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  • So Tomb Sweeping Day

  • is on the 4th of April

  • and it is a holiday

  • we actually take a day off

  • aka long weekend

  • um

  • and what do we do on Tomb Sweeping Day?

  • because it sounds pretty unfamiliar

  • but it is actually a day I grew up with

  • since I have memory

  • and we literally just sweep the tomb

  • Tomb sweeping is actually a very traditional Taiwanese culture

  • that we have this custom

  • We visit our ancestor's tomb

  • about once a year

  • and

  • I know

  • It sounds pretty depressing

  • visiting a tomb

  • but

  • In Taiwan, well at least in my family

  • we kind of treat it as a field trip day

  • for all the families and extended families

  • the family we don't see very often

  • to get together and bring foods

  • I guess it's kind of like a potluck

  • but at a tomb

  • and we do labour works

  • This man's mother caught an illness

  • I forgot his name

  • Anyway his mother was ill

  • The doctor had given him a prescription to get deer milk

  • Ohh so she could drink it to heal the illness

  • Yes but how is he going to collect deer milk?

  • He then wore a sheet of deer skin

  • He wore this so he could blend in and collect deer milk

  • then there came a hunter

  • The hunter almost accidentally shot him mistakenly thinking him for a deer

  • Then the man quickly stood up and the hunter realized he was a person

  • The hunter was curious and inquired why he did such a thing

  • And this is one of the "24 Filial Piety Stories" in Confucian philosophy

  • fancy

  • I think this is the newer edition

  • Cool! There're prints now

  • floral print

  • FLORAL PRINT

  • So my cousin is actually

  • going to tell us why

  • we have these tomb papers

  • that are nailed down on the tomb with a rock

  • So there was a general

  • whose tomb was destroyed

  • during the war

  • and he used the paper

  • to locate his tomb

  • with the help of the Gods

  • and it becomes today that

  • we use these papers to decorate our tombs

  • The speciality food we eat on Tomb Sweeping Day

  • is called the caozaiguo

  • and it comes in a variation

  • from sweet which would be represented as red

  • and the green is vegetarian

  • and usually wrapped in

  • the sweet would be red bean

  • and the green would be pickled raddish

  • The origin of why we crack a hard boiled egg

  • onto the tomb is that

  • it symbolizes the cycle of life

  • and the becoming of a new life

  • another religious belief in Taoism

  • is that when you burn all these ghost money

  • the ashes and the smoke would go up in the air

  • and our ancestors in heaven

  • would receive them

  • These Gods were crossing this ocean to get to a party

  • They each wanted to show off their powers

  • to see who was more capable of crossing this vast ocean

  • Ohhhh realllyyyy?

  • So they each came up with the coolest thing

  • There was God who rode on a sea turtle

  • Some on deers; some on flying animals

  • There was also a God who crossed the ocean via Chinese flute playing

  • Now the tomb's cleaned

  • and that's my cousin

  • I think mission accomplished

  • we're ready to head home

So Tomb Sweeping Day

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