Heritage Snippets of Sarawak
By Jennie Soh
THE Chinese community places great importance on the Tomb-Sweeping Festival known as ‘Qing Ming’, based on the belief that the family will flourish with blessings if one visits their ancestors’ graves.
Background
Traditional Chinese beliefs are shaped by a mixture of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. There is a strong belief in the afterlife and reincarnation. Ancestor worship was of great importance in maintaining family solidarity and the ties between the living and the dead.
Qing Ming or Ch’ng Ming entails an obligatory visit to ancestors’ graves which takes place after the winter months in China. It is a rebirth of nature during spring which is symbolically linked to the afterlife. It is also based on the concept of filial piety or obedience to one’s elderly family members or ancestors. Traditionally, the Chinese believed that the deceased will look after the family even in death. Hence, the offering of food and spirit money is believed to appease the departed’s spirits in the afterlife and the family will get blessings in return to continue to prosper throughout their lives.
It was believed that if water surrounds the tomb, misfortunes and health issues may fall upon the family. The family then had to seek a solution through a “Feng Shui” master for further development of the tombs. It was also believed that if a grave was upgraded into a cement tomb, a bad fate may befall the family. Thus, tombs should be left unchanged for many years.
When they arrived on Sarawak’s shores, Chinese immigrants continued to observe the traditional culture of the Tomb Festival to respect and honour their ancestors who had died and were buried in Sarawak.
The Legend behind Qing Ming
During the seventh century BC in spring and autumn, Duke Xiao was the monarch of the state of Jin. In accordance to the rules of succession, if the monarch died or was obliged to abdicate the throne, his legitimate eldest son Prince Shen Sheng should be the next ruler.
But Duke Xiao had planned to abdicate and pass the throne to the son of his favourite concubine, Li Ji. To make it possible and look proper for the succession, Prince Shen Sheng was murdered in a plot planned by the ruler’s administration. When Duke Xiao’s second son, Prince Chong’er realised that was his father’s plan, he fled into the forest. For 19 years, Prince Chong’er and his entourage of loyal officials and servants wandered homeless, cold and hungry. Prince Chong’er almost starved to death but one of his most faithful followers, Jie Zitui, cut a slice of muscle from his own leg and served it to his master, saving him from starvation.
Finally in 636 BC, Prince Chong’er managed to ascend to the throne that was rightfully his. After becoming the ruler, King Chong’er decided to reward the officers who had stayed and remained faithful to him through the years of wandering. However, he forgot about Jie Zitui. Jie Zitui was heartbroken, sad and went deep into the mountains. Later King Chong’er remembered Jie Zitui and sent his people to look for him. He wanted to apologise to him and ask him to return to the royal court. He could not find him and his advisors advised the monarch to set fire in the forest so that Jie Zitui would come out from his hiding place. The fire raged for three days and Jie Zitui was found leaning against a large tree, carrying his elderly mother on his back. Both of them were dead.
The monarch was deeply saddened by this tragedy. He ordered that a temple to be built in memory of his most loyal follower and that no fires were to be allowed on the anniversary of Jie Zitui’s death. Thus, people had to eat cold food on that day. The monarch ordered the people to visit Jie Zitui’s tomb and pay their respects to his memory.
Yearly event
Historical evidence suggests that most early Chinese immigrants to South-East Asia were motivated to seek new lands in search of a better living. Their interests focused on mining, farming and trading.
The early immigrants from China arrived in Sarawak in the mid-1800s. Most of them were traders from different regions speaking different dialects—Foochow, Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese, Henghua, Hainanese and others. These immigrants travelled to various divisions in Sarawak. This was how my ancestors found their way to Mukah.
Like the All-Soul’s Day of the Christians, the Chinese community also has a day to visit the graves of their ancestors. Qing Ming or Ch’ng Ming literally means “Clear Brightness Sweeping Day and is an important date to observe in the Chinese calendar in the month of April. It is also considered as a “family gathering” as those who are abroad return to pay their respects.
During the Qing Ming season, it is not uncommon to see massive crowds, traffic jams and a general sense of chaos at temples, graveyards and crematoriums which are comparatively quiet for the rest of the year. As many graves or crematoriums are located in remote locations and some families have more than one grave to visit, a trip to clean and pray at ancestral graves during Qing Ming can begin at the crack of dawn and end late at night.
In ancient times, people celebrated Qing Ming with dancing, singing, picnics and kite-flying. Coloured boiled eggs would be broken to symbolise the coming of life. In the capital of ancient China, the Emperor would plant trees on the palace grounds to celebrate the renewing nature of spring.
This culture of appreciation has been passed down over generations and brought over to Sarawak from China by Chinese immigrants who in turn, passed it down to their descendants.
Personal experience adapts to new traditions
The aim of my recent trip to Mukah was to trace the roots of my family—to investigate our connections with our ancestors in Mukah.
Our family can trace its roots to Tan Su Xiang and his wife, Lee Soon Hiang who were brought to Mukah by their son, Tan Cheng Hoon who operated a billiard shop. Cheng Hoon had two wives. With his first wife, Wang Siew Kiaw from Denghai, China, he fathered six children—two sons and four daughters. With his second wife Pua Kim Lan who was of mixed Chinese and Melanau parentage from Mukah, he fathered 2 children—a boy and a girl. Pua further adopted two more children from her sister who had 11 children and was too poor to raise them. When Cheng Hoon travelled by ship to attend his second son’s wedding, he fell off the ship while taking a shower at the end of the ship along the Rejang River.
During my recent trip, the seventh generation of Tan’s family managed to gather for a small reunion in Mukah.
There were nine grave sites altogether at the same burial ground in Mukah. Only candles and joss sticks were lit as most of us present were Christians.
Those who still practise traditional Chinese customs will burn paper items like replicas of clothes, shoes, alcohol, cigarettes, television sets, laptops, handphones and chargers, and of course ‘money’, as offerings. There is also a special delivery similar to courier service to speed up the sending of the offering. Some families will offer real food in the form of rice, drinks, fruits, chicken, and so on. A separate offering of joss sticks and paper ‘money’ are also offered to the “Door Keeper” in the belief that he would open the door between the afterlife and here, and allow the spirits of the ancestors to come out and received the offerings. If the joss sticks’ ashes stayed upright, this would be taken as a sign of the departed’s acceptance and satisfaction with the offerings.
Conclusion
Many Chinese across different dialects continue to observe Qing Ming as a compulsory event to invoke their ancestors through ritual. Without our ancestors, none of us would exist. The prevailing belief is that the ancestors hold great wisdom, they have lived and learned before us, and we can call upon our ancestors’ spirit to guide us with that wisdom and bless us with a healthy report card.
As for me, my recent trip to Mukah was the beginning of my learning and understanding of my ancestors’ ways of survival during their time, and my appreciation for their hard work to raise their families. As Christians, we just offer flowers and candles to show our respect.
Jennie Soh is a freelance feature writer originally from Kuching who migrated to Miri. She is the Hon. Secretary for Society of English Writers Northern Zone.
“Heritage Snippets of Sarawak” is a fortnightly column.
