China and Mexico have collectivistic cultures that prioritize society and family expectations before their own desires, cuisine that’s in a league of its own, and a holiday dedicated to commemorating their ancestors.
The Day of the Dead, otherwise known as Qingming festival in China and Dia de los Muertos in Mexico, is celebrated in both countries. USC students have already started day of the dead celebrations ahead of the Mexican holiday on Monday.
Throughout China, families wake up early to sweep the graveyards where their ancestors are buried. After cleaning the tombstone, people freshen the paint lettering and decorate it with fruits, symbolizing wealth, and chrysanthemum flower arrangements, symbolizing grief.
Junfeng Li, a 22-year-old journalism graduate student from Chengdu, China, said that the Qingming festival was one of his favorite days as a child since classes were cancelled. Li said that his family takes a few moments to pray to their ancestors for health and good fortune, and since he is the youngest in his family, he’d have to kneel in appreciation to his elders.
“Kneeling is an unspoken rule in the tombstone ceremony for the youngest generation in Chinese families,” Li said.
After that, families usually burn joss paper, also known as incense paper, in the shape of clothing, a house or money as a way to express abundance to their loved ones in their afterlife. However, Li said that the government recently banned people from burning paper because it was harming the environment.
Once the ceremonies are finished and the tombstone is overflowing with flowers and food, families disperse to different activities.
Smaller families fly kites and stroll in the countryside to enjoy the arrival of spring’s new blossoms.
Li said that because he has a big family, made up of 40 people, it was more convenient to make a reservation in a food market where they could spend the rest of the day eating and drinking tea together. Adults usually gambled with games such as Madiao or Mahjong while children played hide-and-seek or tag.
Some of Li’s favorite childhood memories are from Qingming because as an only child, this was the day he got to play the most with other kids, most of whom were cousins.
In Mexico, Dia de los Muertos takes place on November 1-2. Classes aren’t cancelled, but the streets, schools, churches and homes across the country celebrate by dressing up and creating altars for their deceased loved ones. Families traditionally visit their ancestors’ gravesite and just like the Chinese, they clean and decorate their tombs with marigolds and food. They adorn the altars and tombs with colorful perforated paper known as ‘papel picado,’ candles, bread of the dead, fruits and sugar skeletons.
The altars can be dedicated to many people, and most of the time the ones in their homes have various images or depictions of loved ones placed in them.
The candles and marigolds are used symbolically to guide the dead back home due to their brightness. The bread of the dead, fruits and sugar skeletons are all traditional treats placed alongside any specific foods and beverages that were loved by that person. The food is also an invitation for the deceased to have dinner with their family that night.
Students will come to festivals at school in costume or with skeleton makeup on their faces, where they’re met with activities and traditional dishes. In major cities, there are parades and dances for the public and in older smaller cities, the community will get together to celebrate their relatives.
China and Mexico are known for their unique cultural identities that enrapture audiences from across the world, but if there’s anything that characterizes them from other countries, it’s their day of the dead celebrations.