theworldofchinese:

Qingming Festival: Living it up in the Chinese Underworld

On the smoggy streets of Beijing, amongst the usual fruit stalls, utilities, and aging street food vendors, a type of vendor that you usually rarely see is popping up all over the city. They sell stacks of yellow paper, scribbled with the symbols of currency. Yes, Tomb Sweeping Day is here, and it’s time for the Chinese to pay tribute to their ancestors. It’s Chinese tradition to visit your ancestors’ and family members’ tombs on this auspicious day to honor them, by burning offerings for them to receive in their life after death.

Although Tomb Sweeping Day and the Hungry Ghost Festival are both days for venerating your dead ancestors by offering food and burning paper products, Tomb Sweeping Day has a warm family feel. The idea is simple: whatever trinkets you burn on this  day will be transferred to the underworld, where they can be used to make their lives (or deaths I should say) better.

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(via theworldofchinese)