The Taiwanese Ritual that Captivates the World

Lenka Castro Kühnlová, a Czech national, has described her experience of joining local friends for the festival during a visit to Taiwan. She was struck by how suburban cemeteries often resemble parks, and snapped photos throughout the day. She found it particularly novel that after sweeping the graves, everyone shared the food that had been used for offerings during the ritual, much like a picnic.

In many Western cultures, cemeteries are solemn, austere, and often sorrowful places. But after taking part in a Taiwanese tomb-sweeping ceremony, the rituals, offerings, and atmosphere of family reunion left a profound cross-cultural impact.

Tomb sweeping at Qingming is deeply rooted in honoring one’s ancestors. (MOFA file photo)

Step by step: From weeding to a spiritual financial system

First, “sweeping” “tomb sweeping” really does involve “sweeping”—using sickles to clear weeds, removing standing water, tidying up the grave site, and even repainting the characters on the tombstone. It’s a true test of physical stamina.

When it is time for the worship ceremony, incense is lit. Respects are first paid to the local Earth God (Tudi Gong), and in some regions, to the guardian deity of the “Dragon’s Lair”—the tomb’s auspicious feng shui site. Next comes the veneration of the ancestors, which plays out like an intimate family catch-up. Descendants cast crescent-shaped divination blocks (jiaobei) to ask their forebears if they have eaten their fill and are satisfied with the offerings. This enduring belief that the departed remain active, present members of the family feels both mystical and deeply comforting.

The ritual continues with the burning of spirit money: “gold paper” for the Earth God, and “silver paper” for the ancestors. Through a cross-cultural lens, this practice can be seen as a romantic and imaginative “spiritual financial system.”

When international visitors tour modern columbariums, they often marvel at the hotel-like interior decor. This efficient and tidy modern approach to ancestor worship leaves a lasting impression.

Tomb-sweeping customs: Pressing grave paper and scattering eggshells. (courtesy of Lin Mao-hsien)

Trivia: Avoiding clashes and scattering eggshells

Lin Mao-hsien, an associate professor in the Department of Taiwanese Languages and Literature at National Taichung University of Education who specializes in Taiwanese folk culture, notes that Qingming is actually one of the 24 traditional solar terms. The custom of tomb sweeping at Qingming dates back to the Han Dynasty.

Influenced by Confucianism’s emphasis on filial piety and remembering one’s roots, this annual pilgrimage is a cornerstone of cultural identity. Historically, different communities observed it on different dates: Hakka began visiting graves from the Lantern Festival onward, people of Quanzhou descent swept their tombs on Qingming itself, and those of Zhangzhou heritage did so on the third day of the third lunar month. Lin humorously remarks out that this staggered schedule was not designed to “avoid traffic jams,” but rather to prevent armed brawls between historically rival groups.

In the final stage of the ritual, duck eggshells are scattered across the graves. Lin explains the linguistic pun behind this practice: in Taiwanese Hokkien, the word for “duck” sounds like “suppress,” while eggs symbolize “rebirth.” Together, they signify leaving bad luck behind and ensuring misfortune is not brought home.

In central and southern Taiwan, eating runbing (a type of spring roll) is another vital Qingming tradition, with roots in the Cold Food Festival of the Tang Dynasty. Once the rituals are concluded, family members chat freely beside the graves and share between them the offerings, such as mugwort rice cakes—a scene that to foreign friends resembles a family picnic in a graveyard.

Lin also describes a nearly forgotten folk custom known in Taiwanese as ip-bōng-kué (distributing the tomb cakes). In the past, families distributed cookies and offerings to the children of poor families living near the cemetery. In the past, this served both to show compassion and to discourage them from vandalizing the gravesites; today it survives simply in a spirit of community sharing.

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The first step of tomb sweeping at Qingming is to thoroughly clean the gravesite. (MOFA file photo)

Tomb sweeping is a poignant time for honoring those who came before us. (MOFA file photo)

Equality and the spirit of remembrance

While internet rumors often claim that taking photos in a cemetery is taboo, Lin dismisses this as baseless hearsay.

In fact, an old Taiwanese proverb encourages engagement: “Tread the green grass, birth a son.” It expresses the hope that when a daughter-in-law walks among the ancestral graves of her husband’s family, she will receive the ancestors’ blessings to produce male heirs.

Conversely, conservative families historically forbade their own daughters from sweeping the tombs of their birth family, reasoning that they would eventually marry out of the family and thus did not need ancestral protection. Today, such patriarchal prejudices have long since disappeared.

As for the modern rise of “online tomb sweeping,” Lin maintains that the “sincere intentions” of personally visiting a grave or columbarium to pay one’s respects and express gratitude to close family members remains invaluable. This is because tomb sweeping is not merely a commemoration of the dead, but also the warmest form of reunion within the family.

In central and southern Taiwan, eating runbing (spring rolls) is an essential Qingming tradition. (photo by Jimmy Lin)

 

Each offering carries specific symbolic meanings and prayers for the future. (courtesy of Lin Mao-hsien)