Johnny Au
Senior Member
Bringing large amounts of food to eat in a cemetery is not unique to Western culture.
York Cemetery (which has a few sections devoted to Chinese people) during the Tomb Sweeping Festival has many Chinese families visiting their loved ones by sweeping their graves (hence the name), worshipping them, and offer them food, beverages, and lit incense sticks for prayer. Some see this as having picnic with one's ancestors! Paper money (the joss variety as shown below, not the legal tender variety or the Monopoly money variety) is usually burned during the festival to wish for good fortune.
Note that my parents practise this custom, while I stopped doing so (because my life is busy and I am a secular atheist) and yes, it is important to respect one's ancestors by visiting them. I find this an interesting aspect of Chinese tradition brought overseas, though there is often a very large mess of ashes from burnt joss money around people's graves soon after the festival, as well as seagulls eating whatever food was "sacrificed."
York Cemetery (which has a few sections devoted to Chinese people) during the Tomb Sweeping Festival has many Chinese families visiting their loved ones by sweeping their graves (hence the name), worshipping them, and offer them food, beverages, and lit incense sticks for prayer. Some see this as having picnic with one's ancestors! Paper money (the joss variety as shown below, not the legal tender variety or the Monopoly money variety) is usually burned during the festival to wish for good fortune.
Note that my parents practise this custom, while I stopped doing so (because my life is busy and I am a secular atheist) and yes, it is important to respect one's ancestors by visiting them. I find this an interesting aspect of Chinese tradition brought overseas, though there is often a very large mess of ashes from burnt joss money around people's graves soon after the festival, as well as seagulls eating whatever food was "sacrificed."
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