A weekend of remembrance (April 5-7, 2007)

I just got back from spending an extended weekend Taipei. Since I had a few extra days off- Thursday through Sunday- for the annual Tomb Sweeping festival, or Qing Ming Jie* (清明節) here in Taiwan, I thought it'd be a good opportunity to spend some time with Su Beng. The plan was spend a few days with Su Beng at his residence and to accompany him on a visit to his ancestor's tomb/grave site.

Well it turned out to be a very full weekend of activities... which I'll report on soon.

Needless to say, I ended up shooting about 10 hours of video footage!

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* During Qing Ming Jie people visit the grave sites of their ancestors to pay their respects, to clean the grave site, and make offerings. To learn more about Qing Ming Jie, click on this link: http://www.thefuneraldirectory.com
This site provides a detailed description and explanations of Qing Ming Jie and its customs. It also states that, "Qing Ming Jie (...) is a traditional festival and a national holiday (as it coincides with the date of death of the famed President Chiang Kai-shek) and is usually celebrated on April 5." This seems to imply that Qing Ming Jie is a national holiday because it often coincides with the death of Chiang Kai-shek; that is not the case.

Check out this website for more information about how and why Qing Ming Jie was designated a national holiday: http://www.gio.gov.tw/info/festival_c/tomb_e/tomb.htm

The date for Qing Ming Jie is determined by the solar calendar, not by the date of Chiang Kai-shek's death. It falls on the fifteenth day of the spring equinox and is one of the few Chinese holidays that follows the pattern of the sun. As a result, Tomb Sweeping Day usually falls around April 3 or 5 on the Gregorian calendar, or the modern-day solar calendar.