Can you worship ancestors in leap February? Qingming can't go to the grave?
The Qingming Festival is approaching, and it is the time for us to worship our ancestors and sweep the tombs. However, there are local traditions that do not allow these activities to take place in leap February, or even to add soil.
Indeed, this year is special, there are two Februarys in the lunar calendar, and this year's Qingming Festival happens to be in the leap February, which is also a relatively rare solar term in the lunar calendar.
In this century, there have only been four intercalary Februarys, the last one in 2004 and the next one in 2042, so the Qingming of intercalary February is particularly rare.
The leap month of February or March is closely related to the Qingming Festival, as the Qingming Festival is usually during this time period. What is special about this year is that the leap February will occur between March 22 and April 19, 2023, and Qingming Festival happens to be in the middle, taking place on April 5.
So, is it possible to worship ancestors in leap February? The answer is yes! There are two reasons for this. First, the notion that you cannot worship your ancestors during the leap month of Qingming is not in line with historical facts.
The origins of the Qingming Festival can be traced back to ancient China, when it was believed that the spirits of the deceased would return to the earth, so it was necessary to sweep the tombs of ancestors to express their thoughts and respect for their deceased relatives.
The time of Qingming Festival is fixed and will not change due to the existence of leap months. Therefore, there is no historical basis for the notion that you cannot worship ancestors during the Qingming Festival in the second month of the leap month.
Second, the popular saying that has been widely circulated recently, "If you don't go to the grave during the leap month, you will go to the grave and the disaster will come to the door" is actually impossible to study. Many people were influenced by this statement to go to the grave on March 21, the day before the leap February, and as a result, the cemetery was blocked.
This proverb has only spread because it rhymes. If someone says, "Go to the grave during the leap month and fill the pot with gold and silver treasures", then throughout the leap month, the vendors who sell the paper money for the sacrifice can make a lot of money.
False "sayings" are easy to spread because they are catchy, so people subconsciously think they are true. None of these cursed "sayings" should be widely disseminated.
The Qingming season is an important period for tomb sweeping and ancestor worship, not only limited to the day of the Qingming Festival, but also in a period of time before and after the Qingming Festival. There is a custom on the Internet that the second month of leap is not to go to the grave, claiming that this is a custom in Hubei, but it is not clear which region of Hubei it is, and the authenticity is doubtful.
As a Hubei native, we have been experiencing firecrackers here recently, and there is an endless stream of people worshipping our ancestors, so I personally think this statement may be wrong. In addition, there are some traditional customs in leap February.
For example, children will give their parents leap month shoes, folk have "leap month shoes, leap month wear, leap month old people live a thousand" saying, although there is no scientific basis, but for children, the biggest wish is that parents live a long and healthy life, peace and security.
In addition, in ancient times, it was generally believed that leap February was not suitable for marriage, because in some regional customs, leap February was considered an unlucky month and therefore not suitable for marriage.
Although the veracity of this statement is questionable, many people still abide by it.
Qingming Festival is a day of sorrow and gratitude to the ancestors, as long as the heart always remembers the kindness of the ancestors, with gratitude, it does not matter when to worship the ancestors. Now is the season of spring ploughing, let us cherish life more and be grateful to the earth.