Taboos during Qingming Festival 2024 for a smooth year

According to feng shui expert Nguyen Song Ha, Thanh Minh is the 5th of the 24 solar terms of the year. The first day of Thanh Minh is Thanh Minh festival. In 2024, Thanh Minh festival falls on Thursday, April 4th of the solar calendar, which is February 26th of the lunar calendar.

On this occasion, Vietnamese people often visit graves and prepare offerings for the Qingming Festival at home and at the grave. Depending on each family, the Qingming Festival offerings can be vegetarian or non-vegetarian.

When carrying out activities during Thanh Minh festival, people also need to pay attention to some taboos to avoid family discord, work difficulties...

First, feng shui expert Nguyen Song Ha recommends that people should not organize happy events such as weddings, birthdays, housewarmings, etc. on Thanh Minh festival.

When visiting graves on Qingming Festival, we should not go through remote areas. Instead, people should go on familiar, crowded roads.

According to Feng Shui, during Qingming Festival, people who go to remote places will easily be infected with evil spirits. If you really need to go, you should go with many people.

Tomb sweeping is a time when relatives gather together, so be careful not to take group photos around the grave.

Feng shui experts also note that when cleaning graves, it is necessary to pay attention to the four sides of the grave. First, to show respect to the deceased, second, to consider the condition of the grave.

If there is water around the grave (water can get inside or the puddle is very close to the grave) it will have a bad effect on the fortune of future generations.

During Qingming Festival, people should not let their hair cover their foreheads or buy new shoes. Keeping their hair neat and their foreheads uncovered is to ward off bad luck and welcome good luck.

Buying new shoes was also considered unlucky by the ancients. Because, in Chinese, the word “shoes” and the word “evil” are homophones. There is a belief that buying shoes on this day will bring bad luck and make you susceptible to evil spirits.

When visiting graves, do not play around, do not sit on graves, do not step on other graves or kick offerings on other graves. Do not only burn incense at your own grave, but also "visit" the graves next door. If there are ownerless graves, you should also burn incense for "them".

In cemeteries with separate places to worship gods and local spirits, offerings must be made in two places and adjusted according to local customs.

The important thing in visiting graves is to show respect, remember the deceased and vow to do good deeds. The grave-sweeping ritual does not need to be too elaborate or expensive. It should not be too formal, nor should it burn too much votive paper, which is wasteful and pollutes the environment.