Taiwan’s Tomb Sweeping Day (Qingming Festival) Guide 台灣清明節英文解説

When is Tomb Sweeping Day in Taiwan?

April 5th every year. Usually, it is usually combined with the Children’s Day Holiday to make a four-day national holiday extended weekend.

The Origins and Significance of Tomb Sweeping Day:

During the Spring and Autumn period, Duke Chong’er of Jin 晉國公子重耳 (Jìn Guó Gōngzǐ Chóng’ěr), while in exile, was saved from hunger by his loyal minister, Jie Zitui 介子推 (Jiè Zǐtuī), who sacrificed his own flesh to make soup for him. Nineteen years later, as Duke Wen of Jin, he rewarded others who helped him but forgot Jie Zitui, who chose to live in seclusion. Duke Wen, realizing his mistake, tried to find him, but Jie had died in a fire while protecting his elderly mother. In remembrance, Duke Wen established the Cold Food Festival, prohibiting the use of fire for cooking. In his grief, Duke Wen took a charred piece of willow wood from the scene of Jie Zitui’s death and made a pair of wooden clogs. He would often gaze at these clogs and sigh, saying, “Alas, your feet.” This expression of sorrow and respect for Jie Zitui’s selfless loyalty led to the term “foot” being used as a symbol of honor.

By the Tang Dynasty, the Cold Food Festival and Qingming merged, elevating Qingming from a less significant day to an important festival. The Cold Food Festival’s customs, such as tomb sweeping, spring outings, and the prohibition of cooking with fire, became part of Qingming. Over time, Qingming evolved into a major Chinese festival for commemorating ancestors, celebrated during the transition between early and late spring. It serves as a time for Chinese people to express remembrance, gratitude, and filial piety to their ancestors.

History of Tomb Sweeping Day in Taiwan

In Taiwan, most of the population are descendants of the Minnan people (from Fujian, China), so most people follow burial customs similar to those of Minnan. For instance, the Hakka people began sweeping tombs at the start of the Lunar New Year, while people from Zhangzhou did so at the Shangsi Festival (Minor Qingming). Since tomb sweeping often involves gathering extended family members, Taiwanese people commonly adjust the timing, and it is normal to sweep tombs within half a month before or after Qingming or Minor Qingming. In the Hakka dialect, tomb sweeping is referred to as “hanging paper” (meaning pressing the paper on the tomb), “hanging earth,” or “performing a ritual at the tomb.” The Hakka tomb sweeping customs in Taiwan differ from the Minnan customs.

In 1935, the Republic of China government officially designated April 5 as “National Tomb Sweeping Day.” However, Tomb Sweeping Day was not made a national vacation holiday in Taiwan until 1972, when the government designated Qingming as a national holiday with one day off. On April 5, 1975, when Chiang Kai-shek passed away, the memorial for his death was also held on this day. Since then, more and more families have followed their ancestral customs and considered modern work schedules when choosing Qingming for gatherings and ancestor worship. Thus, tomb sweeping and ancestor worship on Qingming Day became a cultural tradition in Taiwan.

What are Funeral Rituals like in Taiwan?

In Taiwan, funerals and death rituals are very different from funerals in the West. Taiwan’s funeral rites are influenced by Buddhism, Taoism, ancestor worship, and folk religion. Nowadays most people are cremated, but a select few are still buried. In this blog, we will explore the different funeral rituals and rites, and let you know what you can expect at a Taiwanese funeral.

What do people do on Tomb Sweeping Day in Taiwan?

Traveling to the Tombs

Traditionally people would have to travel through the mountains, over streams, etc. to get to their ancestor’s grave sites. Therefore people would usually eat a big meal before setting off on the journey. However, Taiwan is not very large and most graveyards can be reached by car or scooter. In addition, the majority of people in Taiwan are cremated and their ashes are left in “spirit towers” in convenient locations throughout Taiwan, like this one in Nangang.

Worship of the Earth God

Typically, people must first worship the Earth God before worshiping ancestors. Usually, this means finding the local Earth God Temple or shrine and offering incense. The Earth God, or “Tudigong 土地公,” is worshipped in Chinese culture as a protector of local land, crops, and communities, ensuring prosperity and harmony. Usually, Earth God temples are really small like this one.

Eating Cold Foods

Some people choose to eat only cold food in respect to Jie Zitui’s story during the Qingming Festival and while sweeping the graves of ancestors.

Prepare Offerings to Ancestors

One of the activities during Qingming is the worship of ancestors at their graves on the ground or on a small table or basin. Taiwanese people also burn paper offerings to honor their deceased ancestors. Typically, paper products such as money, cars, and clothes are used, but various paper representations of people can also be seen.

In general, apart from incense, candles, paper money, paper objects, liquor, and fresh flowers, no other offerings are set out. Fruits, boiled eggs (or salted duck eggs), and tea are also often prepared for worship.

Sweeping Tombs, Clearing Bushes, and Cutting Grass

As part of the tomb-sweeping activities, it may actually mean bringing brooms to sweep away dust and dirt, clearing our weeds, bushes, and grass, and overall keeping the tombs tidy and well-kept. This is the most physically demanding aspect of the holiday. However, many ancestors are cremated and held in “spirit towers,” so for many families, actual cleaning of tombs is not needed.

Traveling, shopping, Visiting Family, etc.

Tomb Sweeping Festival is after all a national holiday so workers have an extended weekend off to travel, including international travel, as well as shop, visit family, eat out at restaurants, see movies, etc. Often times families may already have gathered together to complete traditional tomb-sweeping duties.

My Experience as a Foreigner During Tomb Sweeping Day in Taiwan:

I was first introduced to Tomb Sweeping Day when my church had a service activity to help clean up unclaimed graves. Since then, I have never actually gone to clean graves by hand.
After marrying my Taiwanese wife, I realized that her family does not really celebrate the holiday. As Christians, her family does not believe in ancestor worship. However, they still respect their ancestors and sometimes go with their extended family to visit their ancestors’ graves during the holiday. Her ancestors have all been cremated and are in Spirit Towers, so there are really no graves to sweep.
Other than that I usually try to plan a vacation on the Tomb Sweeping festival holiday. However, experience has shown that traffic is horrible going south at the start of the holiday, and also horrible coming back on the last day of the holiday, meaning that for two days we are kind of just stuck in traffic if we choose to go out.

Tips For Travelling During the Tomb Sweeping Holiday in Taiwan:

• The airports can be packed, and flights will usually be more expensive.
• The roads will be jammed going south on the first day and jammed going north on the last day.
• It may be hard to book train tickets during the holiday.
• Hotels will be more expensive than normal. Every day will be like a Saturday night price.
• Camping spots should stay the same price.
• Tourist spots may be packed with people.
• Many roads near graveyards may be closed to vehicles, especially around Taipei.

Thanks for reading! For more festivals and activities in Taiwan, check out our full Taiwan Festival Guide here.