Ching Ming Festival清明節

Ching Ming Festival， also known as tomb-sweeping day， is celebrated 15 days after the spring equinox in the Chinese lunar calendar and this year falls on April 4. In China， the festival is a public holiday.

清明節是祭祖掃墓的日子，為中國農歷春分后的第15天，今年的清明節是在4月4日。在中國，清明節為法定節假日。

What is the festival’s origin？

清明節的起源

Its name originates from the saying “plants start to revive and prosper at Ching Ming in a clean and bright way”. Thus Ching Ming literally means “clean” and “bright” in Chinese， and marks both the beginning of spring and of farm work.

清明節的名稱源于古語“萬物生長此時，皆清凈明潔”。因此，“清明”在漢語中的字面意思是“清凈”與“明潔”，標志著春天和農活的開始。

The customs of the festival as we know it today， however， originate from hanshi jie， or the Cold Food Festival.

不過，我們今天所熟知的清明節習俗其實源自寒食節。

According to legend， in the 7th century BC in the Chinese state of Jin， an exiled duke called Wen was starving and had no food to eat， so one of his followers， named Jie Zitui， cut a piece of his flesh from his thigh to make soup for Wen. Wen was grateful for the meal and wanted to pay Jie back.

相傳，在公元前7世紀中國的晉國，公子重耳（后來的晉文公）在外流亡時，饑餓難耐而無食物充饑，于是一位名叫介子推的從者割下自己大腿的肉為他熬湯。晉文公十分感激，想要報答介子推。

However， the story does not end well： when Wen eventually became the ruler， he forgot about Jie， who had moved to a remote mountain with his mother. When he learned of his saviour’s whereabouts， he ordered his army to set the forest on fire， hoping to force Jie out of hiding. The fire raged for three days and eventually the emperor saw Jie and his mother clinging， dead， to a charred willow tree. He buried them under the tree.

然而，故事的結局并不美好：晉文公最終成為一國之君后，忘了介子推，而介子推早已帶著母親隱居到了一座偏遠的山中。晉文公在得知救命恩人的下落后，命令軍隊放火燒山，希望以此迫使介子推出山。大火燒了三天。最終，晉文公只看見介子推和他的母親緊緊抱著一棵燒焦的柳樹，二人都已亡故。晉文公將他們埋葬在了這棵柳樹之下。

Out of remorse， Wen decreed no fires were allowed on the anniversary of Jie’s death， forcing people to eat only cold food; this marked the beginning of the Cold Food Festival. The emperor went to Jie’s grave to pay his respects and express his condolences the following year. Upon the tomb the emperor saw the burned willow tree coming back to life. After sweeping the tomb， Wen named the tree “Ching Ming Willow” and the day “Ching Ming Day”.

出于悔恨，晉文公下令，在介子推忌日這天，人們不準生火，只能吃冷食。這便是寒食節的由來。次年，晉文公前往介子推的墓前祭拜，以表達敬意和哀思。他看到墓旁被燒焦的柳樹重新煥發出生機。掃完墓后，晉文公將這棵樹命名為“清明柳”，并將這一天定為“清明節”。

Since the Cold Food Festival usually fell one or two days before Ching Ming， the customs associated with it eventually became part of the Ching Ming Festival.

由于寒食節通常是在清明節前一兩天，因此寒食節的相關習俗最終變成了清明節的一部分。

How is the Ching Ming Festival observed？

清明節的習俗

When paying tribute to ancestors and visiting their graves， people may burn incense and paper goods—money and models of things their ancestors might need in the afterlife such as a stored-value card， a wok， a luxury handbag or car—to ensure they enjoy a good afterlife. Some will place flowers， fruit and other foods on the tomb to remember the dead.

祭祖掃墓時，人們會在墓前上香，并燒一些紙扎——包括紙錢和先人死后在陰間所需物品的模型，例如儲值卡、炒鍋、奢侈品包包或汽車等——以確保先人九泉之下過得幸福。……