What does Tomb-Sweeping Day stand for on March 3rd?

This year, Tomb-Sweeping Day falls on April 5th, which happens to be the third day of the third lunar month. However, it is widely rumored on the Internet that such a day is "unlucky" and parents should buy red cloth and canned peaches for their children to ward off evil spirits.

Recently, this statement is very popular on the Internet, saying that you should buy three-foot-three red cloth and canned peaches, and wait until Tomb-Sweeping Day's day, when the red cloth hangs on the window and eats canned peaches, you can take refuge. With the spread of rumors, shopping malls in Shenyang, Anshan and other places have a rush to buy, and many elderly ladies are buying red cloth and canned peaches.

The reporter found that the farce of "eating canned peaches to ward off evil spirits" was popular in Shenyang last year. According to the local media survey, the "statement" was made jointly by the manufacturer and the seller.

So, why does Tomb-Sweeping Day coincide with March 3rd? What does it say? "Tomb-Sweeping Day is one of the twenty-four solar terms in the China lunar calendar. It is scheduled on the fifteenth day after the vernal equinox in the twenty-four solar terms. The third day of March evolved from the Shangsi Festival in ancient China and was fixed on the third day of the third lunar month." Li Defan, director of the Planetarium of the Provincial Maternal and Child Activity Center, said that the reason for this phenomenon is that the calculation methods of the lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar are different.

According to Li Defan, the Chinese lunar calendar stipulates that the big moon has 30 days, the small moon has 29 days, and there are 12 months ***354 days or 355 days in a year, which is about 1 1 day less than the number of days in a tropical year. It will be less 1 month after four years. Over time, there will be a strange phenomenon of time sequence and time disorder.

"The common denominator of the lunar calendar and the solar calendar is 19, so the coincidence of March and Tomb-Sweeping Day is theoretically 19, but there will be deviations due to the existence of leap years." Li Defan said that the overlap between Tomb-Sweeping Day and March 3rd is regular, with the interval between long and short years being 38 years, the interval between short years being 19 years, and the next "two festivals" overlapping on April 5th, 2030.

"Nowadays, many people don't know what to do except knowing that Tomb-Sweeping Day visited the grave to worship the Yellow Emperor on March 3, which makes people worry about the inheritance of traditional folk culture." Gao Tianxing, vice president of Henan Folklore Society and professor of Zhengzhou University, said that these are traditional festivals and folk culture in China, and we should consciously understand and inherit their rich cultural connotations through learning.

Folklore experts give you an authoritative explanation of the encounter with Tomb-Sweeping Day on the third day of the third lunar month. What's the story? Hanging a three-foot-three-inch red cloth on the gate and eating canned peaches can really eliminate disasters and take refuge? The reporter interviewed Wang Zhiqing, a lecturer in Chinese Department of Anshan Normal University and a doctor of folklore.

According to Dr. Wang, the third day of the third lunar month coincides with Tomb-Sweeping Day, which is just a coincidence and completely normal. Why is there a saying that "the year is not good"? Because in southern China, people pay more attention to the third day of the third lunar month, while northerners often don't care much. This is because on the third day of the third lunar month, the north is still very cold, while the south is just spring, which is the season when everything recovers and various infectious diseases and plagues prevail. Therefore, southerners think that this day is unlucky, and people will fly kites and other activities on this day to get rid of bad luck. Tomb-Sweeping Day is a festival to worship ancestors, and the main activity is to sweep graves. So some people think it's unlucky to meet these two days. People in China often think that red cloth is an auspicious color when they drive away evil spirits and take refuge. As for canned peaches, they use the homonym of "peach" and "escape" and think that eating peaches can "escape" the disaster. There are also popular ways to buy a red vest to ward off evil spirits and a golden axe to seek happiness. In fact, these are all psychological hints for people to avoid disasters, which have no practical significance.