Qing Ming

Qing Ming, a newly reinstated public holiday in mainland China, came with a twist this year for the Chinese relatives of the passengers on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. As of this post, there is some evidence that Flight 370 met its end somewhere in the depths of the Indian Ocean, but the uncertainty surrounding the case must make grieving all that much more difficult. Qing Ming is a Chinese Memorial Day of sorts, and this year it may offer those grieving relatives who are familiar with the holiday a frame or a medium to process what seems to be a mind-boggling tragedy.

So many questions remain--including how long can an expensive search continue in the face of finite resources? When is it "long enough"? The 1972 plane crash in the Andes reminds us that sometimes there are survivors, even under unimaginable circumstances. The 16 survivors of the crash in the Andes were found over two months later, only because of their persistence long after the search for them had been called off.

But what is Qing Ming Jie? Sometimes called Tomb Sweeping Day, it is an ancient tradition that was discontinued in 1949 in mainland China, along with many other traditions associated with religion, but was reinstated a half dozen years ago. According to Wikipedia, Qing Ming Jie means "Pure Brightness Festival" or "Clear and Bright Festival" and suggests "a time for people to go outside and enjoy the greenery of springtime . . . but it is mostly noted for it connection with Chinese ancestral veneration and the tending of the family grave."

Spring has arrived in Beibei:
Wisteria dripping from the lattices.

Indeed, spring is in full throttle in Beibei, with wisteria dripping from the lattices of the shelters in the park below my apartment, primroses spilling over stone walls up and down Tiansheng Road, and signs of new life everywhere, even up and around the tombs on nearby JinYun Mountain.

Even though most cultures have something similar to Memorial Day, I've been struck the nature of Qing Ming and "remembering the dead" in China. Some degree of ancestor worship seems alive and well--not everywhere, of course--but in many places. Filial piety, for some people, is not simply a matter of respecting your parents and elders in life, but also is in death. Death does not erase their presence. While this is hardly an unusual thought, some Chinese people who believe in the literal presence of their ancestors hold no other religious beliefs. Some are committed rationalists who still see the extended human organism in much more collectivist terms than most Westerners do. They offer much to ponder.

The Wikipedia article also suggests that the "holiday is often marked by people paying respects to those who died in events considered sensitive . .  and all public mention of such events is taboo." If this is true, I was previously unaware of it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qingming_Festival

Qing Ming (April 7th this year) was a national--and therefore school--holiday, so I took no Chinese classes and taught no English classes. However, the clock in my camera is a half-day behind Chinese time and says the picture below (of my Chinese class) was taken on April 7th.
The majority of my classmates are from Vietnam, Thailand or Russia, although one classmate is from Kazakhstan (he's wearing a mask because of a cold). Our former classmates from Suriname, Guinea Bissau, the Congo, Korea, India and Malawi have moved on. It has been very interesting seeing China through their eyes. Most of them live and study together upstairs (above the classrooms) in the foreign student dormitory.

Date on photo is April 7th--Qing Ming--although
that's only because my camera's clock hasn't adjusted to China-time.