What does Tomb-Sweeping Day, a folk custom in Xiangshan, Zhejiang, want?

It's another year in Tomb-Sweeping Day, and Tomb-Sweeping Day is an important traditional folk festival in China, which carries the filial piety culture that China people value most, cherishes the memory of their old friends and places their grief on them. At the same time, Qingming is also an important solar term, which means that the land is clear and it is a good season for spring outing.

So, what customs do we Ningbo people have in Tomb-Sweeping Day? The reporter interviewed relevant experts, and it turns out that Tomb-Sweeping Day is actually rich in content besides sweeping graves to worship ancestors.

Qingming spring ploughing

Qingming and Grain Rain are linked together, so don't delay seed soaking and ploughing.

"It rains in the Qingming period, and pedestrians on the road want to break their souls. Ask local people where to buy wine? The shepherd boy pointed to Xinghua Village. " When it comes to Qingming, people will naturally think of this poem by Du Mu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty. "But in the beginning, Qingming didn't mean it, just a solar term. As one of the 24 solar terms, this year's Qingming begins on April 4 and ends on April 19. " Mr. Zhao, a folk expert in Ningbo, said.

During the Qingming Festival, most parts of China returned to the earth in spring, and the weather was fine, and plants began to sprout. Spring is the best time to plow and sow, and farmers are busy everywhere in the fields. "At this time, farmers in Ningbo should be busy soaking seeds, ploughing fields and planting trees."

There are too many folk sayings about spring ploughing in Tomb-Sweeping Day, such as "Sowing early in March in Qingming Festival", "Early in Qingming Festival, early rice must be good" and "Tomb-Sweeping Day and Grain Rain are connected, so don't delay soaking and ploughing". Another example is "the melon is bigger, plant it before Qingming" and "afforestation is not as good as Qingming". It is enough to show that agricultural production in the Qingming period was the key to the bumper harvest that year.

Tomb-Sweeping Day worships his ancestors.

Bamboo shoots are fragrant in March, and every family is busy going to the grave.

There is an old saying in Ningbo: "Bamboo shoots are fragrant in March, and everyone is noisy and busy going to the grave." The custom in Ningbo attaches great importance to sacrifice, especially to worship ancestors in front of graves and make Qingming thick soup rice. Even domestic and foreign travelers will go back to their hometown in Tomb-Sweeping Day to worship their ancestors. "Generally speaking, there are three kinds of ancestor worship in Tomb-Sweeping Day, including tomb sacrifice, family sacrifice and shrine sacrifice." Mr. Zhao of Wang Shi told reporters.

During the period of Tomb-Sweeping Day, people in Ningbo have to make sacrifices at home, commonly known as "Qingming soup rice". After that, people took dumplings, sesame cakes, wine, food and other items to sweep their ancestors' graves. In rural customs, in the first three years of the new deceased, all family members will go to the grave on the same day in Tomb-Sweeping Day.

In the old society, the seasonal food for going to the grave was green cakes and mashed (black rice) cakes, and they sacrificed to their ancestors. Rich people also hire trumpeters to play. When going to the grave, weeds are removed, new soil is shoveled to press the top of the grave, and bamboo shoots are inserted with paper balls to show that future generations have done their filial piety to their ancestors, and at the same time, it also means that their ancestors have blessed the whole family with peace and prosperity. After the sacrifice, local farmers will get sesame cakes or cakes to take care of the graves. Because everyone took it by themselves, they competed with each other, which is commonly known as "snatching hemp".

In addition to family sacrifices to make Qingming soup rice and tomb sacrifices, some Han families also have temple fairs. Ancestral sacrifice is usually held in one's own ancestral temple on Qingming Day. Knock gongs in the whole village first to mobilize children to "worship the squire". Ancestor ancestor worship is presided over by the patriarch. After the ancestor toasted the Grandfather and Grandmother, the descendants bowed down and prayed.

The Chinese nation has always advocated filial piety. The old adage that "white is the first thing" and "parents don't travel far" shows that traditional filial piety culture has long placed filial piety in an important position. Tomb-Sweeping Day has been included in the national intangible cultural heritage protection list. Throughout the ages, people in Ningbo are paying homage to their ancestors, their loved ones and expressing their filial piety.

Qingming Liu Dai

Qingming wears a willow, and there is an uncle in the afterlife.

People from Ningbo also celebrate "Liu Dai" in Tomb-Sweeping Day. Willow should be hung on doors and windows, women should wear willow tips in their hair, and children should wear willow rings. Why wear wicker? There are several ways to say this.

