Tomb-sweeping goes eco-friendly

As the Qingming Festival holiday approaches, the peak of tomb-sweeping this year has arrived across the country earlier than in previous few years, when the Qingming festivities were hampered by Covid-19 prevention measures.

As Chinese people remember their ancestors and express their grief, they have gradually accepted some new green and low-carbon ways of tomb-sweeping.

Not long ago, a memorial activity called "water mourning" was held at Babaoshan Funeral Parlor in Beijing. The staff presented wreaths, read sacrificial texts for the deceased, and then slowly put paper cranes folded from water-soluble paper into a small pool.

According to Li Zhanying, the director of the funeral parlor, water-soluble paper is a more eco-friendly option than incense, candles, and firecrackers because it is degradable and does not pollute the air.

At the Qingming news briefing held on March 23 in Shandong province, smoke-free cemeteries were advocated, where mourners should "replace paper money with flowers" and "express condolences with ribbons." Online tomb-sweeping, flower-offering and family memorial services were also encouraged to reform traditions.

Shandong has launched 64 tomb-sweeping platforms, conducted 930 collective tomb-sweeping events, provided tomb-sweeping services for 29,000 clients, and received 3.126 million online tomb-sweeping visits, according to another Shandong news event on March 9.

Qingming Festival, originating from the beliefs and spring festival customs of early human ancestors, is the grandest ancestral worship festival of the Chinese nation.

The main themes are tomb-sweeping and ancestral worship, as well as spring outings. These two themes are passed down in China since ancient times and continue to this day.

Source: China News Service; trans-editing by Guo Yao