Tomb sweeping day

Qing Ming is the local name in China. Next to the lunar New Year, it is the second most important event in the travel calendar as everyone goes “home” to help “sweep” the tomb of revered ancestors, or at least bring food and light incense. Not only does it trigger a harried intra-country travel, it also occasions intense longing from those who do not make it home, especially those outside the sovereign borders.
The frenzied pining to be with one’s family is akin to the Jewish “next year in Jerusalem” sentiment, save the focus in the Levant is in honor of the covenant to be the “people of One”; as the “Hajj to Mecca” is the unifying and equalizing surrender to the will of the “No-thing” Allah by a diverse people across the planet. The focus in China is not so much on the individual personality of the ancestor(s) as it is on the health and continuity of the family and clan.

Since the democratization of the individual personality rose, we have turned to individual heroes, sages, exemplars, wise ones, and role models. Shakespearean plays essentially formed the modern Western imagination but it hinges on the tragicomic personality. Individuals in the Western mind lost its cool in the Garden of Eden, thus the assertive personality is tainted, turning the normal “ego” of Freud into a negative number.

The only personality without blemish came to its height in the medieval blessing of Christo Rei on the idolatry of the barefoot child of Nazareth, no longer recognizable as the sandaled carpenter of Galilee but on the enthroned royal Jesus Christ!

I am skipping April Fools Day since we already know it as a year-round observance. “Just consider the establishment of a casino, twice turned down by referendum but suddenly a law by legislative fiat on Saipan,” an associate comments. I did not offer a rejoinder but she would not have failed to notice the smirk on my face, along with the sadness of the foolishness of many current efforts in Ukraine, Thailand, Syria, the Koreas, and yes, even in China.

(On the Koreas, one no longer finds it traitorous to ask the legitimate question: “What exactly are we still doing in South Korea?” That is not asked loudly in the CNMI since the Commonwealth’s existence is on its value as a strategic military forward position in America’s waters to protect it from the Chinese!)

The closest thing to the Qing Ming on Saipan is the All Souls’ Day/All Saints’ Day that usually brings out the paintbrush, the rake, the broom, and the flower vase to the protruding crosses and tombstones by the Chalan Kanoa Cathedral. The vigils also bring out the mahjong tiles, the deck of cards and the candles, along with increased consumption of the national drink, the Bud.

The serious minded goes beyond the rituals of tomb sweeping, recognizes the value of reflecting on the future of humanity, and figures how we sustain ourselves in the planet beyond the survival of the fittest, the close cooperation of those in similar covenants, the fidelity of those considered faithful, and the future of clan and family.

The family of humankind has come to the fore in our time, and though we now consume more than the carrying capacity of the planet, the multiplication table remains open. China just revised its one-child family policy, Japan rues its aging population, and Denmark has made it patriotic for its ethnic natives to have more sex!

“How shall the future generation live?” was the only ethical question in my book during the heyday of my student activism, and the question fundamentally remains the same even as it gets refined, or gets heavier emphasis.

So on this tomb-sweeping day Sunday, April 5 in Sino land, the focus no longer on the grandeur of ancestor as it is of their contribution on how the future generation is going to live. Xi Jin Ping sold China to EU in his just concluded 10-day tour of the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Belgium, that the China of today and tomorrow is geared toward trade, which requires peace. He even wore his Zhongguo tunic (no necktie, ala Mao and Nehru) in his last night dinner with Belgian royalty. The chubby panda is gentle and his signature is on that dotted line!

Meanwhile, the domestic scene of that trade machine is a dance of many sways and footsteps. A Han-dominated ethnic stew of 56 nationalities is going to determine how the China of diversity answers the question of the future generation’s survival. Varied cultural colors supersede the singular renminbi bottom line. Europe and the Americas face similar challenge.

What is loud and clear around the world is that ethnic nationalism is passé. Being an American as a political option is collaborative in diversity rather than protective of ethnic and cultural purity. That’s Alabama calling Obama one of its own. Pride is moving out of national colors into humanity’s continuing dependence on a severely overtaxed planet. Our unity in diversity, e pluribus unum, counts. Or, as diversity with Chinese characteristics would add, “in harmony.”

Jaime Vergara previously taught at SVES in the CNMI. A peripatetic pedagogue, he last taught in China but makes Honolulu, Shenyang, and Saipan home. He can be reached at pinoypanda2031@aol.com.