Dear parents,
This year's Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day will take place on April 4th, the school will close from/to/including April 3rd to 5th.
Qingming is also known, though less famously as "The Pure Brightness Festival" and it is said from this April 4th or 5th day of the Gregorian calendar, temperatures will rise and rainfall increase, the time for sowing and growing. However, it is also a time to pay respect to the dead, by sweeping their tomb(s) and going on spring outings.
The origin story traces back to the Spring & Autumn period 770 - 476 BC where a loyal man named Jie Zitui sacrificed himself for the king. Every year the king would commemorate his sacrifice with a day of Tomb Sweeping and paying respect to ancestors. Around the burial site of Jie Zitui willows were growing, and willow branches became a popular symbol of Jie Zitui and the Qingming Festival.
Qingming Festival (Tomb Sweeping Day) is therefore a celebration of the cycle of life, paying respect to dead relatives while welcoming the growing season with willow branches (often worn on the head).
Weather: April 3rd, 4th and 5th will be cloudy with some sun. Sunday the 4th will have most sun of the 3 days. Temperatures between 15 - 20 degrees Celsius.
We sincerely hope you will enjoy the holiday and while a certain amount of melancholy is expected when we commemorate loved ones that has passed away, it is with love, appreciation and respect that we carry our ancestors memory and life with us.
Wishing you a nice holiday and look forward to see you back on Tuesday, April 6th.
Sincerely,
Hui Xin kindergarten, April 1st, 2021
