Contemporary situation in Tomb-Sweeping Day

Tomb-Sweeping Day is a time for ancestor worship and grave-sweeping. Grave-sweeping is commonly known as going to the grave and offering sacrifices to the dead. Most Han people and some ethnic minorities visit graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day.

Tomb-Sweeping Day is a traditional major Spring Festival. It is a fine tradition of the Chinese nation since ancient times to sweep graves and remember our ancestors. It is not only conducive to promoting filial piety, awakening family memories, but also conducive to promoting the cohesion and identity of family members and even the nation. Tomb-Sweeping Day's integration of natural solar terms and humanistic customs is a combination of humanistic and natural conditions, which fully embodies the Chinese ancestors' pursuit of harmony between heaven, earth and people, pays attention to conforming to the right time, place and people, and follows the laws of nature. Tomb-Sweeping Day, Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival are also called the four traditional festivals in China. Besides China, some countries and regions in the world also have Tomb-Sweeping Day, such as Viet Nam, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. On May 20th, 2006, with the approval of the State Council, Tomb-Sweeping Day announced by People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Ministry of Culture was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. In Guangdong, sweeping graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day is called sweeping mountains, worshiping mountains and worshiping the Qing Dynasty. During the Qingming period, the images of spring and tranquility appeared in Guangdong. Grave-sweeping and outing are the main custom themes of Cantonese festivals.