Ching Ming and Sleepy New Moon

Ch'ing Ming means Pure and Bright. This Chinese festival falls 15 days after the Spring Equinox. 

Ching Ming tea party of two years ago.

The Pure Brightness Festival is also called Ancestors Day or Picnic Day, because Chinese families gather today to sweep graves and offer foods- such as steamed pastries, roast pork, tea, and wine- to their ancestors. After the ceremony the family feasts on the offering foods.

And tonight is the new moon; the Chinese call the third new moon the Sleepy Moon, because the drowsiness of spring is in the air. On the first three days of this moon, the Chinese in Beijing celebrate the birthday of Hsi Wang Mu with a temple festival. Hsi Wang Mu is the Grandmother Goddess of the Western Heaven, also called the Great Yin. She controls the cosmic forces of time and space, determines life and death, and controls disease and healing. She watches over the tree of the peaches of immortality.

Agenda today:
1- Journal queries
2- New Moon Meditation
3- Have a yin kind of day
4- Make gold ingots (yuan bao)
5- Make Char Siu (Chinese Barbecued Pork)
6- Make Red Tortoise Cakes (Ang Ku Kueh)
7- Remember and honor ancestors

1. Journal queries:

The New Moon invites us to start a new cycle, to renew promises, and set intentions. Today I will write down the dreams I have for this next few weeks, and then give my dreams a period of gestation, like seeds in the soil, before I take action.

My focus has been on balance this month. 

How can I honor the yin energy (reflecting, waiting, non-doing) in my life?
What am I dreaming of, and what am I going to do about it?
What would make me more whole?

List my intentions for the next weeks in these areas-

Self, Friends and Family, Teaching, Artwork, Writing, Home and Garden, Work/Business, and Volunteer work.

2. New Moon Meditation:

Light a small white candle. Center, and feel myself fill with thankfulness for all I have now in my life. 

Meditate on the Great Yin- all that is dark, quiet, soft, and mysterious- and how grateful I am for this energy in my life. Do this each day until the candle is gone.

3. Have a yin kind of day:

To honor Hsi Wang Mu, called the Great Yin, spend today in yin mode, not doing, but rather being. Today I will hang out in the garden, relax in my home, drink water, read a book, daydream, go for a long walk, take a nap, linger over dinner, and go to bed early.

4. Make gold ingots (yuan bao):

One tradition on Ch'ing Ming is to burn fake money for the deceased to use in the afterlife. This comes in the form of printed paper money and folded paper that looks like ancient gold ingots, called yuan bao. You can buy the paper money at an Asian food store, and also the joss paper for making the yuan bao.

Folding the yuan bao isn't hard. Here is a great video that shows how. Once you get the hang of it, you can fold a mound of them in a few minutes.

5. Make Char Siu (Chinese Barbecued Pork):

Char siu is one of the favorite foods to offer ancestors. It takes two days, to properly marinate the pork. My recipe for char siu is here.

6. Make Red Tortoise Cakes (Ang Ku Kueh):
Grave cakes are one traditional offering at the ancestral tombs. The most common kind of grave cake is Ang Ku Kueh, or Red Tortoise Cakes- these are made with a bright red glutinous rice dough, filled with either a sweet bean or peanut filling, and printed in a mold with the design of a tortoise.

I don't have a tortoise mold so I used my small round mold.  They turned out very well- and were delicious. My recipe for Red Tortoise cakes is here.

7. Remember and honor ancestors:

Ching Ming tea party 2017.

Ancestor veneration is an ancient traditional or folk religion in China. Those who practice ancestor veneration believe that dead family members have the ability to influence the fates of the living; the goal of their practices is to help ensure the ancestors' goodwill, but also to cultivate values like family loyalty and respect. When I teach children about these practices, I emphasize that second part.

2017 offering

I have great respect for my ancestors; many of them were amazing people. My own belief is that we all become part of the Great Spirit when we die, so to honor my ancestors is to honor God.

I can’t travel to where my relatives are buried, so I usually have a ceremony in my own backyard.

 

• We set out a blanket near our backyard fire pit, and brought out hot tea and a plate of red tortoise cakes.
• We talked about our ancestors and named some we knew about.
• We lit red candles in the fire pit and added some paper offering money, and the gold ingots that we folded.
• We poured a little tea on the ground, then drank the rest, and ate the cakes.