holiday this monday

[ttwjr32]

this monday is the holiday for honoring the dead here in China. people have been going to the places these last few days to pay respect and honor their family members not with them any more

[mustfocus]

Hi Ted,

The holiday is called Qing-Ming (depending on who you talk to, in English, it's often called Tomb-Sweeping day).  The tradition in South East Asia is to go to visit the graves of your ancestors and clean them up and make offerings.  Lots of hell money and paper-versions of material goods are burned as offerings to your relatives.

Depending on the family, it is often a day to spend time with your family.

[Willy The Londoner]

But unlike some Mexico groups at least they let them stay buried! And don't dig em up to join the feast around the grave.

Willy

[maxx]

Willy let me see if I can get the translation right for you.Dayo day demorta It means the day of the dead.

[Willy The Londoner]

Well I suppose one way or another it is nice to be remembered!

 'Just going to visit Grandma! Darling - Do you know where my shovel is'?

Willy.

[rockycoon]

Willy, I have a back-hoe you can borrow, you know how tiring digging is.  We can "back fill" tomorrow....:icon_cheesygrin:

It's an extend-a-hoe, for the "really deep ones". :icon_cheesygrin:

[Chong]

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Here in Kaiping, visiting the gravesites have been going on the past three weeks. April 5th is the last day to do it. Last Friday, we visited 10 gravesites on my wife's father's side of the family.We started at 9 am till 4 pm.  Walking through the hills in waist high bushes isn't easy. Carrying a whole roasted pig, roasted gooses, pastries etc etc isn't easy but locals have been doing it for years. IMHO, I had a concern about the food bacteria. At the last gravesite, the local villagers [ non-family members ] gathered and waited for the food trays to be passed out. The ritual at each site is clean the area [ often using a back hoe to clear the bushes & weeds ], unpack & offer the food, stick incense sticks into the ground, shave sugar cane, offer a boiled egg, burn paper money, light firecrackers and then pack up everything for the next site.

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On Sunday, I visited the gravesite of my great great grandfather, my great grandfather [ both on a small hill in the middle of a vegetable field ], my grandmother [ on a high hill behind a pig slaughter house which was constructed after her burial ] and two unknown family gravesites. People chose their burial sites on hills based on what fortune tellers told them regarding a good luck site. Before headstones, they constructed a centered sand mounument with three smaller ones around it. A brick size "Hua Hu' would have been placed near the gravesite marking the person's name and village. Gravesites on hills are not allowed now. In Kaiping, cremation is the law now.

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I tried to visit my great grandparents gravesites on my mother's side but their gravesites was last visited 6 years ago. The bushes and weeds are neck high right now and it would be almost impossible to find a two feet high sand monument amidst the large hill.

The younger generation tend to visit only their parents, grandparents & great grandparents. To visit all earlier generations would take too much time. Unless those locations are recorded, those sand monuments [ usually unmarked ] will fade away in memory. Once my wife and I moved back to Toronto, we can visit my father's site in Toronto, his father's site in New York and my mom's parents in San Francisco. We probably won't be able to return to China annually for Qing Ming.

.

[Irishman]

The agencies will be closed on Sunday and Monday also so bros should keep this in mind if expecting emfs.

[Arnold]

Hi Ted,

The holiday is called Qing-Ming (depending on who you talk to )

Yes , I will celebrate Qing's and her brother Ming's special day on the fifth . I alway make fun of this Festival with my Wife .:angel:

[ttwjr32]

Arnold,

you make fun of this festival??? thats not very nice. its a day to honor those who have died
much like we honor the veterans on veterans day only with family. not nice to make fun of that.

as they would say in China  " BAD ARNOLD"

[Vince G]

Willy, I have a back-hoe you can borrow, you know how tiring digging is.  We can "back fill" tomorrow....:icon_cheesygrin:

It's an extend-a-hoe, for the "really deep ones". :icon_cheesygrin:

That's funny, I was going to say the same thing... Give Rocky a call he has the backhoe and the rock hammer.Ted, don't worry Arnold's only looking to get spanked... again?

Chonger, actually I'm very touched that chinese people do this. To even think, knowing generations later you will be visited is amazing.

[JimB]

My wife is going back to Wuhan on the 17th.  As is her family custom, it is 3 years now that her father has passed and they are going to take the tombstone and set it upright. I asked her why and she didnt know. She said she was going to ask Mama.  She is a nurse and of course doesnt get all of the holidays off although she is eligible as senior nurse but good heart that she is, she lets the younger ones go to some of them.
China has more National holidays than any other country I know of.  Seems at least one a month sometimes two.

[ttwjr32]

Chong,

good pics thanks for sharing with us. i do think cremation is the only way now in
China. in every city.  i remember my first tomb sweep 8 years ago i was at ah as
i thought it was more like a july 4 event rather than a visit to honor someone who
has passed away. and it was really wonderful to see that many generations in the
area. going back so many years just thought the same as vince when i went the first
time

[Chong]

Chonger, actually I'm very touched that chinese people do this. To even think, knowing generations later you will be visited is amazing.

Vincenzo ... I'm fascinated by history. In China's villages, there's usually a "Village/Clan Book" or "Zupu" containing the history of the residents. I found the one for my Dad's village but it didn't contain any information about my ancestors. I don't know who has the "Family Book" or "Jiapu". It's a personal history book that passed from generation to generation.

However, I did find the "Hum Red Book". It's a two volume set that was published in 2009 by the Hum Association. On one page, it shows my family history from the 13th generation to my current 22nd generation. My name's in the book. On another page, I can trace back from the 13th generation back to the first Hum in Taishan in the year 1398. From there, I can trace back further to the first Hum in Guangdong in the year 901.

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Here's the ancestral shrine in my grandfather & Dad's house.

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Here's the ancestral shrine at my great grandfather's house.

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Unfortuately, each time a new house is built, the earlier generation's name is deleted from the shrine. Any reference to them and earlier names has to come from the "Jiapu".
While we're on this subject, how far back do you [ all Forum Brothers ] know about your ancestors

It would be fascinating to hear about your history and pay a tribute to your ancestors at the same time.

[David5o]

Chong,

Interesting stuff... In the book on page 499, ...What does the box with i think the symbol for ''Boy'' underneath signify??  

David....