清明节

• Pinyin: qīng míng jié
• Hanzi breakdown: 清 = clear; 明 = 日 (sun) + 月 (moon) — bright; 节 = festival

Meaning

Qingming Festival; Tomb-Sweeping Day. A traditional Chinese festival for honoring ancestors.

Falls around April 4-6 each year. Families visit ancestral graves to clean them, make offerings, and pay respects. Also marks the arrival of spring. Activities include 扫墓 (tomb sweeping), 踏青 (spring outing), and flying kites. A national public holiday in China.

Examples

1. 清明节是中国人祭祀祖先的重要节日。 Qingming Festival is an important holiday for Chinese people to pay respects to their ancestors.
2. 每年清明节，我们全家都会去扫墓。 Every year during Qingming, our whole family goes to sweep the tombs.
3. 清明节期间，高速公路通常会很拥堵。 During the Qingming Festival period, highways are usually very congested.

Usage Guide

Context: holidays, traditions, family

Tone: respectful

Do Say

• 清明节你回老家扫墓吗？(Are you going back home for tomb sweeping on Qingming?)
• 清明节有三天假期。(There's a three-day holiday for Qingming.)

Don't Say

• 不要说'清明节快乐' (Don't say Happy Qingming — it's a solemn occasion for remembering the dead)

Origin & History

Named for the 清明 solar term (one of 24 in the Chinese calendar), meaning 'clear and bright' — describing the clear weather of early spring.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal