In Pictures: Qing Ming Festival through the years

Qing Ming Festival is celebrated on the 106th day after the December winter solstice in the Chinese lunar calendar, which falls on the first week of April in the Gregorian calendar. Also known as Chinese All Souls' Day and Tomb Sweeping Festival, it is a day that the Chinese faithfully remember and honour their ancestors and show filial piety.
Qing Ming Festival is very much a family affair as a day for tidying the graves of their ancestors and relatives. After the ancestral worship, families would gather and feast on the food that were offered during the prayers.
The festival is observed by the Chinese in Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam and celebrated as a public holiday in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Pictures curated by Simon Ker and Doris Goh.
Photographs can be purchased from the Information Resource Centre, tel: 63195726, 63195508

Updated

Published

Mar 28, 2017, 05:50 AM

1951: The annual Tomb Sweeping Festival is a time when Chinese families visit their ancestors' graves to pay their respect. They show their love and filial piety for the deceased with offerings of food and wine and by tending to the gravestones. Sometimes, a tune or two is played for the dead. ST FILE PHOTO

1974: Giving the final resting place of loved ones a good spring clean includes trimming overgrown grass around the grave or painting and fixing gravestones, as seen at this cemetery at Upper Serangoon Road. ST FILE PHOTO: FRANCIS ONG PUAY GUAN

1953: The Singapore Teochew Lee Clan Mutual Help Society during an annual clan ceremony to honour revered ancestors. Such events are common in the calendar of clan associations. ST FILE PHOTO

1955: It is a yearly family excursion as Chinese visit cemeteries in the thousands, wading through prickly fields of lallang with babies in arms and toddlers in tow. This is the sprawling site of a Chinese cemetery long known as Peck San Theng in the Cantonese dialect, to which the present Bishan town owes its name. This gigantic 155ha cemetery was the site of a bloody battle during World War II. ST FILE PHOTO: CHEW BOON CHIN

1980: The Peck San Theng cemetery was established in 1870 by the Cantonese and Hakka. People set up their homes in a kampong nearby which came to be known as Kampong San Theng. In the late 70s to mid-80s, villagers were resettled to nearby housing flats and the cemetery was exhumed. By 1986, neither the graves nor the kampong remained. ST FILE PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

1952: The women folk usually see to the entire elaborate preparation of food and wine. In bygone days, firecrackers were also set off as worshippers laid out offerings before the interred remains of their ancestors. Where it happened to be a joint worship by large families or clan associations, whole roasted pigs were laid out too. Spacious graves such as this one at the Peck San Theng cemetery stands in contrast to the limited table spaces at present day columbarium and temples. ST FILE PHOTO

1952: Putting on their best clothes and polished shoes with hair neatly combed-back, relatives arrive at the Peck San Theng cemetery bringing with them prayer paraphernalia. This is traditionally practiced on Qing Ming (meaning clear and bright), when the weather is clear and the sun is up. ST FILE PHOTO

1970: Qing Ming rituals are really about reconnecting with one another as families honour the memory of their predecessors, as seen here at the Whitley Road cemetery. Involving the young ensures that the Qing Ming spirit is passed on from generation to generation. ST FILE PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER LOH NJ

1970: Umbrellas pop open as shade from the rain as families pay homage to the dead. Special arrangements like one-way traffic system would be made to ease traffic flow during Qing Ming. ST FILE PHOTO: YOW YUN WOH

1957: The scene at Bukit Timah cemetery is also played out at chinese cemeteries throughout the island during the Qing Ming period where serious jams are seen at normally-quiet burial grounds. ST FILE PHOTO: HAN HAI FONG

2013: A common sight now as it was then, where vehicles packed the narrow lanes at the Choa Chu Kang cemetery. THE NEW PAPER: GAVIN FOO

2016: In October 2013, Bukit Brown Cemetery was listed as an at risk site on the 2014 World Monuments Watch - a biennial listing by the World Monuments Fund which compiles cultural heritage sites that are threatened around the world. This came on the back of announcements that the cemetery would have to make way for a new road that will cur through it, future residential buildings and an MRT station. THE NEW PAPER: PHYLLICIA WANG

2011: Makeshift shelters and facilities for cooking food are set up at Bukit Brown cemetery by grave workers. For a small fee, the tomb-keepers clean and maintain the graves and help families look for the tombs of their relatives. ST FILE PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG

1980: The traditions of Qing Ming is faithfully observed even after the remains of loved ones are exhumed from various cemeteries, cremated and stored in urns at temple columbarium like here at Bright Hill Crematorium. ST FILE PHOTO: ANTHONY WYE

1996: Depending on where an urn is placed on the floor-to-ceiling shelves, and whether there is air-conditioning, the cost for a final resting spot could rise considerably. Niches at eye-level are considered prime lots. there are also family units for multi-generation families and clan associations. ST FILE PHOTO: ERNEST GOH

1980: For this visitor to the Mount Vernon Columbarium, flowers express heartfelt sentiments just as well. ST FILE PHOTO: ANTHONY WYE

2014: In the past, paper offerings were basic items such as clothes, shoes, houses and cars. Today, the range has grown to include paper cognac, shark's fin, birds' nest and even mobile phones. These items cost from $2 to $10. THE NEW PAPER: KIAT TAN WJ

2014: The whole family gets involved as paper 'gifts' are arranged in piles before being lit as offerings to ancestors. LIANHE WANBAO: HENG YIN YIN

2012: It is common for families to spend a couple of hundred dollars on Qing Ming offerings. ST FILE PHOTO: SEAH KWANG PENG

2008: Shouts of "Huat Ah!" (Dialect for "to prosper") accompany the throwing of joss paper in the air as people ask for their ancestors' blessings at the Choa Chu Kang cemetery. ST FILE PHOTO: DESMOND FOO

2013: A worker at the Mandai Crematorium and Columbarium Complex collects the fruit offerings left behind from Qing Ming prayers. THE NEW PAPER: GAVIN FOO

2015: It is just before the break of dawn and many families are already praying at the Choa Chu Kang Cemetery. ST FILE PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG

2010: In order to avoid the morning crowd, more and more families are making their trip to the Choa Chu Kang cemetery in the evening. THE NEW PAPER: KUA CHEE SIONG

2015: Tomb sweeping at night has its advantages as the air is cooler and it is easier to round up more family members as seen here at Lim Chu Kang Cemetery. LIANHE WANBAO: LAI LAM TUCK THOMAS

2008: Whether one is a believer in traditions or not, the value of observing Qing Ming festival lies in more than just the rituals. It is about extended families coming together to remember the dearly departed and to reaffirm their roots. ST FILE PHOTO: DESMOND FOO

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