Memorial date calculator: 頭七, the 49th day, the 100th day

Calculate the dates

Most families count the day of death as the first day, so the first seventh day (頭七) falls six days later, on the same weekday as the day before the death. Some regions begin counting the day after. If your family follows a temple or a priest, use the dates they give you; the calculator shows both ways of counting.

What each day is for

• 頭七, the first seventh day. The most widely kept. The soul is believed to return home that night; the family sets out a meal and retires early.
• 二七 to 六七. Rites of remembrance each week. In some families a particular week belongs to the daughters or to the grandchildren.
• 七七 or 滿七, the forty-ninth day. The end of the period in which, in Buddhist teaching, rebirth takes place. Many families hold a service at the temple.
• 百日, the hundredth day. For many families the end of the strictest mourning.
• 對年, the first anniversary. Marked at the grave or before the memorial tablet. Traditionally it follows the lunar calendar; the calculator shows the solar date.

Our guide to the days after the funeral explains each observance in more detail.

Qingming, the Hungry Ghost Festival, and Chung Yeung

Three festivals bring families to the grave each year. Qingming (清明節) falls in early April and is the main day for sweeping the tomb. The Hungry Ghost Festival (中元節) is the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, kept on the fourteenth in some Cantonese communities. Chung Yeung (重陽節), the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, is a second grave-visiting day in Hong Kong and Guangdong custom.

Families usually visit on the nearest weekend if the day itself is a working day.

Last reviewed October 2026 by Wah On Funeral Home.