Qing Ming in Taishan, China
Every society honors its dead in someway. In Latin America it's Dia El Muerto, for the Chinese, it's called Qing Ming.Yeah, we're a highly superstitious bunch who believe in ghosts and supernatural beings. Well sort of, that's evident during the Hungry Ghosts Festival. Qing Ming is an important period which literally means "Clean Grave" or "Tomb Sweeping" as it's more commonly translated.
It's a time for people to remember their ancestors and more importantly, their roots. In a more practical sense, you're expected to clean and make offerings once a year which also ensures that the tombs are well kept and not over grown with weeds.
My Qing Ming trip this March took me to Guangzhou, China where my ancestors originated from. I'm a 3rd generation Singaporean (grandparents had migrated from China) so I've never met the folks from China. You can imagine my excitement when my dad offered to take me along with him on this trip back home.
The first thing that hit me when I landed in Guangzhou was how hazy it was. Then I realized that there wasn't a forest fire so this was actually air pollution - smog from the region. It was so thick it blocked out the blue skies and you couldn't see beyond 10 km (maybe less). In the airport, they had beagles patrolling the luggage pickup area trying to sniff out illegal items. These dogs could sniff out anything from fruits to snacks. A lot of people got busted while we were waiting to pick up our luggage.
The traffic in Guangzhou was really heavy. And I think it takes a lot of skill to actually maneuver through the cars so good luck if you're taking to the roads for the first time. I couldn't help noticing that many of the cars were mostly European models - Audi, Volkswagen, Buick, Mercedes Benz and the occasional Toyota. Unfortunately, the cars were so dirty...later I found out that this was because when it rains in Guangzhou, the rain water is dirty and leaves dirt streaks on your car.
We finally got to the village...my grandfather's side. Here's a photo of a huge firecracker which was set off in front of the Wong community hall. I've never seen firecrackers go off "live"...it's always been on TV! These things are LOUD...so i had a tough time taking photos and plugging my ears at the same time.
Sidenote: In Chinese society, the male typically dominates so when a woman marries, she drops her family name and takes on her husband's family name. Therefore, we associate ourselves more closely to the paternal side (male).
In essence, if you only had girls and no male descendent in the family, your family name dies out. So mother-in-laws in the past used to make things really difficult for their daughter-in-laws if they couldn't bear a boy. Some will either force you to keep bearing kids till you get a boy OR worse yet, advocate for their sons to remarry and get another woman who can "do the job". Thankfully, times have changed somewhat and so has the mentality. A big part of this is due to China's one-child policy where some couples only have girls. So no matter how restrictive the child-bearing policy...it has brought about a gradual change in local Chinese attitudes where kids are valued equally no matter their gender. It also leads to equal treatment in society when it comes to education and jobs given the desperate need for talent in China.
Back to the trip... it was dark by the time we got to the village. We had a scrumptious dinner cooked by the best chefs in the village who were all men. It seems like the men in my family cook better than the women!
I was given my own room! And it had a thick padded silk mattress and blanket, plus a huge mosquito netting. The air was fresher in the country side and most of the land was used for padi farming. I slept really well despite being in a strange land...and actually got up late at 8am the next day. Everyone in the village was up at 4am when the rooster crowed.
We began the rituals which started with a roasted pig covered with red paper and burning of paper money with many zeros (ie. 1000000000000) and they were all in American dollars! Either the currency depreciates when you're in the netherworld or these people can only shop to pass their time when dead.
Is this the right one?
The pig's Journey to the West...
Then the real fun part began, where we had to hike up mountains to search for our ancestral tombs which I might add were all unmarked! Dead from a long long time ago...I'm not even sure how people remember who is buried underneath these plots. The pig got transported from tomb to tomb.
After an entire day of mountain hiking, paper burning, chopping of trees and weeding...my favorite activity of Qing Ming was here. EATING! You see, everything that is offered gets eaten or divided among the living. Woohoo! I was eyeing that roasted pig all morning and I couldn't wait to get my chopsticks on it. hee! Alright, so chopping it up on the ground wasn't the most hygienic but the human digestion system is a tough one. I would rather have gotten diarrhea than to miss out on the best part of the day. :D
Here's the groupie shot...we're all related somehow. In China, there is a saying, "3000 years ago, we shared the same ancestors." That's one BIG family :)
To view more photos from China, check out my facebook album here >>
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