Today is a holiday, not an official one but the universities are closed anyway and we have to make up the day of classes we miss.
I visit an area of food kiosks across the street from my main school. I only eat at one of them. I have become friends with the husband and wife that run this particular kiosk. I was invited to their home during the break between the fall and winter terms; unfortunately I was sick and could not go. Yesterday I was invited to go with them for Qing Ming. I accepted.
I met the wife at the kiosk at 13:00 hrs, from there we went to their home. I did not realize that it was for lunch and then the event for the holiday. I sampled some of the food and was forced to drink beer with the other men in attendance. Everyone there, except me, was a family member. I met the grandmother, an uncle, their children and, some neighbors stopped by. It was interesting.
The homes in China very small, often just a couple of rooms. There is no carpeting, drywall, heating or cooling. The older ones are all brick with maybe a layer of concrete on the inside. The living area of the home had one wooden table and four benches. The windows and doors do not have screens, while we were eating birds flew in and out of the apartment. There is no running water which means there is an outhouse. I am trying to be objective, these are people I consider to be friends so I am not trying to say how they live is bad: It is just the way they live.
Now on to Qing Ming.
This holiday occurs two times a year. It is the time when they honor their ancestors by going to their graves and conducting a ritual. On one of my bike rides I rode up the side of mountain. On the mountain I saw several crypts, headstones and burial sites. The pictures are ones I took then, I did not think it appropriate to take my camera today. We drove about 15 minutes the foothills of Lu Shan Mountain (Shan means mountain in Chinese pin yin). I think I can safely say that the remains of most people are buried on mountainsides in this region. It is not farmable so it is used for that purpose. Most people are cremated and their ashes/urns are buried, this seems to save quite a lot of space.
The family brought fireworks, incense, fake money, paper that signified money, spiritual paper and decorations. All the members of the family burn the money and paper. Their family plot is about 50 yards long, it was begun in the 1800's. Only the man's father, his father and uncle and, grandfather have headstones. Those three are were most of the things brought with are burned but, some is placed at every "grave". In this plot the graves without markers had bricks, new ones, marking their spot. the last 4 or 5 had no markings at all but incense, money and paper were placed at them and burned. The three with headstones are prayed to by kneeling in front of the headstone, then the descendants bow three times and tap their heads to the ground three times. The children and I were sent down the hill while the others stayed behind for a private ritual, when the remaining fireworks were it they joined us.
The family laughed and had fun. As this is a tradition there were many other families doing the same thing at other grave sites. No sadness, no sorrow, simply honoring their ancestors.
This is the rainy season so when I got home I had to stripped to my shorts in the hall so as not to drag red dirt all through my apartment. Writing this and thinking of the apartment I am provided makes me happy to be Lowaii.
Take care,
Terry
