Honoring Ancestors with Ching Ming
Kampar, Apr 3 (j-on) - Kampar Chinese Cemetery was flooded with people busy cleaning up their family’s grave sites and paying respect to their ancestors.
Ching Ming festival also called Tomb Sweeping Day is an opportunity for Chinese people to remember and honor their ancestors.
Young and old pray before their ancestors, sweep the grave sites, and offer food, flower, tea, wine, joss-sticks and hell notes (paper money).
Family members cleaning and praying at a relative’s grave at the Kampar Chinese cemetery.
“This year Ching Ming falls on Monday, our family members took advantage of the weekends to observe the ritual.” Loke Cheok Mun, a 48-year-old hardware merchant said.
Loke mention that the festival is not just a yearly ritual but also a family reunion to foster closer ties.
The cemetery crowded with people carrying grass cutters, foods, flowers and boxes of hell notes walking towards their respective ancestor’s grave to clean and obverse the ritual.
Family members of all ages collaborated to clean the graves and used the grass shears, hoes and shovels to remove dried weeds.
“Ching Ming ritual can be done before and after the date, every year our family members will gather together to fulfill the family obligation.” Chin Kok Leong, a 30-year-old engineer said.
After cleaning the grave, such as roasted pig, steamed chicken, rice, eggs, dumpling, fruit, tea and wine is offered.
The Servant Deity serves the ancestor in the afterlife.
The grave site was full of colourful joss paper and descendants burning joss-sticks to worship their ancestors.
Chinese believe that boxes of hell notes and daily necessities like clothes and shoes are burned for use in the afterlife.
The purpose of setting off firecrackers is to “scare” away evil spirits and bad luck.
The burning of joss-sticks and offerings caused the Kampar Chinese Cemetery to be full of smoke.
Chinese people take Ching Ming seriously because they believe that the spirits of deceased ancestors will look after the family even when they are gone.
