Taiwanese families are very close knit. Unlike in western culture, it’s not uncommon for multiple generations to live together. In fact, it is even expected as custom dictates that first born sons are to live with their families in their parent’s house. The end result is that you get grandparents, grandchildren and everyone between living under one roof. This would drive westerners mad, but in Taiwan it creates a tight (only slightly dysfunctional) family unit that respects its elders.
As you previously learned, the Taiwanese are also very superstitious. Together, these two cultural values set the perfect scene for ancestor worship, which is what Tomb Sweeping Day is all about. This is South East Asia’s holiday for paying respect to and even communicating with deceased loved ones. Yes, I said communicating. Curious to know what great grandma thinks of that new boy you brought home, you’ll get to ask her.
It is believed that deceased ancestors can communicate on a living relative’s behalf with gods to bring them good fortune. Of course, if an ancestor feels slighted or unsatisfied, they can use their powers of persuasion to bring you misfortune and bad luck. These beliefs create a population that takes its duties to the dead very seriously. In fact, Tomb Sweeping Day was invented thousands of years ago by an emperor who wanted his subjects to worship a little less and work a little more. His solution was to set aside one day a year specifically for worshiping dead family members. Today, the day is formally recognized as the fifth of April, and is usually tethered to a three or four day weekend, allowing families extra time for travelling to gravesides.
As the name suggests, the main point of Tomb Sweeping Day is to clean the graves. Unlike western graves, Taiwanese tombs are usually big, elaborate affairs that house ashes of multiple generations. As in life, in death everybody still shares the same roof. (Also, it’s customary to build family tombs facing the direction of home. For this reason, many of the older cemeteries are all creepily staring across the sea at China.) Using the whole family, the “sweeping” part of the day usually lasts two to three hours and leaves everybody dehydrated and hungry. The living have to clean any fungus or mold, scare away insects, and cut or burn any weeds and bushes that decided to keep the dead company. Since Taiwan is a wet, humid place that enjoys being occasionally wracked by typhoons, the living might also have to fix water or structure damage.
Once everyone’s exhausted, it’s time for family members to pay their respects. Sweet smelling incense is burned to attract the spirits and offerings are made. These offerings consist of anything a spirit might need. Food and money are the most basic necessities. Apparently, Oreos are popular. It’s not like ghosts need to watch their figure. However sometimes family members like to donate more useful items, such as electronics. This is done using joss paper. Like ghost money, joss paper is burned, and whatever image is printed on the paper magically appears in the afterlife. This is how ghosts end up with iPhones.
After offerings have been made, you can ask the deceased whether or not they are satisfied with your hard work using two coins. The coins are tossed into the air, and their landing position dictates whether your ancestors answered yes or no. It’s basically 20 questions, but with ghosts. Matching sides mean “no,” whereas a mismatched landing means “yes.” Also, the first questions should always be: “Are you still hungry?” “Do you need more food or money? What about a charging cable?” Then, you can move on to more mundane topics, like whether or not you should buy a new house or quit your job. Finally, after learning that you somehow need to buy a new house with a job you no longer have, it’s time to picnic, eat and catch up with the living.
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