Tomb Sweeping Day

Tomb Sweeping Day

Tomb Sweeping Day, also known as Qingqing Festival, Xingqing Festival, March Festival, Ancestral Worship Festival, etc., is a festival for worshipping, ancestor worship, and tomb sweeping between April 4th and 6th every year. The Tomb Sweeping Day originated from the ancestral beliefs and spring festival customs of ancient times, and has both natural and cultural connotations. It is not only a natural solar term, but also a traditional festival. Tomb Sweeping Day, together with the Spring Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival, is known as China’s four traditional festivals.

The Tomb Sweeping Day is said to have originated from the ancient tomb worship ceremony of emperors, generals, and prime ministers. It dates back to the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2500 years. The Tomb Sweeping Day was originally just a name for a solar term, and it became a festival commemorating ancestors related to the Cold Food Festival. The Cold Food Festival and Tomb Sweeping Day are two different festivals. In the Tang Dynasty, the day of worshipping and sweeping graves was designated as the Cold Food Festival. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, the Tomb Sweeping Day gradually rose from being attached to the Cold Food Festival to replacing it. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the tradition of worshipping ancestors and mourning deceased loved ones continued to be prevalent, following the old system of the previous dynasties. Influenced by Han Chinese culture, ethnic minorities in China also have the customs of Tomb Sweeping Day. Although customs vary in different regions, tomb sweeping, ancestor worship, and outings are the basic themes of Tomb Sweeping Day. In addition, there are many outdoor recreational activities such as swinging, cuju, flying kites, tree planting, tug of war, as well as eating and promoting swallows, cheese, and youth groups. In addition to China, there are also some countries and regions in the world that celebrate Tomb Sweeping Day, such as Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, etc.a

On May 20, 2006, the Tomb Sweeping Day declared by the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. In 2008, the Tomb Sweeping Day in Jiangyan City, Jiangsu Province was included in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects. In 2011, the Tomb Sweeping Day in Jiexiu City, Shanxi Province was included in the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects. The Tomb Sweeping Day in 2024 will be a three-day holiday from April 4th to April 6th.