QINGMING FESTIVAL IN CENTRAL CHINA
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All this is guess work, but as guess work goes it seems to account for the given data in a systematic way. As I see it, the only way to challenge this interpretation (given, of course, that my understanding of the source material is correct) is for those who doubt to produce an alternative way of thinking on this matter, and to provide a new and different explanation which could account better for the data discussed here—and any additional data—in a more interesting way.
Finally, the top branches planted on the graves could be interpreted also as a kind of beacon. Biao means not only 'top branch' but also 'beacon' or 'mark'; such an implication does not necessarily contradict our earlier hypothesis. But if the bamboo arrangements led the way to the graves by marking them and making them conspicuous, we must ask who benefitted from the presence of such signs? Here is another guess. It may be that the yang ancestors are led to the graves of their bones, but I cannot substantiate this at all. It may be mentioned here as a possible interpretation, a vague hypothesis which could be tested at some future stage.
6. Rice Wine
Another prominent feature of the visit to the graves was the offering of food and wine. The worshippers ate and drank also. The general term used for offerings is ji, or in some notes si. In some cases libations are indicated by the use of the words dian and jiao. Rice wine was an important sacrificial gift used in many contexts. Apart from general wine drinking on various festive occasions, and medical use of wine when it was drunk mixed with herbs and spices on particular days, wine was used in sacrifices. So for instance, on the 24th day of the twelfth moon in offerings to the spirits of the kitchen and the fields in Baling,55 and Jiangling;56 on New Year Eve to the ancestors in Jingshan; On the Lantern Festival in the first moon it formed part of the ji offerings in Jiangling;58 and in the offerings to spirits and ancestors on the Buddhist festival of Zhongyuan, the 15th of the seventh moon, wine was part of the sacrificial gifts, as in Wuling,59 Hangzhou,60 Chongyang,61 and Yingshan.62 Wine was used also in sacrifices to gods like 'General Goan' (Goan Di) in his temple in Mianyang on the 13th day of the fifth moon,63 and to ‘Shui Goan'64 on his birthday on the 15th day of the tenth moon in Zhongxiang;64 Two words