文本来源：佛山对外汉语培训 首选爱德华国际汉语

P: Ni Hao. Welcome to "Ask Pingping and Jules", your bridge to Chinese culture. I'm Pingping.

J: Ni Hao. I'm Jules. Wo shi Zhu Li An. There are many festivals celebrated in China and last time we talked about the most famous one - the Spring Festival. So Pingping, which festival will we talk about this time?

P: Well, do you know which annual festival is coming up next?

J: um……is that Qingmingjie? .. also known as 'Tomb Sweeping Day'?

P: Yes, exactly!

J: The word 'Qingmingjie' – what does that mean?

P: Literally it means 'clear bright festival' and it celebrates the rebirth of nature, the beginning of the planting season and other outdoor activities.

J: On which day does it fall this year?

P: This year it falls on April 4th. It's a traditional Chinese festival on the 15th day from the vernal equinox. It usually falls on either April 4th, 5th or 6th of the solar calendar. It's actually one of the few traditional Chinese holidays that follows the solar calendar.

J: Interesting. 'Qingmingjie', it's also known as 'Tomb sweeping day' – that makes me think of ghosts and things that go bump in the night. So why has it been given this name?

P: For Chinese people it's also an important day to remember and honour one's ancestors and visit and maintain their graves. Young and old people pray before their ancestors, sweep and tidy their tombs and offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks or incense. These rites are very important to most Chinese people.

J: Right. Oh, I've heard that some people carry willow branches with them during Qingmingjie, or put willow branches on their gates and/or front doors - but, why?

P: They think that these willow branches can help ward off the evil ghosts that wander around during Qingming.

J: Okay. It seems that in some ways 'Tomb sweeping day' is a solemn day to remember those who have passed away.

P: Yes, it is. But it is also a day for excursions, outings and renewal. In ancient times people celebrated with singing, dancing, picnics and kite flying and many of these traditions continue today. People go on family outings and farmers start their spring ploughing in the countryside. Another popular thing to do is to fly kites. These kites come in all different shapes and sizes with many resembling different animals, dragons and fish.

J: Yes, April is a nice time of year for excursions. Do people eat anything special during 'Tomb sweeping day'?

P: I have a historical story to tell you about food on that day. The day before Qingming was called 'Hanshi' in ancient times. It was created by Chong'er, the Duke Wen of the state of Jin (晋文公) during the Spring and Autumn Periods when he accidentally killed his personal friend and servant Jie Zitui (介子推) and his mother in a fire in the hope of making Jie Zitui return to him (Chong'er). So during Hanshi, people were not allowed to use fire to heat up their food, thus it was nicknamed 'the Cold Food Festival'. At that time the Hanshi 'celebration' was combined with the Qingming festival, but was later abandoned by most people. Nowadays, in some places, people still eat dumplings especially made for the occasion.

J: Ping ping – will you participate in any particular activities during this coming 'tomb sweeping festival'?

P: I'm not going back home, so I may have some dumplings and my ancestors in Beijing.

J: Today we talked about "Tomb Sweeping Day" in China. If you've got any comments, suggestions or would like to suggest a topic, you can contact us at CRIEnglish.com or send us an email to.

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