QING MING FESTIVAL, Cypress Hills

In contrast to Western mores, in which some cemeteries have been left to overgrow with weeds (as happened with Prospect Cemetery in Jamaica, Queens and Sylvan Cemetery in Travis, Staten Island before their cleanups, and is still in evidence today in Bayside and Acacia Cemeteries in Ozone Park, Queens) or have been paved over outright, as happened with African Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery in Port Richmond, Staten Island and countless others, in Chinese tradition gravesites are meticulously kept in optimum condition as revering ancestors is traditional in China and other eastern locales.

I was creeping past Cypress Hills Cemetery along Jamaica Avenue a few years ago, hoping to not disturb any wayward spirits, when I spotted this sign for the annual Qing Ming Festival, held here every year in early April. During the festival Chinese families visit the gravesites of deceased loved ones, make sure the plots are well-kept, and donate traditional food dishes and the burning of joss sticks and joss paper to their spirits. Though the Qing Ming Festival has been observed in China for millennia, it became a formal national holiday there in 2008, 8 being a a lucky number in China. Local specialties such as green rice dumplings and shuchuguo, made with Jersey cudweed, are traditionally consumed in China and Taiwan and by Chinese living in other Pacific nations during the festival period.

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2/22/23