5 April marks the Tomb Sweeping Day, or the Qingming Festival, in Taiwan this year! On this national holiday, families visit ancestral graves to clean tombs, offer food and incense, as well as burn joss paper to honour ancestors. This week, let’s learn some Tâi-gí words related to Tomb Sweeping Day.

●Words to Know:

1. 清明 tshing-bîng (n.) Tomb Sweeping Day

2. 墓仔埔 bōng-á-poo (n.) cemetery 

3. 培墓 puē-bōng (v.) to sweep the tomb

4. 墓紙 bōng-tsuá (n.) tomb paper

5. 祖先 tsóo-sian (n.) ancestor

●Idiom / Proverb of the week:

清明無轉厝，無祖；過年無轉厝，無某。

Tshing-bîng bô tńg tshù, bô tsóo; kuè-nî bô tńg tshù, bô bóo.

(If you don’t return home for Qingming, you have no ancestors; if you don’t return home for New Year, you have no wife.)