Ching Ming Celebration

This ancient Chinese painting shows that the Ching Ming Festival in the old days was quite a busy occasion for the Chinese people.
 
I had the pleasure of attending a Ching Ming (Qing Ming) ceremony at Olivewood Cemetery, Riverside, on Saturday, April 3rd. 
 
This is what is known as the traditional Clear Brightness Festival, or Grave Sweeping Day, and is similar to Dia de los Muertos activities held later in the year for Mexican and Hispanic families.
 
Ching Ming is the spring holiday that falls around April 4-6 annually, or 106 days after the winter solstice and has been observed for over 3000 years. Established as a day to honor ancestors, Ching Ming originally reflected the Confucian virtue of familial loyalty.
 
The pioneer Chinese who worked in Riverside in the late 1800s and early 1900s were mostly bachelors employed to work in the citrus industry and occupied two areas in and around downtown Riverside and Mt. Rubidoux.  Many had originally come to seek their fortunes in California at Gam Saan or “Gold Mountain” during the California gold rush and settled in various parts of California afterward.  At one time over 400 Chinese were in the Riverside area, and seventy one, four of which were women, were not able or did not desire to return to their native China and were subsequently buried adjacent to the “County” section of the Olivewood cemetery between 1888 and 1939.  Many of the original headstones and markers have disappeared since that time and a newly organized group in Riverside, the “Save Our Chinatown” Committee has taken up the preservation of this heritage. 
 
The ceremony held on Saturday consisted of food and flower offerings after a recitation of the 71 settler names, and then the placement of tea cups filled with rice wine topped with chop sticks upon the gravesites.  A special guest, Consul Wang Peng of the People’s Republic of China, brought a large wreath of white carnations and roses to commemorate the event and the Voice of America broadcast the ceremony live.  Consul Wang Peng made a special note of thanking Riverside County Library System for attending the event and invited us to his office in Los Angeles.  It was interesting to learn more about this ancient custom and the heritage of the Chinese community in Riverside and the surrounding area Saturday.  Has anyone been to a similar ceremony in years past?  Feel free to leave comments…
 
If you would like to learn more about Riverside’s Chinatowns, please click on the following link…
 
http://aar.ucr.edu/sites/RiversidesChinatown/index.html
 
Happy Spring,
 
Sherry