Qing Ming

 

A day that reminds us of our roots

and reminds us that we only live once.

Qing Ming Jie, or Qing Ming festival is a Chinese festival in which families will visit the graveyards of their ancestors for a cleanup, and to well basically pay a visit. I think different families have different traditions and ways of celebrating this festival. For us here, we would go to the graveyard, scatter some paper across the graveyard (photo below), burn some offering papers and light some incense. Without fail we would have a great chat about a lot of things. Most importantly, about our family and our roots of how and where we come from.

I've always enjoyed this day because I like it when my family bond together in this day of the year. And at the same time, as I grow older I kind of learn the other significance of this day, apart from instilling family roots and respect for our ancestors.

 The paper is actually rolled and folded,

you open it up and scatter them across the graveyard! :)

As I grow older I kinda learn to enjoy the cemetery. Especially my grandparents and great-grandparents ones, where it is so serene there. And it also has a great view, which makes it, actually, a popular spot for people to have a date at (no joking!). When I was young I used to be very afraid of cemeteries. I always thought to myself that that's where dead people are! But now I realise, that's where we will all be in eventually. Unless you're cremated.

Death was once to me something terrifying. Something I wish I wouldn't want to encounter, and something I wouldn't want others to encounter. But of course as I grow up, I encounter them like a part and parcel of life. My grandfather passed away when I was in P5, my aunt when I was in P6, grandmother when I was in secondary school, great-uncles, long distant relatives, and so on. So as I grow older, I realise that we cannot run away from death.

Instead of being afraid of dying, I actually use this fact as a reminder to me to live my life to the fullest because eventually my life is going to come to an end too. It's just a matter of time, or I would call it here... A matter of life, that we will all leave this wonderful life once and for all. So don't be afraid of death, because no one is going to live forever.

This is kinda similar to the story of the Buddha. How, when he was a prince, and he witnessed sufferings and death, and that becomes kind of a revelation to him. I think that is the purpose of life. To find revelations about things, that make you change the way you think about life (for the better). To make you really treasure it and live life to the fullest.

So qing ming jie not only teaches me about my roots but  it is also a reminder for me to live my life to the fullest. Because eventually, we'll all gonna end up either in a cemetery or in an urn or floating on the sea exploring the world (as ashes). And somehow knowing all of these make me feel how beautiful life is. Don't you think so? How we only have one life and how we can make so much out of it, create something so beautiful out of it.

So yes, start living my friend. You only live once. Really.

Here's to a superb second week of April!