Shanghai Redemption

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APRIL IS A CRUEL month, if not the cruelest.

For Chinese, April 5 ushers in the Qingming Festival, a date in the lunar calendar considered appropriate for qingming-grave-visiting or -sweeping. During Qingming, people visit the graves of their family, present an offering, and express their feelings. It’s an important and time-honored tradition. In the seventh century, Tang dynasty poet Du Mu wrote a quatrain about the scene.

Around Qingming Occasion, it drizzles / on the heartbroken travelers treading the roads, / “Oh where can we find a tavern, please?” / A shepherd boy points to the Apricot Blossom Village.

Confucius said, “If you present an offering at the graves of the dead, the dead will appear in front of you, as if still living.”

In ancient times, Qingming wasn’t an easy obligation. For graves that were far away, people had to travel-boat-taking, donkey-riding-carrying offerings, and were often left worn-out and miserable on a rainy day.

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