Altan's Genos Analysis

In his analysis of Genos, Altan gives great importance on how the rules are linked with their specific ordinances, rituals, celebrations and festivities in honor of the dead. Traditionally in Taiwan death is not considered the terminal moment of a person life, but throughout specific rituals of passage, it is a way to get a different status, the status of ancestors (Lazzarotti 2014:108)1. As we already mentioned, ancestors – as well as ghosts – still share the same living space of their descends. This fact added to the series of Confucian precepts related to the concept of filial piety or 孝xiao leaded Chinese people to the creation of elaborated and important rituals. The goal of these rituals in fact ties together the idea of strengthening
family ties and the desire to exorcise bad luck. Through these rituals related to death, people learn their position within the family, which as I mentioned includes both the dead the living2.
The Qingming festival (清明節, often translated as Tomb Sweeping Day or Clear Brightness Festival) is one of the most important festival in Chinese culture and therefore in Taiwan. Traditionally this was the only festival regulated by the solar calendar, and it corresponded in some measure to our Easter. The day before, one had to fast, it was forbidden to light fires, and on the day itself eggs were boiled, colored and eaten. It was also the feast of resurgent life, dedicated to remembering the dead. The family graves were cleared of weeds, burial mounds were repaired, and sacrificial vessels laid thereon.