ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we will explore in the first instance how the Chinese state used the Qingming festival as a part of the Chinese cultural tradition to impart a set of desirable national values to its citizens to bind them to the Chinese leadership, party, and nation. Second, it will explore the role of the Qingming festival as a key element within the broad practice of ancestor worship. Third, it will examine how the Mainland Chinese state and the local community interpret and perform Qingming according to the secularism–religion continuum. From the Mainland Chinese state’s perspective, it interpreted and performed the practice as a secular act, while Mainland Chinese including the emigrant ancestral villagers viewed and performed Qingming as a religious act of ancestor worship. Fourth, this chapter will interrogate how the Qingming festival as an officially sanctioned cultural practice has also led to the intensification of the cross-border tomb-sweeping movement of Chinese from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Finally, in light of modern technology, it will explore the significance of cyberspace as a new venue that offers virtual tomb-sweeping and thus reduces the need for a physical presence to perform tomb-sweeping during the Qingming festival.
