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Ching Ming

Ching Ming (Tomb-sweeping festival)

Ching Ming also known as Tomb-sweeping day.  This is the day that decedents pay respects for their departed, by visiting and maintaining graves.  It also provides a chance for the extended family or clan to get together.   This day would be the busiest day in the Chinese plot at the Melbourne cemetery.

Here is a scene of Ching Ming in 1920.    Lo Hong (a Chinese market gardener) is seen making offering at a grave site at an un-determined cemetery.   Incenses and candles can be seen in front of the tomb stone, together with a pot of tea or wine, and the obligatory roast pig.   It is important to note that this is a family affair, with the children (in the front) and the extended clan watching the proceedings.
oldHongGraveVisit

     

Early Chinese migrants