BELLEVILLE, NJ — A traditional Chinese festival, Qingming, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day in English, was commemorated by scores of visitors at the Chinese monument in the cemetery of the former Belleville Dutch Reformed Church, now Iglesia La Senda Antigua, on Saturday, April 9.
This event has been organized by the Belleville Historical Society and the United Chinese American Association of New Jersey for the past six years.
Speakers this year included Pastor Lillian Ortiz of La Senda Antigua, UCAANJ President Margaret Lam, former Englewood Cliffs Council President William Woo, Belleville Councilmen Steven J. Rovell and Vincent Cozzarelli, and Belleville Historical Society President Michael Perrone.
In 1870 Belleville became home to the first successful Chinese community on the east coast of the United States. Many of these immigrants became members of the Belleville Dutch Reformed Church and are buried there.
According to Belleville Historical Society President Michael Perrone, by the spring of 1871, two of Belleville’s young Chinese immigrants had died.
“We built this monument so that Ah Ling and Zing Sing, and the others who died and were buried here, 6,000 miles from home, would always be remembered,” Perrone said after last year’s event.
The Chinese monument was built by the Belleville Historical Society in 2016.
Photos Courtesy of Michael Perrone
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