To appreciate the importance of the Qingming festival, one has to understand the deep cultural belief the Chinese people have toward ancestral worship. This belief is rooted in the Confucius concept of Filial Piety - which today is still very much a part of Chinese culture. It talks of the "right relationship" between parents, ancestors and elders. It centers on, love, respect and caring. In his Analects, Book 1, #9, pg4 Confucius tells his students "show solicitude (concern, care) for parents at the end of their lives and continue with sacrifices when they are far away".

The start of the Qingming Festival can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty over 2500 years ago. At that time, it was a celebration of two separate occasions, Cold Food Day (Haishi Day) and the Qingming Festival. Cold Food Day traditionally fell one day before and was therefore celebrated on the eve of Qingming.

The origin of Cold Food Day is tragic story. It dates back to about 600BC to Jie Zi Dui. Jie was a loyal official to the Crown Prince of the Jin State, Chong'er. During a time of turmoil, Chong'er was exiled from his small kingdom. It's in exile that Jie is said to have saved his starving lord's life though a noble act of sacrifice (it's told he cut flesh from his own leg and cooked it for Chong'er). After ascending to the throne, Chong'er soon forgot Jie's act of dedication. Saddened by this, Jie left for the mountains with his mother to live as a hermit.

Regretful of his neglect, Chong'er went to the mountains in person to look for Jie. Unable to find him in the dense forest, Chong'er ordered that the mountain to be set alight to smoke Jie and his mother out. After three days the fires cleared and Jie and his mother were found dead with their arms around a willow tree. Grief stricken, Chomg'er ordered a spiritual tablet in honour of Jie - the forerunner of ancestral tablets.

To keep his memory alive, Chong'er order that on the anniversary of Jie's death, all fires were to be put out. With no fires, people could not cook hot food and so Cold Food Day or Haishi Day came about. It was around 300 years ago - during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) - when the Cold Food Day was combined with the Qingming Festival as one celebration.

The Chinese have a saying about life and death: "Living is a spring dream; dying is like going home". The Qingming tradition of sweeping and cleaning graves sites is the annual spring-cleaning of the ancestral "home". Starting early in the morning the area in and around the tomb is cleaned and dusted and gardens are made tidy. Yellow ribbons are tied to bamboo sticks and place on the tomb to ward off homeless, wandering spirits neglected by their own descendants.

According to the sao-mu (the duties of ancestral worship) honouring of the dead is carried out in a set order of events: the guardian god of the grave yard has to be honoured; the tomb and surrounding area is cleaned; the inscriptions on the stone must be restored in red or black paint only; food offerings are laid before the grave and finally the lighting of joss stick and candles while obituaries are read. When the duties are over, family members picnic on cold food next to the grave while the ancestors feast on the offerings laid before the tomb.

There are a number of activities popular during the Qingming Festival. One of them is to burn paper money or "hell money". This is said to help the dead with their dealings in the afterlife and with other spirits. Originally made from cheap paper with red pattern, today "spirit money" is available as banknotes on good quality paper issued by the "hell bank" in denominations of thousands of millions. The words "Hell Bank Note" always appear on the note in both English and Chinese.

Another activity people are fond of is kite flying, even at night. Little lanterns are often tied to the kite strings to create flickering lights of different colours that some people call "god's lanterns". When the kites are high enough, the strings are released to signify letting go of bad luck. Picking up the kites is taboo; it will bring bad luck for the rest of the year.

The tragic story of Jie Zi Dui gave more to the Qingming Festival than just the tradition of eating cold food. Ever since he was found with his arms around a willow tree, the willow is believed to have the power to expel demons. During the festival, willows branches are used to sweep the tombs. Leaves from the willow tree are hung on front doors and people will wear something from a willow tree.