Spring and Autumn Ancestral Worship of Clans

During vernal and (or) autumnal equinoxes, or during the second, the fourth and the ninth lunar months, clansmen in Hong Kong come together at their respective ancestral halls to perform worship ceremonies to their forefathers, or visit their ancestors' graves up on the hills to observe filial piety and pay tribute to their ancestors. Clans in the New Territories consider the ancestral worship ceremony an important clan and village activity. Today some Punti (local) clans still follow the practices of "eating on the hillside" (to cook and eat the food after the offering ceremony at the graves), distributing sections of pork to clan members and speaking in the Wai Tau (walled village) dialect during the rituals.

 

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