Tomb Sweeping 1909 – London Style

As I’m on about the various Chinese bits and pieces of interest in the Museum of London then, though I’m a couple of months late, I have to note this great illustration of the Chinese community celebrating tomb sweeping day (qingming) in London. The illustration below is from the Illustrated London News for April 24th 1909. It shows Chinese in England attending to graves in the “East London Cemetery” (which is still in use out in Plaistow). The Chinese gravestones are interesting (not sure if any are still there? – I’ve never been over to Plaistow, the esteemed ancestors of the French family are all gathered either in North London “crems” or long gone Whitechapel graveyards) and suckling pig is elaborate as well as whisky. The illustration seems to indicate that the curious English found this interesting. The Chinese mens costumes of labouring jackets and flat caps seem accurate from pictures of Limehouse at the time. More details here.