The Qing Ming festival, 清明 (Qīngmíng, “clear and bright”), falls on Monday 5 April 2027. The solar term itself arrives at 08:17 Singapore time that morning. On the lunar calendar the day is 二月廿九 (èryuè niànjiǔ), the twenty-ninth day of the second lunar month.
This page covers the 2027 date and why it barely moves from year to year, what families do, how the day is kept in Singapore, and what it does and does not mean in Ba Zi (八字 bāzì), the Four Pillars system this site works in.
When is the Qing Ming festival in 2027
Qing Ming is unusual among the major Chinese festivals. Lunar New Year, the Mid-Autumn festival and Zhong Yuan (中元 Zhōngyuán) all follow the moon, so their Western dates swing by weeks from one year to the next. Qing Ming is both a festival and one of the 24 solar terms (节气 jiéqì), the points that divide the sun’s yearly path into equal steps. It is the only major Chinese festival fixed by the sun rather than the moon.
That is why the Western date stays put while the lunar date wanders. Set the two years side by side and the pattern is plain:
| Year | Date | Weekday | Lunar date | Day pillar | Month pillar |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2026-04-05 | Sun | 二月十八 | 己酉 (Jǐ Yǒu — Yin Earth over Metal Rooster) | 壬辰 |
| 2027 | 2027-04-05 08:17 | Mon | 二月廿九 | 甲寅 (Jiǎ Yín — Yang Wood over Wood Tiger) | 甲辰 (Jiǎ Chén — Yang Wood over Earth Dragon) |
Both years land on 5 April, yet the lunar date moves from the eighteenth to the twenty-ninth of the second month. If you want the full set of sun-fixed dates for the year, the 24 solar terms page lists every one for 2027 with its time. For how the lunar months and the solar terms sit together in one calendar, see how the Chinese calendar works.
Customs: what families do
The heart of the day is 扫墓 (sǎomù), tomb sweeping. Families visit the graves or columbarium niches of their ancestors, clear and tend the site, and lay out food, incense and joss paper. Then they pay their respects together.
The festival also carries a lighter side. Spring outings, 踏青 (tàqīng, “treading the green”), belong to the same season, and some families still pair the visit with a walk or a meal together afterwards. Next to it sits an older custom of cold food. Later in the warmer season comes the Dragon Boat Festival in 2027, with its boat races, bak chang and the story of Qu Yuan.
There is no correct script you must follow. What families do varies by dialect group, by religion and by household, and the shared thread is simple: remembering the people who came before you, and coming together to do it.
Qing Ming in Singapore
In Singapore many families visit columbaria rather than hillside graves. Visits are often spread over the weeks around the date rather than packed into the day itself, and the weekends near the date are the busiest.
For 2027 the day falls on a Monday, so the weekend just before it sits right against the date. Families who prefer a quieter visit often choose a weekday in the surrounding weeks. Checking the lunar month around the date on the Chinese lunar calendar is useful if your family plans around lunar dates as well.
The Ba Zi angle: a new month begins
For Ba Zi the important fact is not the festival but the solar term. Ba Zi months change at the 12 节 (jié), the sectional solar terms, and 清明 is one of them. At 08:17 on 5 April 2027 the 甲辰 month begins, taking over from 癸卯 (Guǐ Mǎo — Yin Water over Wood Rabbit).
This is where charts are often cast wrongly. A child born shortly before 08:17 on 5 April 2027 still has the 癸卯 month pillar; a child born shortly after it has 甲辰. Same date, different month pillar. A calculator that ignores the solar-term time will give one of those two children the wrong chart. The 2027 monthly pillars table sets out every month start for the year.
The day itself, read at noon, is 甲寅 with the officer 开 (Kāi, Open), and the day branch clashes the Monkey. The Day Officers (建除十二神 jiànchú shí’èr shén) are an almanac layer explained on the Tong Shu (通胜 tōngshèng) page, and you can read any date’s pillar and officer through the Chinese calendar today.
Be honest about what this tells you. A generic day pillar and officer apply to everyone in the city at once. They say very little about any one person. Whether a 甲寅 day sits well with you depends on your own Day Master and the balance of your chart, not on the almanac line.
Other festivals in the 2027 calendar
Qing Ming opens the year’s ancestor observances. The other date many families keep for the departed falls in the seventh lunar month; the Hungry Ghost month 2027 guide covers its dates and customs. Later in the year the full moon of the eighth month brings the Mooncake festival, which turns the attention back to the living family at one table.
If you only need one thing from this page, keep it short: the Qing Ming festival in 2027 is Monday 5 April, the solar term arrives at 08:17, and the weekends near the date are when columbaria are busiest.
Qing Ming is one of two grave-sweeping days in the year; the other is the Double Ninth Festival in autumn.
For the customs around a death and the mourning days that follow, see our plain guide to Chinese funeral customs.
The paper offerings burned at the grave are covered in our guide to joss paper.
Find the month in your own chart
Qing Ming is a good reminder that Ba Zi follows the sun, to the minute. If you were born near a solar term, the month pillar is the first thing to check. Find your own month pillar and Day Master in your chart — plot it free with the calculator.