# 55 Today's Picture 090405

Stone Forest (Shilin), Yunnan ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

Life and death in China Part Two: Qingming - Grave sweeping festival

Funeral wreath 

Qingming picnic in Yunnan ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

Death is as significant as life and today is a very important day in China, it is Qingmingjie 清明节 - the Clear Brightness Festival or as it is more widely known in English the Grave Sweeping Festival. Qingming falls 104 days after the Winter solstice (usually April 4th-5th) and is the time to honor the dead and reestablish contact with families members who have passed away. It is deeply rooted in the strong family ties and family values that exist in Chinese culture. Where ever there is a grave or gravesite, today is the day to visit, clean away old flowers, weeds and rubbish, light incense and candles, commune with the dead - even eat a meal beside the grave, letting the dead eat a favourite dish too or maybe even drink a symbolic glass of baijiu or smoke a cigarette, whatever they might have preferred in the past. Paper money (joss) is burnt and firecrackers are set off - not only to scare away unwanted spirits that might be lurking around the grave but also to announce that you have arrived and want to show your respect. Triple kowtows are made on the ground and time is spent speaking with the family members and ancestors that no longer share this existence: you should inform them of what has happened in the family during the past twelve months, how everyone is doing but also telling them not to worry too much about those still alive, you might even like to ask a piece of advice or two. The traditional and superstitious  feel that if this ritual is not performed then the spirits have the  power to wreak havoc in your life. It is maybe no coincidence that Qingming, the day to honor the dead, is also a day when spring, rejuvenation (time to start planting crops) and young love is also honoured. 

I'm sure for many in Sichuan today their thoughts will be turned toward the dead who all share the same day of death: May 12th, 2008.

Qingming has existed since the Tang Dynasty but it was only in 2008 that it yet again became an official public holiday in China, the first time since 1949. Do not confuse Qingming with the Ghost Festival (Guijie) which comes later in the year or the Double Ninth Festival (Chongyangjie) which is another day where the dead are honoured and graves are cleaned up. In Vietnam Qingming is called Tet. For more about Chinese festivals and traditions read: Kinesiska symboler och På kinesiskt vis.

Life and death in China Part One: Longevity lock charm

©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

In China when a child turns 100 days old family and friends gather for a celebration. The baby is given many gifts and a longevity lock – a changmingsuo – to hang around its neck. The purpose of the lock is to protect the child, bring it good fortune and especially to lock the child’s qi – its vital life essence – to its earthly body so the child will stay here on earth with the parents and not be taken away prematurely, in essence “locking” the child to life.

On the lock above you can see special characters and symbols. The big character in the middle is fú – happiness – one of the most important auspicious blessings to be had in Chinese traditional culture. The two small bats on either side on the top are also symbols of happiness because they are homophones with happiness, also pronounced fú. The two characters on each side of the large happiness symbol are bai suo: “the lock for one hundred years”, wishing the child both a very long life - at least one hundred years – and happiness for one hundred years. Little bells hang from the bottom and the red thread is also a lucky colour. 

A lock like this could either be worn around the neck of the child or hung in the house for protection. I say could because it is no longer common for children to wear the locks, but it has again become fashionable to give them as presents that the parents will then keep as a keepsake (and lucky charm) for the child. These locks were most popular in China during the Ming and Qing dynasties and they came not only with the inscription above but with many different ones, albeit all with the same general meaning.

Yesterday I went to a combination baby shower and going away party for two dear friends that are moving home after living in Chengdu for a couple of years. When they fly home they will be two passport carriers but actually they are already three, the bun in the oven just doesn't have a passport yet (maybe I should say the baozi in the steamer basket). We joked a lot about many things, one of them being that we should gather all the kids around us here in the foreign families in Chengdu and get t-shirts made for them stating not where they were born but where they were made. It's sometimes a much more telling fact: Made in Thailand, Made in China, Made in Hong Kong, Made in England, Made in South Africa etc etc. The little boy that the changmingsuo above was bought for will be born in South Africa but he was made in China and I hope that a little part of him will somehow be "locked" to the country he was created in and to the friends of his parents that will so very much miss them when they move away. Yi lu ping an Carin and Barry! (And little Thomas or Luke or Matthew or whatever you wind up being called...)

....and thanks Kim D. for an incredible spread of fantastic dishes and desserts. Sorry that we drank up all your special wine, it was gooooood!

Herrings and eggs

[Follow up on posting below]. When we went to bed last night the d-mned kids had put cornflakes in the entire bed. Now I'm the stupid pickled herring with egg on my face! (I'm secretly proud of them for getting the last word in).

April first you stupid herring

I tricked my kids into eating a stew made out of yak meat and Sichuan dog meat sausage today. Actually it was a brilliant bouef bourguignon that was mouth-wateringly scrumptious that I spent all day making but they fell for it anyway, good kids that they are. I told them that this is the kind of food they are going to eat when we go off on our planned horse trek to Munigou Valley in a few weeks and that they had better start getting used to it. That didn't phase them - they're really keen on this trek - and they dug in and thought it wasn't half bad, albeit with very sceptical looks on their faces and only tiny tastes in the beginning. When I told them it was all an April Fool's joke the food went down a whole lot faster! 

As we say in Swedish: April April din dumma sill which in English translates as the ridiculous sounding: April first April first you stupid pickled herring. 

