Qingming Festival, also known as Taqing Festival, Xingqing Festival, Third Month Festival, Ancestor Worship Festival, etc., falls between April 4 and 6 every year. It is a festival for sacrifice, ancestor worship and tomb sweeping.
Originating from ancient ancestor beliefs and spring sacrifice rituals in early China, Qingming Festival embodies both natural and humanistic connotations. It is both a solar term in the traditional Chinese calendar and a major traditional festival.
Qingming Festival is known as one of China’s Four Major Traditional Festivals, together with the Spring Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival.
It is said that Qingming Festival began with the “tomb sacrifice” rituals of ancient emperors and nobles, dating back to the Zhou Dynasty more than 2,500 years ago. Initially, Qingming was only the name of a solar term. Its transformation into a festival for commemorating ancestors is closely related to the Cold Food Festival.
Cold Food Festival and Qingming Festival were originally two separate festivals. In the Tang Dynasty, the day for tomb sweeping and ancestor worship was designated as the Cold Food Festival. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, Qingming Festival gradually rose from a subordinate status to replace the Cold Food Festival.
The Ming and Qing dynasties largely inherited the previous system, and the custom of worshipping ancestors and mourning deceased relatives during Qingming Festival remained prevalent. In the Republican period, Qingming Festival was designated as Arbor Day in 1915, a practice that ended in 1928.
Influenced by Han Chinese culture, many ethnic minority groups in China also celebrate Qingming Festival. Although customs vary slightly across regions, tomb sweeping, ancestor worship, and spring outings are the core themes. Other popular outdoor activities include swinging, cuju (ancient Chinese football), kite flying, tree planting and tug-of-war. Festival foods include Zitui Yan (swallow-shaped pastries), litao (sweet rice porridge), and qingtuan (green glutinous rice cakes).
Besides China, Qingming Festival is also observed in some other countries and regions, such as Vietnam, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.
On May 20, 2006, Qingming Festival, nominated 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 the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
To promote and inherit traditional national culture, Qingming Festival was added as a national statutory holiday in 2008 with one day off. Combined with weekend adjustments, a three-day holiday is usually observed.