family pray for their deceased members at Qingming Festival of 2013 under the Heaven Gate of
Sanggar Agung Chinese Qingming Festival is when Chinese people traditionally visit ancestral tombs to sweep them. People who live far away and can't travel to their ancestors' tombs may make a sacrifice from a distance. Another common practice is to carry flowers instead of burning paper, incense, or firecrackers. Traditionally, a family will burn
spirit money (joss paper) and paper replicas of material goods such as cars, homes, phones, and paper servants. This action usually happens during the Qingming festival. In Chinese culture, it is believed that people still need all of those things in the afterlife. Then family members take turns to kowtow three to nine times, depending on the family's adherence to traditional values, before the tomb of the ancestors. The
Kowtowing ritual in front of the grave is performed in the order of patriarchal seniority within the family. After the ancestor worship at the grave site, the whole family or the whole clan feast on the food and drink they have brought for the worship. as well as being available within that historic and cultural context at
Kaifeng Millennium City Park (Qingming Riverside Landscape Garden). The holiday is often marked by people paying respects to those who are considered national or legendary heroes. The
April Fifth Movement and the
Tiananmen Incident were major events in
Chinese history which occurred on Qingming. After Premier
Zhou Enlai died in 1976,
thousands honored him during the festival to pay their respects. In
Taiwan, the Qingming Festival was not a public holiday until 1972. Three years later, upon the death of Chiang Kai-shek on 5 April 1975, the
Kuomintang government declared that the anniversary of Chiang's death be observed alongside the festival. The practice was abolished in 2007.
Malaysia and Singapore , Singapore Despite the festival having no official status, the
overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asian nations, such as those in
Singapore and
Malaysia, take this festival seriously and observe its traditions faithfully. Some Qingming rituals and ancestral veneration decorum observed by the overseas Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore can be dated back to the Ming and Qing dynasties, as the overseas communities were not affected by the
Cultural Revolution in mainland China. Qingming in Malaysia is an elaborate family function or a clan feast (usually organized by the respective clan association) to commemorate and honor recently deceased relatives at their grave sites and distant ancestors from China at home altars, clan temples, or makeshift altars in Buddhist or Taoist temples. For the overseas Chinese community, the Qingming festival is very much a solemn family event and, at the same time, a family obligation. They see this festival as a time of reflection for honoring and giving thanks to their forefathers. Overseas Chinese normally visit the graves of their recently deceased relatives on the weekend nearest to the actual date. According to the ancient custom, grave site veneration is only permissible ten days before and after the Qingming Festival. If the visit is not on the actual date, normally veneration before Qingming is encouraged. The Qingming Festival in Malaysia and Singapore normally starts early in the morning by paying respect to distant ancestors from China at home altars. This is followed by visiting the graves of close relatives in the country. Some follow the concept of
filial piety to the extent of visiting the graves of their ancestors in
mainland China. ==Other customs==