Qingming Festival, a cultural feature of remembering ancestors

BTO-Although Thanh Minh Festival is not a big festival, but with the moral of “drinking water, remembering its source”, Thanh Minh Festival has long been an important and sacred holiday, deeply ingrained in the subconscious of many Vietnamese people at home and abroad. This is an occasion for people to organize grave-sweeping ceremonies, gather together to remember the deceased…

Qingming is the fifth of the “twenty-four solar terms” and has been considered an annual festival by Eastern people. Qingming comes 45 days after the beginning of spring. Literally, “qing” means clear air, and “ming” means bright. When the spring equinox passes, the spring drizzle has ended, the sky becomes clear and bright, marking the arrival of Qingming.

People buy cotton and fruit during Qingming Festival

In 2023, Thanh Minh Festival falls on April 5. According to traditional customs, on this holiday, descendants visit their ancestors' graves, clean and sweep the graves, make banh troi and banh chay to worship, hoping that their ancestors will bless them with good health and peace.

That is why on Qingming Festival, cemeteries become bustling with people. Mr. Nguyen Hong - Ward 11, Phu Thuy Ward (Phan Thiet City) said: In the past, most graves were only covered with soil and had stele erected, so every year, descendants had to organize grass cutting and additional filling to keep the graves always high against the erosion of wind and rain. Graves with stele had to be re-written clearly. Nowadays, new graves and reburied graves are built with solid materials and beautifully decorated. Simple ones are plastered with cement and tiled, luxurious ones are made of marble. Many graves are also carved and roofed... However, people still maintain the old customs, on Qingming Festival, they gather together to sweep the graves, whitewash, draw stele, clean, and burn incense so that the resting place of their family and clan members is clean and cozy.

After visiting the graves, family members come together to prepare a tray of food to offer to the ancestral altar and eat together. Mr. Dang Thanh Tuan (Phu Trinh Ward - Phan Thiet City) shared: For many years, the brothers in the family have celebrated Thanh Minh Festival. The offerings are moderate, mainly cakes, flowers, wine, tea and roast pork. The Thanh Minh ceremony is somewhat simple, not because of lack of filial piety to grandparents and parents, but Mr. Tuan's brothers believe that it is just an external form. The most important thing is that the children and grandchildren are complete, love each other and always look to their parents...

Nowadays, the formal rituals of the ancients have changed somewhat so that the holiday can be organized economically. However, the humanistic meaning of expressing filial piety and gratitude of descendants to their ancestors and deceased people on Thanh Minh Festival is still a beautiful feature that creates family traditions and customs, contributing to preserving the cultural flow of the nation.

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