When is the Qingming Festival in 2019? What are the dates and times? Things to note when visiting graves during the Qingming Festival?

The Qingming Festival of 2019 is coming, but the Qingming Festival does not refer to April 5th. The Qingming Festival has a specific time. So, when is the Qingming Festival in 2019? Let’s take a look at it together below.

When is the Qingming Festival in 2019?

April 5, 2019 09:51:21

Qingming was originally just the name of a solar term, but later it became a festival to commemorate ancestors and was related to the Cold Food Festival. Duke Wen of Jin designated the day after Cold Food Festival as Qingming Festival. Qingming Festival originally refers to the fifteenth day after the spring equinox. In 1935, the government of the Republic of China designated April 5 as a national holiday Qingming Festival, also known as the National Tomb-Sweeping Festival.

Things to note when visiting graves during Qingming Festival

It can't be too late

The best time to visit the graves is between sunrise and 3 p.m. Because the light is not good before sunrise and the yin energy has not yet dissipated, while after three o'clock, the yang energy gradually dissipates and the yin energy gradually increases, it is easy to attract evil spirits or other unclean things.

The order should be distinguished

When visiting the graves, the order of priority should be: father, mother, eldest son, eldest daughter, second son, second daughter... and so on. If there are offerings, people can only eat after the ancestors have "enjoyed" them.

Reduce recreational activities

On Qingming Festival, you should try to avoid entertainment activities, and avoid quarreling, causing trouble, bragging, or saying irrelevant things, in order to show respect for your ancestors.

Don't buy shoes during Qingming Festival

This year, there are three days of Qingming Festival holiday. Many people will go shopping, travel, and maybe buy some seasonal shoes, but from the perspective of custom, this is not advisable. Because "shoes" and "evil" have the same pronunciation, buying shoes is equivalent to buying evil. What should you do if you have already bought shoes on Qingming Festival? Wrap the shoes with red paper, place them at the door overnight, and then burn the red paper the next morning.

Don't take photos in cemeteries

It is not good to take photos in cemeteries or in front of statues of gods. Whether it's taking photos of cemeteries, taking selfies of tomb visitors, or taking photos with cemeteries, try to avoid it. Don't include a grave in your selfie, because a grave represents a dead person. Taking a photo with a dead person is not only disrespectful to the deceased, but it's also a bit creepy to think about it.

Women are not suitable for tomb sweeping

According to the ancients, women are feminine, and if they enter a grave site with a lot of yin, it may have a negative impact on their consciousness (such as being frightened); ghosts and gods are afraid of women's menstrual blood, so pregnant women and women who are menstruating should not sweep tombs. In addition to being bad for themselves, they may also lose the protection of their ancestors; in ancient times, there were many children, and women were essentially those who had to be married off, or were outsiders. In the era of patriarchy, people naturally hoped that their ancestors would protect the men in their family more, and thus avoided women.