My name is Jerron Chan, or 陈觉仁 in Mandarin, and 陳覺仁 in Cantonese. I grew up in Hong Kong my entire life up till going to university and went to an international school. My Dad is bilingual, and my mom and her side of the family are trilingual (My maternal grandpa used to be quadrilingual but lost the ability as he got older). From preschool, I learned in a trilingual environment, where we’d learn Mandarin and English at school, and use Cantonese at home and outside. I never noticed becoming trilingual, it was something that just happened. What I’m still trying to understand is why I chose English as my dominant language, as both my parents and my extended family spoke Cantonese predominantly. Maybe it was because it was the main language everything was taught in at school, or maybe it could’ve been because most of the friends I made as a child also spoke English predominantly. But it’s most likely a combination of a myriad of factors. I came to America and Wesleyan for the first time in the summer of 2022. Having been heavily influenced my western media at home, it felt familiar but also so very alien at the same time. I spoke the language, but there was an obvious disconnect when it came to our cultures, even though we listened to the same music, watched the same movies, and read the same books. I became fascinated with language in the way it allows us to connect with other humans, as well as its role in shaping perception. In becoming more aware about how language shaped my past and culture I decided to write about a Chinese holiday centred around death for my final project. I realised I never noticed that it was a way that people in our culture familiarised themselves with the concept of death from a young age, and how these types of traditions surrounding dying are extremely lacking in American culture. In exploring how 清明节(Qing Ming Jie or Tomb Sweeping Day) has impacted by upbringing and relationship with death, I wanted to share this part of my culture through the lens of a western-educated Hong Konger.
Qingming Jie or Tomb Sweeping festival
The Tomb Cleaning Festival, also known as Qingming Festival or Tomb Sweeping Day, is a traditional Chinese holiday that usually takes place on April 4th, 5th, or 6th every year. The festival has a history of over 2500 years and is a time for Chinese people to honour and pay respects to their ancestors by cleaning and maintaining their tombs. In becoming more aware of my language and how it shaped my culture, I had also become more interested in the ways I could explore my spirituality through trilingualism, as well as interpreting Chinese rituals using a more western Zen Buddhist perspective.
During the festival, families usually visit the graves of their ancestors, clean the tombstones, offer food, burn incense, and perform other rituals to show their love and respect for the deceased. This has to be done before 3pm, with very specific rituals. This includes first cleaning/sweeping the tomb, lighting incense, bowing and offering paper sacrifices, pouring a drink and toasting to the dead, then bowing again 3 times. Paper gifts symbolising money and other luxurious goods are also traditionally burned to send them to the other plane of existence. This can include clothes, stacks of cash, and sometimes even cars (see photos below). It is believed burning such items will transfer them into your ancestor’s possession in the afterlife. Additionally, there are some things to avoid while conducting this ritual. For example, it is taboo for pregnant women to participate in Qing Ming Jie as it is thought that they provoke negative energy in the cemetery, which has detrimental effects to the foetus. Another thing to be aware of is the choice of clothing. It is thought that bright attention-attracting clothes are overwhelming for the spirits, and therefore may scare your ancestral spirits away from protecting you. On top of this, people who suffer from any illnesses should not visit the cemetery, as they are thought to have a weak aura and are more susceptible to negative energy. It is also said that spirits are attracted to the smell of perfume, so those who wear strong scents should be wary of the spirits that follow them back from the cemetery. Also, don’t swear. It is both disrespectful to your ancestor and the other spirits that may inhabit the surrounding environment.
(Source: Francky Knapp)
(Source: Laurel Chor)
Source: Wiki Commons)
The Tomb Cleaning Festival is not only a time for remembrance and mourning, but also an opportunity for families to gather together and strengthen their bonds. Newborns also participate in the rituals, and are brought to QingMing Jie to be introduced to their ancestors. After having read the Tibetan Book of the Dead, I realised how this was a way for people in Chinese culture to familiarise themselves with death from a young age. It confronts people with the idea that one day they will die, but when they do, rituals that have been in place generations long before they have been born will continue long after they’re gone. As the festival usually coincides with early spring and the first few warm days of the year, the juxtaposition of new life with paying respect to the dead enhances the notion that death is what gives life meaning.
