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The Qingming Festival (Tomb Sweeping Day, 清明节), observed annually on April 4 or 5, is an ancient Chinese festival that blends solemn ancestral reverence with the joyful celebration of spring renewal. Rooted in both astronomical solar terms and millennia of Confucian filial piety, Qingming stands as an official statutory public holiday across China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
The cultural lineage of Qingming intertwines with the ancient Hanshi (Cold Food Festival), originating over 2,500 years ago during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). The legend centers on the loyal official Jie Zitui, who loyally served Prince Chong'er of Jin during nineteen years of exile, even carving flesh from his own thigh to feed his starving master.
When Chong'er ascended the throne as Duke Wen of Jin, Jie Zitui eschewed official rewards and retired to Mianshan mountain with his mother. In an ill-fated attempt to coax him from the forest, the Duke set fire to the mountain, but Jie chose death in the flames rather than compromise his integrity. Stricken with remorse, Duke Wen ordered that no fire be lit on the anniversary of Jie's death, establishing the Cold Food Festival. In 732 AD, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty formally codified tomb sweeping rituals into law, unifying Hanshi practices with the solar term of Qingming.
On Qingming morning, families journey to cemeteries carrying fresh flowers, pruning shears, and picnic baskets. In a timeless sequence of ancestral respect, descendants clear away weeds, sweep tombs clean, repaint weathered stone characters, lay fresh soil on burial mounds, and place offerings of fruit, wine, and incense before bowing three times in silent gratitude for family heritage.
At the national scale, grand memorial rites unfold at the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor (黄帝陵) in Huangling, Shaanxi province, bringing together dignitaries and diaspora representatives to pay homage to the mythical ancestor of the Chinese nation. At the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tiananmen Square and the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in Beijing, ceremonial wreaths are laid to honor martyrs who fell in service to the republic.
Gastronomy during Qingming celebrates the verdant freshness of spring. In the Jiangnan water towns around Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Shanghai, the quintessential seasonal treat is Qingtuan (青团)—round dumplings made of glutinous rice tinted bright green with fresh wild mugwort (艾草) or barley grass juice, stuffed with sweet red bean paste or savory salted egg yolks and dried pork floss. Other regional delicacies include crispy twisted sanzi noodles (馓子) and delicate spring rolls wrapped with chives and sprouts.
Following solemn cemetery rituals, the mood transforms into a buoyant celebration of nature known as Taqing (踏青, treading the green). Parks fill with families flying ornate kites decorated with swallows, butterflies, and goldfish. Willow branches (柳条) are tucked into hats and hairpins to ward off misfortune, harmonizing deep ancestral remembrance with the joyful blossoming of new life.
Alongside solemn ancestral grave-sweeping rites, Qingming is marked by joyful spring customs. Families prepare and eat sweet green jade balls (青团 - Qingtuan) made from glutinous rice colored with mugwort juice and filled with sweet red bean or savory pork floss. Children fly silk kites adorned with lucky paper streamers, releasing them into the clear spring sky to carry away winter misfortunes.
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Qingming Festival is scheduled for April 5, 2027. The countdown timer at the top of the page updates the days remaining in real time.
The Qingming Festival (Tomb Sweeping Day, 清明节) is one of China's most significant traditional solar term festivals, observed around April 4 or 5 on the Gregorian calendar when the sun reaches celestial longitude 15°. It is an official statutory public holiday in China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
The festival traces back more than 2,500 years to the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC) and the legend of loyal courtier Jie Zitui (介子推), who cut meat from his own leg to feed his starving master, Duke Wen of Jin. When the Duke later tried to summon Jie from Mianshan mountain by setting a forest fire, Jie refused to seek worldly power and died embracing a willow tree. Grief-stricken, the Duke instituted the Cold Food Festival (寒食节), banning all fire, which eventually merged with the solar term of Qingming.
Qingtuan (青团) are jade-green glutinous rice dumplings flavored and colored with freshly harvested mugwort (艾草) juice or Chinese barley grass juice. Traditionally consumed cold during Qingming in the Jiangnan region (Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu), they are filled with sweet red bean paste or savory salted egg yolk and pork floss.
Families travel to ancestral gravesites to clear away overgrown weeds, sweep the tombs, repave stone inscriptions, offer food and wine, burn incense and symbolic joss paper, and bow respectfully three times to honor deceased ancestors and preserve family lineage memory.
Taqing (踏青, literally 'treading the greenery') refers to spring outings taken during Qingming when trees bud, peach blossoms bloom, and spring temperatures warm the earth. Families combine solemn cemetery visits with joyful hikes in the countryside, flying kites, and appreciating springtime landscapes.
Flying kites (放风筝) is a popular Qingming custom dating to ancient times. In folklore, cutting the kite string and letting the kite drift high into the sky symbolically carries away diseases, misfortune, and bad luck, while evening flyers attach strings of tiny colored lanterns that glow like drifting stars.
People insert weeping willow branches (柳条) into doorway eaves and wear willow wreaths in their hair during Qingming. Willow is considered an auspicious plant with Buddhist associations (the willow branch of Guanyin Bodhisattva), believed to ward off harmful spirits while welcoming the rejuvenation of spring.
In December 2007, the State Council of the People's Republic of China revised national holiday regulations, formally restoring Qingming as an official statutory public holiday starting in 2008, typically granting a continuous three-day weekend.
Major state memorial ceremonies take place at the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum (黄帝陵) in Huangling, Shaanxi province, and the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery and Monument to the People's Heroes in Beijing, commemorating revolutionary martyrs and national forebears.
Alongside Qingtuan, people across China enjoy crispy fried sanzi (馓子, deep-fried twisted wheat flour dough noodles), spring pancakes (春饼) wrapped with seasonal vegetables, sweet snail dishes, and Qingming porridge.