradition dating back thousands of years.

    中国祭祀祖先的传统已有数千年之久。

    Also known as the Grave-sweeping or Spring Remembrance, Ching Ming ("clear and bright"), is when Chinese families show their respect by visiting the graves of their ancestors to clear away weeds, touch up gravestone inscriptions and make offerings of wine and fruit.

    清明时，中国阖家前往祭拜祖先，同时把祖坟修饰一下，把杂草清除。然后准备一些牺牲、酒和水果作为对祖先的祭品。

清明节的翻译

    “清明”依音译为“Ching Ming, 但“节”则依意译为festival，合起来便是Ching Ming Festival, 是音译和意译的混合物。

    此外，我们再学习几个中国传统节日的英译：

    “春节”在英文上叫做Chinese New Year's Day, 是意译，字面的意思就是“中国人的新年”；或Spring Festival，即“春天的节日”；或Chinese Rural New Year，即“中国农历新年”
    “端午节”的译法和“清明节”一样，“端午”译为Duan Wu, 节是Festival。不过，许多人也喜欢称之为Duan Wu, 节是Festival。另外，许多人也喜欢称之为Dragon Boat Festival，意为“龙舟节”。
    “中秋节”逐字意译为Mid-Autumn Festival,有时则在前边加上Chinese。亦有人称之为Moon Festival的。
    “重阳节”也和“清明节”、“端午节”一般译法，称为Chung Yeung Festival。由于我们有时也把“重阳”称为“重九”，所以有些英国人也把我们的这一个节日叫做“Double-ninth Day,”不过还是以前者较多用。

扩充阅读一：Chinese Ching Ming Festival

A Chinese holiday, celbrated on April 5th, is the Ching Ming Festival (aka Qingming Festival.) Ching, in Chinese, means pure or clean and Ming means brightness. Most people call this holiday grave-sweeping day because people head to the cemetery to clean graves.

There are many Ching Ming rituals[仪式] which include pulling out weeds around the headstone, cleaning the stone and replacing wilted or dead flowers with fresh ones. People also burn incense[薰香] and paper money. The paper money is for the deceased to use in the afterlife. You'll even see food arranged on headstones but it's not a picnic. The food is an offering to the spirits. Three sets of chopsticks[筷子] and three Chinese wine cups are also placed above the food, close to the headstone.

Other rituals include family members pouring wine on the grave or setting off firecrackers[鞭炮] to scare away evil spirits. The firecrackers also let deceased loved ones know they're there to pay their respects. Legend has it that unhappy spirits wander the earth on Ching Ming day. It's considered bad luck to do important business or have an operation on April 5th. Stick to hanging out in the cemetery and offering your ancestors food and fake money.

The practice of ancestor worship is based on three beliefs:
1) that a person's good or bad fortune is influenced by the souls of his or her ancestors;
2) that all departed[死去的] ancestors have the same material needs they had when alive; and
3) that the departed can assist their living relatives.

扩充阅读二：清明节的由来

    有关清明节的由来：相传在秦朝末年，汉高祖刘邦和西楚霸王项羽，大战好几回合后，终于取得天下。他光荣返回故乡的时候，想要到父母亲的坟墓上去祭拜，却因为连年的战争，使得一座座的坟墓上长满杂草，墓碑东倒西歪，有的断落，有的破裂，而无法辨认碑上的文字。

    刘邦非常的难过，虽然部下也帮他翻遍所有的墓碑，可是直到黄昏的时候还是没找到他父母的坟墓。最後刘邦从衣袖里拿出一张纸，用手撕成许多小碎片，紧紧捏在手上，然後向上苍祷告说：“爹娘在天有灵，现在风刮得这么大，我将把这些小纸片，抛向空中，如果纸片落在一个地方，风都吹不动，就是爹娘的坟墓。”说完刘邦把纸片向空中抛，果然有一片纸片落在一座坟墓上，不论风怎么吹都吹不动，刘邦跑过去仔细瞧一瞧模糊的墓碑，果然看到他父母的名字刻在上面。

    刘邦高兴得不得了，马上请人重新整修父母亲的墓，而且从此以后，每年的清明节一定到父母的坟上祭拜。后来民间的百姓，也和刘邦一样每年的清明节都到祖先的坟墓祭拜，并且用小土块压几张纸片在坟上，表示这座坟墓是有人祭扫的。