Bamboo Park (Wangjiang Lou) and Poetess Xue Tao

Bamboo Park (Wangjiang Lou), Chengdu, Sichuan 090316 ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

The Bamboo Park (in Chinese known as River Viewing Pavilion) is one of my favourite spots in Chengdu when the weather is lovely. It is located in eastern Chengdu very close to Sichuan University and just across the street from the entrance to Sichuan University Museum (which in itself is well worth a visit). Their are two sections to this park which skirts the Jinjiang River: the northern section is dedicated to the memory of Tang poetess Xue Tao 薛涛 (770-832) and costs 20 yuan to enter. The entrance fee guarantees better upkeep and also less people than the southern section of the park which is free to all and sundry and thus more noisy but at the same time full of life, tea houses, carnival rides, snacks and fun nooks and crannies. You will find a romantic statue of Xue Tao in the park, as well as the well where it is said that she drew water to dye the special handmade paper that she wrote her poems on. For a time Xue Tao even took up residence in Du Fu cottage after that other most famous of Chinese poets had both left the city and passed away (Xue Tao was born around the time that Du Fu died). The Bamboo Park gets its English name from the over 150 species of bamboo that are growing on its grounds. Xue Tao is said to have especially loved bamboo which she felt represented humility, modesty and graciousness as bamboo is hollow inside and very pliable but also persistent and hardy and almost impossible to destroy. She is said to be buried near the park.

Xue Tao is one of China's most respected female poets. Her father (a minor government official) passed away when she was young and it was understandably difficult for her and her mother to support themselves alone in Chengdu. Xue Tao was subsequently registered in Chengdu's guild of courtesans and entertainers and eventually became the favourite concubine of Wei Gao, the military governor of Sichuan who made her his official hostess. She was known for her biting wit and seems to even have been banished for a time to Songpan as punishment for some insult, inconvenience or slight to the wrong person or high official in Chengdu. Perhaps the poem below alludes to this incident.  [It is number three of "Ten Partings," a sequence of poems.]:

"Dog parted from her master":

Yes, she's a good dog,
lived four or five years
within his crimson gates,

fur sweet-smelling,
feet quite clean,
master, affectionate.

Then by chance she
took a nip
and bit a well-loved guest.

Now she no longer sleeps
upon his red silk rugs.

[Taken from Brocade River poems: selected works of the Tang dynasty courtesan Xue Tao / translated and introduced by Jeanne Larsen (The Lockert Library of poetry in translation). Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, c1987. (xxvii, 110 p.)
LC#: PL2677.H76 A24 1987; ISBN: 0691066868, 0691014345]

# 54 Today's picture 090324

Wuhou Temple (Wuhou Ci), Chengdu, Sichuan 090317 ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

The Bookworm Literary Festival and literary groupies

Natalie Handal and Tina Chang, editors (together with Ravi Shankar) of "Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia and Beyond". ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

The Chengdu Bookworm Literary Festival has concluded and I'm in mourning because the fun is over but glad in a way too as my bank account can't afford any more event tickets and book purchases. C.P. and I had such a good time that we are already looking forward to the next one. This year we both got to moderate one of the events and also show some of the authors around Chengdu. We enjoy doing this immensely as it gives us an opportunity to spend time with interesting, creative people who are passionate about books, writing and life. The authors seem to find it pleasant too. You could say that we are "literary groupies". We've discussed this and have decided that next year we are going to open up our own "escort service" and offer our "services" showing the authors a "good time" while they are here in Chengdu.  Strictly in the "literary" sense of course ;-) 

Ian Buruma, author of The China Lover; Inventing Japan; The Missionary and the Libertine: Love and War in East and West; Bad Elements: Chinese rebels from LA to Beijing and many more. ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

Who is saying what Part 2

This is a typical conversation between me and a rickshaw driver here in Chengdu. I'm standing on the side of the road trying to flag down a taxi and a rickshaw driver comes cruising by looking for a customer. I put my hand down before he drives past me, so he knows that I don't want a rickshaw:

Screech of rickshaw brakes, rickshaw swings into the curb in front of me:

"Where you going?"

"It's too far for you."

"Where you going!?"

"It's way too far for you!"

"Come on, tell me, where do you want to go!"

[I tell him, he answers:]

"Are you nuts?! That's way too far for a rickshaw!!"

Who is saying what Part 1

A couple of days ago two lady friends (B and H) and I were standing on the street here in Chengdu. We were talking animatedly and laughing and suddenly a middle-aged Chinese woman pulled up close beside us on her motorscooter and began barraging us with questions. Here's how the conversation went (I'm sure you can figure out who is saying what):

[After closely scrutinizing us out for about 30 seconds]

"Where are you from?"

"Sweden, England and Spain."

"All three of you look so old! How old are you?!"

"45, 48, over 50..."

"You're that young??! I'm over 50 too. Your hair is all grey, why don't you color it?

"We like it natural!"

"Look at mine.  It's cheap and easy, no problem!"
[Pointing chin towards beauty parlour down the street. Her hair has no trace of grey but is also clearly not her natural color. Coppery brown is the "in thing" amongst middle-aged Chengdu ladies.]

Then B thought she said that B was fat and B said "I know I'm fat!" and I said that she didn't say that you were fat, she said something else and we all cracked up laughing. But not the Chinese lady who didn't catch this extra interchange. She put up a good smile anyway and drove off on her motorscooter shaking her head at the crazy foreign ladies who have the money to color their hair but still choose to look old and frumpy.