Eating dumplings and sacrificing to the Dragon Immortal - how exactly is the Qingming Festival different in Vietnam and China?

First of all, the time projection is different. Secondly, there are also big differences in the festival's customs in terms of holiday themes, food and legends. However, Vietnam and China are much the same in terms of customs and traditions, only gradually differing because of different long-term living habits.

1. The time of the Qingming Festival has become different

Although both countries celebrate the Qingming Festival, it is set on a different day.

The Vietnamese side still uses the lunar calendar system, after all, the lunar calendar is the traditional method of calculation, and every year on the third day of the third month of March they do some activities for the festival. And the time of Qingming Festival in China is uncertain, most of the time it is April 4th or April 5th. The calculation is to count fifteen days after the spring equinox has passed, and the Qingming Festival happens to be the fifteenth one.

2. Difference in the theme of the festival and its continuation

Chinese Tomb Sweeping Day is, needless to say, a festival of worship. But in Vietnam, it is a festival of rituals and dating for men and women, doesn't it sound amazing.

In fact, in ancient times, the first three days of March we also want to celebrate the festival, that time is called Shangsi Festival. The festival will not only collectively go out to worship but also trekking, this time is a great opportunity for dating. Vietnam has retained the interaction between men and women in the festival, so now on the third day of the third month they will also be sung by men and women.

3. Diets and legends are very different

Tomb-sweeping and commemorating the Qingming Festival in China was initiated by the royal family beforehand, and then the people in the private sector have followed suit in order to make their ancestors feel comforted in the afterlife. Currently we do not have much demand for food on the Qingming Festival, but Vietnam is to eat dumplings, which is a lot different from us!

There are two main reasons for Vietnam to eat dumplings, one is because in March Vietnam will usher in a bumper harvest, this month a lot of rice is ripe, eating dumplings is to celebrate this. In addition to this, the Vietnamese have their own legend of the Thanh Minh Festival, which is the story of the raccoon dragon Dragon Fairy. Legend has it that the raccoon dragon and his wife gave birth to a hundred eggs, which later turned into human beings, and they ate soup dumplings that looked like the eggs on this day in order to remember that they were the descendants of the dragon. (ps: the story of the creation of man may be a bit similar to the story of Nuwa)