As the Tomb Cleaning Festival has evolved over time, it has also become a popular time for people to enjoy the beauty of spring and the outdoors. In many cities, parks and scenic areas are packed with people picnicking, flying kites, and enjoying other outdoor activities. Additionally, the Tomb Cleaning Festival is also a time for people to indulge in traditional foods such as qingtuan (a type of sweet green rice cake) and the famous Qingming snack, peach blossom porridge. In many cases, food offered during the rituals are taken back after the ceremony to be eaten together with family. The idea being that the spirits have already consumed through the aroma and other incense.
In addition to the traditional practices of tomb cleaning and ancestor worship, the Tomb Cleaning Festival has also become a time for people to reflect on the importance of family and heritage. Many Chinese people use the holiday as an opportunity to reconnect with their roots and learn more about their family history. This often involves visiting ancestral hometowns, tracing family genealogy, and sharing stories about ancestors with younger generations.
Three years ago I recall going on one of these trips, where we travelled up and crossed the mainland border with our paternal grandparents to visit our extended family. Although they were family by blood, I was not nearly as fluent in Mandarin or Cantonese as they were, and as they did not speak English, this only served to only heighten the barriers that already existed between our subfamilies. Reflecting on this experience made me reconsider my linguistic relationship with my parents, which mostly consisted of me speaking to them in English, and them responding in a combination of Cantonese and English. This made me wonder how much the language barrier between my parents and I have affected our communication and family dynamic as a whole, as both my Mom and Dad spoke Cantonese predominantly. If I were a parent, I don’t know how I’d feel if my children didn’t speak the same dominant language as I did. It must’ve been strange for them. Oh well, guess that’s something I can talk to them about over dinner when I return home.
I am more than glad to have been able to experience this ritual in both Chinese, Cantonese, and English. It’s allowed me to appreciate this ritual from a familial perspective whilst also using western zen philosophy to interpret the ceremony in how it familiarises the youth with the concept of death and impermanence. The Tomb Cleaning Festival is an important time for Chinese people to honour their ancestors, connect with their family history, and celebrate the beauty of nature and the arrival of spring. It is a time for reflection, gratitude, and connection with both the past and the present. I hope reading this will have brought even the tiniest of a fraction of the spiritual awakening reflecting on these experiences has evoked in me. May the deceased rest in peace while the living live a blessed life; 逝者已矣，生者如斯.
Reflection
This was my first time translating anything for an academic purpose. I had originally written this article in English before translating it into Chinese. While I tried my best to use the extent of my Mandarin in order to get the meanings as close as possible, I struggled quite a bit trying to find the right vocabulary. This was in part with the fact that I had not really pursued Mandarin outside of an academic context, and read very little outside of class in high school. As a result, there were many words and phrases that I had to look up. Writing in Multiple Languages was the first opportunity I’ve had to express myself freely in Mandarin as a part of my coursework. I want to thank my mother, my Chinese highschool teacher 金老师, and my friend Tiffany Zhao for giving me feedback on this translation. There were many errors in my original draft that made it so that the article didn’t flow as well, but with their help, I was able to make adjustments accordingly. I felt that this project was a part of my journey in self-discovery, so I am very grateful for their insight and assistance along the way.
Works Cited
Chor, Laurel. “Hungry Ghosts Sending My Dead Grandfather the Car He Requested in a Dream.” Coconuts, 2 Sept. 2015, https://coconuts.co/custom-feature/hungry-ghosts-sending-my-dead-grandfather-car-he-requested-dream/. Accessed 17 May 2023.
Keegan, Matthew. “Why Do the Chinese Burn Fake Money at Funerals?” Culture Trip, 8 Mar. 2018, theculturetrip.com/asia/china/articles/why-do-the-chinese-burn-fake-money-at-funerals/.
Knapp, Francky. “Burning Iphones and Designer Bags on China’s Day of the Dead.” Messy Nessy Chic, 19 Apr. 2018, www.messynessychic.com/2018/04/19/burning-iphones-and-designed-bags-on-chinas-day-of-the-dead/.
Lin, Janet. “Tomb-Sweeping Festival Traditions.” Macau Lifestyle, https://macaulifestyle.com/culture/tomb-sweeping-festival-traditions/.
