The Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day (清明節, qīng míng jié), is an important festival in China when people offer sacrifices to their ancestors (祭祖, jì zǔ). It falls on April 4 this year.

In ancient times, the festival prompted poets to compose about their grief regarding the lingering cold in spring and emotional moments while mourning the deceased (哀悼逝者, āi dào shì zhě).

Here are some famous lines from poems in the Tang and Song Dynasties (618-1279) remembering the day. The English translations used in this article are from noted Chinese translator Xu Yuanchong (許淵沖, xǔ yuān chōng).

Tune: Wind Through Pines

Tune: Wind Through Pines is a masterpiece of Song Dynasty poet Wu Wenying (1200-1260). Between the lines lies the author's grief over the rainy spring and parting with beloved ones. Here is an excerpt:

Hearing the wind and rain while mourning for the dead,

Sadly I draft an elegy on flowers.

Over dark green lane hang willow twigs like thread,

We parted before the bowers.

Each twig revealing our tender feeling.

I drown my grief in wine in chilly spring;

Drowsy, I wake again when orioles sing.

sòng · wú wén yīng
宋·吳文英

tīng fēng tīng yǔ guò qīng míng。
聽風聽雨過清明。
chóu cǎo yì huā míng。
愁草瘞花銘。
lóu qián lǜ àn fēn xié lù,
樓前綠暗分攜路，
yī sī liǔ、yī cùn róu qíng。
一絲柳、一寸柔情。
liào qiào chūn hán zhōng jiǔ,
料峭春寒中酒，
jiāo jiā xiǎo mèng tí yīng。
交加曉夢啼鶯。

來源：chinadaily.com.cn
編輯：萬月英