Qingming: Ancestor Veneration & Hiking

Every year when  Qingming (清明) approaches, I can’t help missing Bobo  kuih (波波粿，粿kuih is a type of minnan snack which made from rice flour and water) in my hometown. In Fuzhou dialect, Bobo (波波) means Qingming kuih(清明粿), also called as sweet green rice ball (青團). In my childhood memory, each family was busy making Bobo kuih during Qingming. Round-grained rice (粳米) and sticky rice (糯米) are ground into rice milk and thickened by millstone. Then  juice of mouse yeast grass (鼠麴草，pseudognaphalium affine, also called as bobo grass in Minnan region) is added to make green dough. The dough is pressed into  kuih wrapper (粿皮) of the same size one by one. Fill them with stuffing and make balls. Put the balls into  the steamer with bay leaves (香葉). Steam the green balls with boiling water over high heat to make eye-pleasing greenish Qingming Pastry with faint scent. This refreshment serves as an offering in the ancestor worship ceremony on Qingming Festival. Afterwards, it becomes a spring delicacy.

Probably many of you have similar childhood memories. During childhood, we may know Qingming as a festival, yet not necessarily know as one of the 24 solar terms. So do the modern urbanites. They don’t necessarily care about the seasonal changes or growth cycles outside the air-conditioned  room, yet they keep in mind the humanistic connotation of festivals, such as ancestor veneration, the beautiful lines,  "When I ask a shepherd boy where I can find a tavern, / He points at a distant hamlet nestling amidst apricot blossoms."¹ that poet Du Mu (杜牧，803-852) wrote in  Qingming (《清明》), the prosperous world that painter Zhang Zeduan (張擇端，1084 - 1145) described in Along the River During the Qingming Festival (《清明上河圖》), etc.

So how did Qingming evolve from a solar term to a significant festival? We regard Huainanzi: Patterns of Heaven (《淮南子·天文訓》) in Han Dynasty as a purely natural-law-based description of Qingming: 15 days after Spring Equinox (春分), Big Dipper points to southeast, which indicates the arrival of  Qingming breezes. In Records of the Grand Historian: Treatise of Bells (《史記·律書》), Sima Qian（司馬遷，145 – 86 BC） also recorded that  Qingming breezes come from southeast, and benefit the world by omnipresent blow, Yang (陽氣) gradually augments in the world, blowing all creatures for better growth.

Such astronomical and meteorological concepts of Qingming remained unchanged till Tang Dynasty when it was integrated with Cold Food (寒食), a close festival. For example, emperor Xuanzong of Tang (唐玄宗李隆基，685 - 762) once informed his people that “The four days from Cold Food to Qingming are holidays.” Emperor Daizong of Tang (唐代宗李豫，726 - 779) also issued that “The five days from Cold Food to Qingming are days-off.” These are clear evidence for the festive meaning of Qingming. The custom of sweeping tombs on Qingming Festival contains the worship elements of Cold Food.

Sweeping tombs to worship ancestors on Qingming Festival has been kept as a widespread custom in China, with lasting influences on overseas Chinese. It mainly embodies the Confucianism values of ancestor veneration (Perform the funeral rites to parents prudently and worship the progenitors devoutly² ) (慎終追遠). To worship ancestor means to keep our roots in mind. From generation to generation, Yin and Yang in the universe are passed down to give us life. Whether rich or poor, it’s a human nature and basic courtesy to be grateful to our ancestors, which displays the ethic ideology and emotion of giving priority to filial piety. What stands out in scale and impact now is the public memorial ceremony of emperor Huang on Qingming Festival, a grand spectacle to memorize ancestors shared by the whole nation.

If the tradition of ancestor veneration on  Qingming Festival dates  to Cold Food, then hiking and other entertainments in spring stem from Double Third Festival (上巳節). Since Late Han and Wei Dynasties, the third day of the third lunar month became Double Third Festival, close to Qingming. Classic masterpieces abound in relevant literature works, like Preface to the Collection of Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion (《蘭亭集序》) by calligrapher Wang Xizhi (王羲之，303 - 361) and Fair Ladies: A Ballad (《麗人行》)³ by poet Du Fu (杜甫，712 - 770), both of which describe the spectacular spring tours. The refined scholars at the winding stream party and the beauties outside Capital Chang’an were all immersed in gentle sunshine and enjoying themselves in the vigorous spring, forming a delightful contrast to nature. As time goes by and the custom evolves, hiking on Double Third Festival was integrated into Qingming Festival and passed down to now.

In retrospect to the evolving history of the humanistic connotation, Qingming feels more marvelous and meaningful. Sweeping tombs to venerate ancestors focuses on” Soil”-for the common people in the agrarian age, soil was not only their “Root”, but also their homeland. Spring hiking on Qingming Festival often occurs by”Water”, the source of life, manna for all creatures and symbol of wisdom, containing the vitality to create the future. The former is solemn while the latter is dynamic. In combination, they form a perfect reflection of the spring status. In ancient Chinese, Chun (萅, spring) reflects the look of all growing creatures on the one hand, and the hardship in growth on the other: the middle part Zhun (屯) of Chun (萅) means hardship, it symbolizes the hardship of hulling and unearthing unavoidable in the growth of all creatures in spring. The word has two implications. First, life is wonderful when it gets warm in spring and plants germinate in nourishing drizzles. Second, after all the hardships, life is so valuable as to be cherished. Isn’t our ancestor veneration on Qingming Festival an embodiment of devotion to the lasting life and memorizing ancestors? Isn’t hiking on Qingming Festival a reflection of our wishes for wonderful life, booming vigor and better future?

Now in retrospect, the hometown food Bobo kuih also embodies dual meanings. It contains the descendants’ mourning, respect, and gratitude for their ancestors on the one hand, and implies lasting vitality, life, and generations on the other, as embodied by the overwhelming green in wild vegetable juice and cheerful hiking after tomb sweeping.

Reference：

Journal Article

1. 于汐，唐晉：〈春遊還是遊春〉，《中華遺產》，增刊Z1期（2008年）。

2. 王福州：〈清明節的文化淵源與時代價值〉，《中華之美》，第4期（2022年）。

3. 楊天宇：〈論清明節的源流嬗變〉，《華北水利水電學院學報》（社會科學版），第1期（2009年）。