Qingming, literally (字面上) means “clear and bright”. It is one of the 24 seasonal division points in China. After the festival, the temperature rises and rainfall increases. And then farmers begin to grow crops. Qingming Festival falls on April 4 this year.
As a festival, Qingming is believed to have a history of about 2,500 years. The most important tradition of Qingming is to honor ancestors and remember the dead family members. So Qingming is also called Tomb-Sweeping Day. When sweeping the graves, people pray, clean the tombstones and burn offerings, usually paper money, paper clothes, paper houses and now even a paper phone.
Lots of ancient poets expressed their sad feelings with words. One of the most famous poems describing the festival was the poem Qingming by Du Mu of the Tang Dynasty as follows: A drizzling rain falls like tears on the Mourning Day; The mourner’s heart is going to break on his way. “Where can a wine shop be found to drown my sad hours?” A cowherd points to a cot amid apricot flowers.
Some traditions of Qingming have brought such problems as traffic jams and air pollution or even forest fires. As part of a greener Qingming campaign, people have been encouraged to pay respect to their ancestors and dead family members online, or burn less or no paper money to protect the environment.
【小题1】The weather will _______ after Qingming.
A.be much warmer | B.rain heavily | C.be snowy | D.be windy |
【小题2】When is Qingming Festival this year?
A.On April 1. | B.On April 2. | C.On April 3. | D.On April 4. |
【小题3】The underlined word “
offerings” means “_______” in English.
A.things for children | B.things for the poor | C.gifts for the dead | D.gifts for the old |
【小题4】What does the third paragraph mainly tell us?
A.The life of Du Mu. | B.Poems about the festival. |
C.Poets in Tang Dynasty. | D.Sad feelings of people. |
【小题5】The greener Qingming campaign encourages people to honor the dead _______.
A.at home | B.in the open air | C.on the Internet | D.by the forests |