What is Tomb-Sweeping Day in Taiwan?

Hey there, I'm just cleaning up a little to prepare for Qing Ming Jie… Tomb Sweeping Day. Do you know about Tomb Sweeping Day? People in Taiwan mark this festival every year, usually on April 5th. 清明節通常在四月五號。 "Mark" here means to remember or celebrate a holiday or special day, like a birthday! It is a special day for everyone to honor their ancestors. Ancestors are the people in a family who have already passed on, and are no longer with the people who are alive. "Ancestor" 就是祖先。清明節是一個懷念祖先的日子。 If you don't know how to honor your ancestors, don't worry, I can tell you all about it! First of all, it's important to clean around where your ancestors are buried. It's important for everything to be clean when you are honoring your ancestors. 要怎麼做呢？首先，祖先的墓園一定要清乾淨！ Many people also eat green rice dumplings on Tomb Sweeping Day. Doesn't that sound delicious? 人們也會在那天吃草仔粿，好好吃！ If you want to give your ancestors some money, you can do it by burning joss paper. By burning joss paper, you are sending money to the afterlife for your ancestors. Joss paper 就是紙錢。人們只要燒金紙，就可以把錢送給祖先。 Isn't that nice? On Tomb Sweeping Day people honor their ancestors… oh, that reminds me, I better make sure I put out the fire from the joss paper before leaving. 記得把火熄滅才離開喔。 Well, I'd better get back to cleaning! ________________________________ Vocabulary 清明節英文就叫做掃墓節，因為很多人這天會去掃墓。 1. Tomb 墳墓 All the tombs here are old. 這裡的墳墓都很久了。 No new tombs? 沒有新的嗎？ No, because it's not allowed. 沒有，因為不准許。 2. Bury 埋葬 People don't bury the dead in tombs anymore. 人們不再把死者埋在墳墓中。 There's not enough land? 土地不夠嗎？ Right. 對。 3. Celebrate 慶祝，過節 How will we celebrate Children's Day? 我們如何慶祝兒童節？ How about going to the Zoo? 去動物園怎麼樣？ Wonderful! 太棒了！ 4. Burn 燃燒 Something is burning… 有東西在燒… Oh no, it's my fish! 糟了，是我的魚！ Now it's burnt. 現在它燒焦了。 Let's read today's vocabulary. tomb 墳墓 bury 埋葬 celebrate 慶祝 burn 燃燒 ________________________________ Quiz 1. Which festival is this story talking about? a. Children's Day b. Mid-autumn Festival c. Tomb Sweeping Day 2. What is the paper you burn for your ancestors called? a. Joss paper b. Gold paper c. Fake paper 3. What day is Tomb Sweeping Day celebrated in Taiwan this year? a. April 5th b. April 25th c. May 4th Answers 1. C 2. A 3. A -- Hosting provided by SoundOn