Introduction of Qing Ming
Qing Ming (Traditional Chinese: 清明; Simplified Chinese: 清明; Pin Yin: qīng míng) is the 5th of the 24 solar terms in East Asian calendars (included Chinese Traditional Lunar Calendar); it’s mean Pure Brightness; Clear and Bright; or Sober and Calm. It’s always in the day after Spring Equinox finish. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around 4th of the April, but sometimes at 5th of the April (Every leap year, Qing Ming is on April 4 but not necessary) and In practice, when the Spring Equinox is finish, in China, the day is longer than the night, that’s why they name this solar term Qing Ming.
“春分后十五日，斗指丁，为清明，时万物皆洁齐而清明，盖时当气清景明，万物皆显，因此得名。”
清明节 Introduction of Qing Ming Festival
The Qing Ming Festival (Traditional Chinese: 清明節; Simplified Chinese: 清明节; Pin Yin: qīng míng jié) or Ching Ming Festival used in Hong Kong, literally Clear and Bright Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival on the 105th day after the winter solstice or the 15th day from the beginning of Spring Equinox. (Winter solstice is in 22nd of December, the winter solstice day and Qing Ming day are also counted) In solar terms, the Qing Ming festival is on the 1st day of the 5th solar term, which is also named Qing Ming. Its name denotes a time for people to go outside and enjoy the greenery of springtime (踏青 Tàqīng, "treading on the greenery"), and also to tend to the graves of departed ones.
Others Name of Qing Ming Festival
The holiday is also known by a number of other names in the English language:
• All Souls Day (not to be confused with the Roman Catholic holiday, All Souls Day, of the same name)
• Clear Brightness Festival
• Festival for Tending Graves
• Grave Sweeping Day
• Memorial Day
• Tomb Sweeping Day
Tomb Sweeping Day and Clear Brightness Festival are the most common English translations of 'Qing Ming'. Tomb Sweeping Day is used in several English language newspapers published in the Republic of China. Qing Ming is spelled a number of different ways as well, some of which are:
• Qingming
• Qing Ming
• Ching Ming
• Qing Ming Jie (This one is mean Qing Ming Festival)
Nowadays Qing Ming Activities
Nowadays, for the Chinese, it is a day to remember and honour one’s ancestors. of Qing Ming is to visit the dead people grave. Furthermore, nowadays, Chinese people normally are to pay respects to the ancestry or to commemorate at the elder departed people tombs that are relative to us. (Some people pray to the honour dead as well.) For the Chinese traditional, in the relative family, the members whose elder can not pray to the younger people tombs, (Generally, the elder is mean the position or the order of seniority in the clan, of the same generation or lower is allowed to pray, the generation above of the dead is not) what they can do is to tend to the graves and commemorate of the departed, it’s also mean the outsiders are not count. On the contrary, for long time ago, Qing Ming was a solar term in Chinese History, and it doesn’t have any activity at all, not even in other countries and culture. By the way, even nowadays lots of Chinese people are going to visit they ancestry grave, still, some others Chinese culture is a bit different. It’s depending on which park they are living in.
Note: (Sorry, haven't finished it yet, so call it demo, it's will be change or edited in the future)
