My Lamma Forums

[zep]

There is some debate about whether the Chung Yeung festival is really for grave sweeping at all - the legend giving rise to it just mentions going to high ground as a means of avoiding harm, promoting good fortune etc.

The main festival is in April - Ching Ming, when Mt Panorama was torched. At least in April there are several months of rain to follow, so there is some chance of regeneration. Now, there are several months of dry, so if the sun doesn't shrivel up any remaining vestiges of life, the hundreds of tons of salt water dumped on the hillside will take care of the rest. I really find the whole thing quite depressing.

[Lamma-Gung]

Sorry to step into this depressive, investigative topic, but let me tell you about my own more uplifting grave-sweeping experience yesterday, more typical of the vast majority of Hongkongers who can't get or afford their own huge grave up on a hillside with seaview. Bu the rituals are very similar for tiny and huge graves.

We visited the double grave of Lamma-Por's parents, like almost every year, in the Catholic cemetary above Lai Chi Kok MTR station on Kowloon-side, thousands of gravestones covering the entire hillside. It's a steep walk to the top of the hill as no traffic is allowed inside the cemetary during the peak season of grave-sweeping, meaning the few days and weekend closest to Chung Yeung, plus the entire month of Ching Ming when all filial children are supposed to pay respects to their ancestors twice a year. Lamma-Por is following this strictly and I've gone along about a dozen times so far.

Four generations of the family assembled at the grave from all over Hong Kong, 3 of them alive, one cremated in little urns behind a mere pigeon hole-sized niche in one of many parallel walls with several hundred gravestone niches each, 6 rows high. In front of each row of gravestones there's a tiny ledge to place offerings.

The actual ritual goes like this as it has become more informal and shorter over the years:
The grave is sweeped first, meaning cleaned of dust, candle wax traces, etc. Then fresh and watered flowers are put into a tiny vase in front of the gravestone, birthday cake candles or tea lights lit and some small food items and fruits placed on the little ledge, typically any type of buns.

The rituals is basic ancestor worship, assuming they are still watching you from the afterlife and can influence your life directly via good and bad luck and putting in a good word for you with the many gods of the Chinese belief system (not really a religion, more a tradition). It seems to have been adopted by and integrated into other religions in HK, even Christians.

Each visitor talks to his/her ancestors individually, one person after another, like a quiet prayer, asking your ancestors for good luck & success in your family, job, love life, Mark Six, etc. Then you bow three times towards the grave stone.

My step grandson, the Millennium baby, visited his Tai-Po and Tai-Gung (great grandparents) for the very first time. He was taught the entire ritual, after being formally introduced aloud by name and family line to his ancestors who he had never met or seen before.

A little snacking by the visitors is optional, water bottles are a must. Before leaving, the individual prayers and bowing three times is repeated by each visitor, including the gwailo who's just tagging along to please his wife. She takes this ritual very seriously and is so happy and grateful to see the family united at the grave of her parents..

The litter left behind on, below and around the graves is pretty amazing & impressive in its sheer volume and variety. The cleaning troupes will be kept busy for days with the huge mess of dripping wax, rotting food, dying flowers, tissues and debris left over from grave-sweeping, drink bottles, lighters, etc.

Afterwards, our three generations retreated to a caverous Dim Sum place with a long line outside where you get a number and wait... and wait before getting a table. The supposedly "rich uncle from Lamma" was footing the bill, of course. Fortunately, Dim Sum in Lai Chi Kok is way better, more varied and much cheaper than in Yung Shue Wan!

[zep]

This sounds like how it should be - an opportunity for reflection, for remembering those who still live on in fond memories, to get together as a family.

But surely this could all be possible without the bi-annual orgy of arson. Can you shed any light (no pun intended) on whether fires are deplored, tolerated or deliberatly encouraged among the grave-sweeping population at large?

[Mississippi Groover]

[Guy MIller]

[Lamma-Gung]

[zep]

Guy Miller wrote:

[Lamma-Gung]

Zep,
We'll expect you to be dressed like that at our next moderator meeting/dinner!

[Lamma-Gung]

Another bush fire above Tai Peng this weekend...

Pictures and eyewitness account in the Lamma-zine Blog today, March 7...

[zep]

Looking at the picture of the charred hillside, it would seem apparent that the fire swept up from the graves at the bottom. However, this is not the case - I saw the early stages of the fire through binoculars from the back road to powerstation beach - it started up at the top near the cable road close to where this picture was taken

.

[Alan]