Qing Ming (ching-ming) "Clear Brightness"

Today (Saturday) is a National Holiday here in China. It's Tomb Sweeping Day or Qing Ming. This is when the chinese visit the graves of their ancestors to care for the grave site and offer their ancestors food. Often times, entire families will visit the grave site and spend time together, honoring the dead.

In recent years, 'tomb sweeping' has been celebrated up to three weeks before the actual day, to avoid traffic congestion. I was told by one of my chinese friends that many times, when a person dies in a city where they were not born, they will request to be transported back to their original home town after they die. So, the families will often travel to many different places to honor their deceased loved ones...creating a large amount of traffic in a short amount of time.

For more information about this Holiday in China, visit: http://www.c-c-c.org/chineseculture/festival/qingming/qingming.html


When I had gone to Wu Yuan recently, almost all the women in the little towns were making a special Tomb Sweeping treat, called Qing Ming Guo. It's like a dumpling, but at this time of year, the outside is made with a green vegetable. The inside can be filled either a savory meat and onion, or a sesame filling or even a sweet red bean. I did try it and while I liked the insides, the vegetable shell tasted just a little bitter to me.

I, personally, love the idea of this Holiday. I think we, in our busy lives, tend to forget (or at least don't make time) to honor our deceased loved ones. Part of who we are, is who came before us. Also...those who sacrificed for us, fought for us, lived to better our own lives sometimes and those who may have loved us.

Why don't we take more time to honor those people...visit their grave sites once in awhile...show respect for their contribution(s) to our own lives? Well...usually because our lives are "too busy," with higher priorities, right? Hey, I'm included in that group!

But, after living here and observing another culture's set of priorities...I may change mine. I like the idea of honoring the dead and paying respect to those who lived, laughed, loved and lost before me.

I hope that my life adds enough contribution and value to another human being's life, that they might want to remember me, and the life I lived, by doing the same.