QING Ming (also known as Cheng Beng or Ching Ming) is an important traditional Chinese festival that honours the ancestors. It is the Taoist version of All Souls Day or literally Tomb-Sweeping Day in English.
This ritual stems from a long-held belief of life after death among the Chinese and is celebrated on the 104th day after the winter solstice to commemorate the mid-spring equinox. It usually falls on April 4 or 5.
During Qing Ming, people will visit the graves of their ancestors while making sure that the tomb and its surrounding is clean (by sweeping the tomb, remove weeds and add fresh soil).
As for ancestors who were cremated, a similar ritual will take place at the columbarium.
Apart from that, people will also offer food, tea, burn incense or burn joss paper which includes hell money and various items made of paper (ie mobile devices, laptops, credit cards, fancy cars, TV, passports, houses, clothes, etc).
However, for the second time in a row, this year’s Qing Ming festival will again be celebrated amid the COVID-19 pandemic where large-scale gatherings are prohibited as they pose high infection risk (conditional movement control order [CMCO] is being implemented in most states).
Due to these circumstances, Xiao En Group – a provider of memorial services and funeral activities – encourages everyone to postpone visiting cemeteries for tomb-sweeping during this period in order to reduce potential infection risk. Regular prayers can resume once the epidemic has stabilized.
Apart from implementing standard safety measures for epidemic prevention, Xiao En Memorial Park (Nilai) will also adjust its operations from now on to control the flow of people.
“We urge family members who need to visit Xiao En Memorial Park for tomb-sweeping to make an appointment in advance,” Xiao En group said in a statement.
Besides that, the bereavement care provider also advises the public to abide the instructions of the National Security Council (MKN) at all times.
In addition, visitors are encouraged to make appointment online three days in advance to the date of prayer, and will receive a confirmation email immediately after completion. – March 12, 2021