The first way is to commemorate meson push. During the Spring and Autumn Period, meson Tui went through all the hardships to help Zhong Er, the son of the State of Jin, live in seclusion in the mountains. Zhong Er burned the mountain and forced him to come out for a reward. I didn't expect the meson to push the mother and son to hold the willow and die. When Jin Wengong personally led his ministers to climb the mountain to worship Jiexiu, he found that the willow trees that had been burned in those years had actually come back from the dead. Jin Wengong named the willow tree in front of him "Qingming Willow", and on the spot, he broke off several branches and put them on his head as a souvenir. Since then, officials and people have followed suit and followed suit.

The second argument is related to the Huang Chao Uprising. According to legend, during the period of Huang Chao, it was stipulated that "Qingming lasts for a period, and Liu Dai is the number". Although the uprising failed, this custom survived.

"If these two statements are popular all over the country, then the third statement has the local characteristics of Ningbo." Mr. Zhao said to him.

There is a saying in Ningbo: "Qingming wears a willow, and there will be a mother-in-law in the next life." Why is there such a statement? There is another story. It is said that there was a young man in ancient times. One winter, it was snowing heavily and freezing, but the firewood at home was burned out again. He had to go up the hill with an axe to cut wood. After a long walk, he saw a big willow tree, which had withered, so he picked up a knife and cut it down. However, when the big willow tree fell, a bloody head also fell. Look carefully, it turns out to be his uncle! It turned out that his uncle was hiding in the hole of this willow tree to avoid the wind and snow, but he was killed by mistake. Youth is heartbroken, but it is irreparable. The next year, when the withered willow sprouted, he put on wicker to mourn his uncle. "Qingming wears willows, and there are uncles in the afterlife." There is no uncle in this life, so there should be one in the next life! This proverb also spread slowly.

In addition, wicker has a strong vitality and is alive when inserted in the soil. After Tomb-Sweeping Day, people will put wicker on children's heads and put it in the fields by the river or in front of the house to express their good wishes for healthy growth.

Tomb-Sweeping Day went for a spring outing.

On March 3rd, it was Tomb-Sweeping Day, offering sacrifices to ancestors for an outing.

"Today's Tomb-Sweeping Day is actually the Shangsi Festival, the Cold Food Festival and an ancient festival in Tomb-Sweeping Day." Wu, an expert on China traditional culture and dean of the School of Humanities of Ningbo Institute of Technology, believes that Tomb-Sweeping Day is a compound festival.

"People in Ningbo eat the Youth League from the Cold Food Festival," Mr. Wu said, but now, many people only know Qingming, but they don't know cold food. In ancient times, the Cold Food Festival was also called "Cold Food Festival" and "No Smoking Festival". During the evolution of the festival, the Cold Food Festival gradually merged into Qingming.

On that day in Tomb-Sweeping Day, besides sweeping graves, there was a spring outing. "This absorbed the content of Shangsi Festival. Shangsi Festival was the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar in ancient times, and the main custom was to climb mountains, which reflected that people urgently needed spiritual adjustment after a dreary winter and also reflected China people's outlook on life. "

Du Fu, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote "on the third day of the Third-month in the freshening weather, Chang 'an is full of beautiful people enjoying the cool", which shows that this festival is a day for men and women to travel, and it is the early Valentine's Day and Daughter's Day in China. "As you can imagine, young men and women in ancient China met at midnight on the fifteenth day of the first month, so they wanted to see the second side. It is likely that lovers met strangers in the wild before and after Qingming, and bloom was warm in spring, which was quite affectionate. " Wu told reporters humorously.

"Similarly, Wang Xizhi, a great calligrapher and folk historian in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and 42 friends, including Xie An and Sun Chuo, held an activity of drinking and writing poems in Lanting on March 3rd. There is also the custom of "stepping on the beach on March 3" in Shipu, Xiangshan, which should all belong to the content of going to the beach. "

Mr. Wu verified from ancient books that there were many folk activities in old Tomb-Sweeping Day, such as shooting willows, cuju, tug-of-war, flying kites and swinging. "Xiangshan County Records" records that flying kites by children in the Qingming period "makes children open their mouths to relieve summer heat", which means that flying kites is not only a kind of entertainment, but also a kind of exercise and a kind of treatment. This is enough to show that this festival is a distinctive festival, with sad tears to sweep the new grave and laughter for an outing.