QingMing Festival

Side A: Revere our Ancestors

(above) A young girl stands before the tomb of Zhou Gong

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This last Saturday (April 4) was 清明节 (QingMing Festival). This festival ranks highly on China's long list of holidays as one of the more important ones. What is it all about? And what did I do to celebrate it? Well now, you know I'm going to give you the long, drawn-out story... so read on if you have time...

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QingMing is a coin with two sides... two aspects. One aspect is reverence. Chinese people use the day to honor their ancestors. They visit their ancestors' graves, offer sacrificial items, and reflect. That is why one English translation of 清明节 is "Tomb-Sweeping Holiday" despite the fact that the word qingming holds no meaning of sweeping tombs, visiting graves, etc.

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But here's a problem. What should you do if your parents' and grandparents' tombs are nowhere near you? In fact, that is the circumstance of a great many people in China. The turbulence of the 20th Century--wars, floods, droughts, famines--forced countless migrations. In the last three decades, economic growth has spurred a second wave of urbanization and migrations. So now there are many, many people who live far from their ancestral hometown and far from the tombs of their ancestors.

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In fact, this situation is precisely the situation of our school headmaster's family. His family came to Shaanxi Province from Henan Province in the 1940s due to floods. His grandparents are still alive (I think), and their family's ancestral tablet and tombs are still in Henan. What do on QingMing Festival?

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Well, Chinese people regard each other as family. And heroes of the past are everyone's ancestors. So people who do not have the option to visit family ancestors can go to the tombs of famous people of China's glory days.

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Now luck always shines on me. It really does. Maybe that's why my face is permanently red?... We can call it "luck-shine burn," perhaps? Ahem, it just so happens that of all the places at which I chose (half randomly) to teach, I landed on the periphery of the plains of WuZhang... the place where my personal hero Zhuge Liang fought his final battle. This is the place where he died. This the place where his tomb lies.

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Everyone at my school knows how much I idolize Zhuge Liang. Perhaps this is why the headmaster invited me and his family to visit some Zhuge Liang places of interest this QingMing Festival. How appropriate! In honoring Zhuge Liang, we satisfy one of the purposes of the QingMing Festival. Moreover, it gives me a chance to experience firsthand the Zhuge Liang history that enchanted me in the history books.

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Statue of Chief Strategist Zhuge Liang
Doesn't he look brilliant with that goose-feather fan in hand?

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Zhuge Liang the Prolific Writer

The wisdom and fine calligraphy of Zhuge Liang's writing has been etched into record on numerous stone stele tablets. This is one of them. If only I could read Chinese...

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Zhuge Liang's Tombstone at WuZhangYuan

After his death, Zhuge Liang's body was transported and buried elsewhere. But his clothing was buried in this mound and a tombstone was erected to honor the man on the battlefield that took his life. Zhuge Liang died not of battle injuries but of exhaustion. He worked himself to death.... thinking... always thinking. That's called tenacity.

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Tree of Eternal Brotherhood

If you are familiar with Sanguo history, you know that Zhuge Liang served Lord Liu Bei. Liu Bei had sworn friendship with two others: Zhang Fei and Guan Yu. The three--Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei--are the paragon model of friendship in Chinese history and culture. Nothing could undermine this friendship--nothing. Well this tree pictured below grows outside of Zhuge Liang's temple. With its three limbs sprouting from one trunk, the locals long, long ago imagined it to symbolize the legendary trio and so referred to it as the Friendship Tree. It is as if the three brothers embodied in this tree watch over Zhuge Liang--the man who so nearly realized the dream that brought these friends together in the first place

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Reach out and Touch History: Walking Zhuge Liang's Road

So I've been rattling on and on about Zhuge Liang, and you doubtless have no idea why I worship this man. Because he was brilliant! He proves with his life how the mind overpowers the sword. He proves with his life how it is preferrable to worker smarter, not harder. Read the epic novel SanguoYanYi and see if you can survive it without becoming a Zhuge Liang devotee!

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Here is a famous example of his brilliance. To conquer CaoWei Kingdom, Zhuge Liang's Shu forces had to cross the towering Qinling Mountains. This meant going through mountain passes. Well, as you can imagine, all the mountain passes were well guarded... duh.

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The average leader would just buckle down, train his troops, and attack the mountain passes. He would suffer considerable losses, but there would be a chance he could ultimately take the pass and move on. Work hard and you can do it, right? "Not acceptable," says Zhuge Liang. Be smart. Surprise the enemy! March through the mountain where they don't expect you... but how?

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Walk on walls! Zhuge Liang directed the construction of wood-plank patforms on the cliffsides of the mountains. Using these platforms, the troops could march right on through to the enemy's camps. Surprise!!! These platforms stand today as an ancient miracle of engineering prowess.

Zhuge Liang's cliffside wood-plank platforms

just one fruit in his imagination's orchard of ideas

Can you see the platform?

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In addition to visiting some Zhuge Liang places of interest, we also went to QiShan to visit the tomb of Zhou Gong. Zhou Gong is as famous to Chinese people as is Zhuge Liang, but I know very little about him. Zhou Gong is the "Duke of Zhou" that Confucius refers to in his writings. He is regarded as an able, honorable, and beneficent leader. Legend gives him credit for a fair share of mystical powers, including the ability to interpret the meanings of dreams as predictors of the future. It is not exactly certain, but we can estimate that he lived and died here about 3,000 years ago in the founding years of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

Statue of Zhou Gong at the Zhou Gong Temple

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Golden Phoenix Sculpture of Zhou Gong Temple Complex

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Practice Performance of Zhou Dynasty Culture Show

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Tree of Longevity

This tree at Zhou Gong Temple is almost 2,000 years old. People who desire a long life will cut long red strings and tie them to this tree as a wishful act for long life

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Scents for the Spirit of Zhou Gong

People burn incense in front of the burial mound of Zhou Gong as an act of reverence.

I hope you walk away from this entry with a respect for China's heroes of the past... I'm not going to single any one out here... *cough*cough*... Zhuge Liang. In looking at these pictures, reading the entries, and reflecting on their impressive accomplishments, you too have celebrated QingMing Festival. Well thanks for celebrating with me!

But you're not done yet... notice this is only part 1 ;-) It turns out there is another, equally important activity done on QingMing Festival. And this activity is closer to the translation of the word 'qingming.' Want to know what it is? You know you do! So won't you join me again in a few days. In the meantime, I leave you standing on the road to Zhuge Liang's imagination....