In Taiwan, it’s Taiwanese custom to burn paper food (symbolic of food) and money at people’s graves so that they have these things in their afterlife.
My informant learned of this from her grandma’s parents’ burial and it’s a custom passed down through their family. She likes the custom because it helps keep her connected to her Taiwanese heritage.
Qingming Jie is a public holiday in Taiwan and parts of China that translates to Tomb Sweeping Festival. It is also known as Pure Brightness Day. My dad tells me that the Chinese take death and funerals very seriously. So, on this holiday, which usually occurs sometime in April (it changes based on the lunar calendar), relatives of the deceased must go to their graves and clean them. So, kids and their parents have to go to the graveyards and sweep the tombs and decorate them with Chinese charms. They also leave food at the tomb for their ancestors to eat.
My dad said that even though it was a day of respect, it could be fairly scary when he was little. He said that most the times the graveyards would be dingy and dirty and it was your responsibility to go and clean the tomb and make it look acceptable. So, as a little kid, he did not like Tomb Sweeping Day. After cleaning the tombs, they would pray for their ancestors.
The Qingming Festival originally started as a way to honor a man named Jie Zitui. Supposedly, Jie had cut a part of his leg meat off to save his lord from hunger, since his lord had had to go into exile when the crown was in jeopardy. After 19 years, the lord came back, and decided to reward Jie. However, during that time, Jie had hid away in a mountain with his mother and in order to find Jie, the lord ordered that the mountain be set on fire. Both Jie and his mother were found dead and from then on the lord ordered that only cold food could be eaten on the day that Jie died. Other traditions involved with this festival is kite-flying and spring outings. Both are done after the tomb sweeping is finished as a way to then celebrate life and prosperity.
Source URL: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/essential/holidays/qingming.htm
My informant’s grandma used to live in a hotel because her father owned the hotel and would rent the rooms to workers in the steel mill. Supposedly, there was one renter who was fairly young and worked at the mill, whom everyone would pay attention to because he was very attractive. One day, this man came home early from work and both my informant’s grandma and her sister were ironing at the hotel. Back then, when they ironed, they would put the board across two chairs, so it was blocking the way for the young man to get to his room. So, the young man walked into the room and just stared at the two sisters, so they quickly moved all their things and apologized for blocking the hallway. However, he did not say anything, he just waited there while they put the ironing board away. Then, the young man walked through and went to his room and closed the door. Then, the sisters put everything back and started ironing again. An hour later, the bell at the mill rang. This signified that work was over. All the other workers came home and then a page boy came in and informed the two sisters that there was an accident at the mill and that the young man had died. Both the sisters were confused though because they had clearly seen the young man walk into the hotel and he never left.
Ghost stories are always so fascinating to me because there is no way to know whether or not they are true. Yet, they are so prominent in folk culture. People want to believe in ghost stories. I believe that society’s thirst for knowledge about the after life makes ghost stories that much more exciting.
Contextual data: My informant (my roommate) told me this story late at night when I asked him if he could think of any stories his parents had told him when he was younger. Another of our friends was present, and she was laughing for much of the performance. According to my roommate, his father told him this story about a coconut thief and two lovers–all of whom have horrible fates–as a joke when they were driving in the car a couple years ago. His father was goofing around and trying to make him laugh, so we can assume this story is usually told as an attempt to be funny. My informant’s father is from Vietnam, and he presumably heard this story there. The following is an exact record of our conversation:
Jackson (me): All right, why don’t you tell me that story that you just told me?
I (my informant): Ok, so once upon a time, there was a Vietnamese farmer. Within his backyard, or farm, or whatever you want to call it, he had a coconut tree. Umm, one day a thief decided that he wanted to steal some of the farmer’s coconuts, so he snuck into the backyard, climbed the really high tree, and . . . umm . . . used his knife to cut off a few coconuts, and put them . . . uhh . . . he tied them around his waist and held a few. And then, underneath the tree was a couple kissing, and when the thief had too many coconuts he accidentally dropped one and it fell onto the man’s head, and he bit off the girl’s tongue. So the girl eventually died of blood loss in her mouth, and the man died of concussion, from the coconut falling on his head from meters above the ground.
J: [Laughing]
I: And, ultimately, the thief was tried for burglary [laughing] and eventually put into jail. The end.
J: [Laughing] All right, do you remember who told you that story?
I: My dad.
J: Uhh, did he mean it as a joke, or like a—
I: I think . . . I think he was just like joking around, but it’s definitely a story that he heard in Vietnam at one point in his life.
J: Ok, so your dad’s from Vietnam?
I: Yeah, he moved over in the 70s—to the U.S. in the 70s.
J: Do you think that the story has a meaning behind it, or something like a moral?
I: Uhh . . . don’t kiss under a really high coconut tree?
[Both laughing]
I: Umm . . . pay attention to your surroundings. Like, if the farmer was actually paying attention, then the thief would have been caught before all this stuff happened and umm the couple would have avoided a tragic fate. And the thief shouldn’t have been so greedy as to grab so many coconuts and dropping them to the ground.
J: Does the story have any personal meaning for you?
I: [Laughing] Umm . . . don’t stand under a coconut tree . . . or any dangerous objects.
Even just judging by our reactions (and that of my other friend who was present), the story is meant to elicit laughter, but it does so through very dark humor. It’s all about people doing things with bad connotations–a thief stealing coconuts and a couple having a romantic rendezvous late at night–and then getting into trouble because of it. As is the nature of all contemporary legends, this story may or may not have actually occurred, but the details have undoubtedly changed as it has been passed on. I think my informant is right about the meaning behind the story; it’s about being aware of your surroundings, but, beyond that, I think it’s about not doing what you shouldn’t be doing. It’s definitely black comedy, and it’s entertaining to listen to, but, in the end, everyone has something bad happen to them almost as punishment for what they’re doing right before. And who knows? As a contemporary legend, it could have actually happened.
My informant told me about capillas, which are little chapels that people build above the ground where a person is buried. Usually they put cement there first, so the ground above the grave doesn’t get dirty. Then they can put gifts like flowers or candles inside of it. They’re constructed as a way to honor the dead. As my informant said, if you don’t have a landmark above the grave as a reminder, you may forget that person is there. He said his mother’s side of his family is thinking of building one over his uncle Basilio’s grave, because he is only one in his mother’s immediate family who has died, and there are cement and bricks over his grave, but no capilla yet. Based on this and other information my informant shared with me, honoring the dead and honoring family is highly important to him in his culture. It seems as though the dead are not simply buried and forgotten, but they still play a significant role in the lives of the living.