Title: Tomb Sweeping Day

General Information:

• Customary Lore: Tea Rituals
• Interview Language: English
• Location of Origin: Wenzhou, China
• Informant: Irene Lam
• Date Collected: 11/01/2021

Informant Data:

Irene grew up in NYC in a Chinese immigrant family. Her mom is from Wenzhou and her dad is from Fuzhou.

Contextual Data:

I asked Irene if there were any Chinese tea rituals or customs that she knew of. Since Irene was born and raised with her parents and grandparents whom are Chinese immigrants she was able to share a tea ritual that is done on Tomb Sweeping Day, which is a holiday where people pay respect to their ancestors.

Item:

On Tomb Sweeping Day, her grandmother wakes up early in the morning and cooks a lot of food. She lights incense for the ancestors. A lot of cups are placed on the table. She will pour wine or tea into the cups and no one drinks from them because it is for their ancestors.

Associated File: 

Collector’s Name: Kimberley Rangel

Tags/Keywords:

• Chinese
• Customary Lore
• Tea Ritual