Do you have to wait until after the vernal equinox to go to the grave?

You can sweep graves at the vernal equinox, because the weather will gradually get warmer after the vernal equinox, which is also in line with the traditional customs of our Chinese nation. There is a fixed time to go to the grave every year, usually on the anniversary of death, Tomb-Sweeping Day, July 15th, October 1st, New Year's Eve or the third day of the first month of the lunar calendar.

1. There are three forms of ancestor worship:

(1) The more common way is to go to the grave in the place where the ancestors were buried (usually in the village cemetery), commonly known as "going to the grave". The time is mainly the anniversary of death and traditional major festivals (except Mid-Autumn Festival), such as New Year's Eve, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Mid-Autumn Festival (July 15), October 1st and June 1st. The men in the family bring sacrificial incense paper to the grave, place sacrifices and water wine, then burn paper, burn incense, drink a libation, salute, and press paper on the grave. The custom of going to the grave is the most solemn, especially in Tomb-Sweeping Day. The morning before, we would "add soil" to our ancestral graves to show the prosperity of our family.

In most rural families, sons have to go to the grave when they get married, which means telling their ancestors that their sons have a family and a large population. In addition, at the dawn of the seventh day after death, the family went to the grave to pay homage and mourn, which was called the "seventh base". After that, it is once every seven days, usually after the May 7th, and there are also bases to the July 7th. On the100th day after death, relatives and children prepared offerings and burned some paper money.

(2) Family sacrifice: instead of going to the grave, or going to the grave at the same time, the memorial tablet or genealogy map with the direct ancestors written on it is sacrificed in the main hall or "family temple", and the whole family or the whole people sacrifice together. The ceremony at home is called "inviting the family to the church", which is very solemn. In our village, the sacrifice spectrum is presided over by the oldest person in the family, and it is usually carried out at the same time as the continuation spectrum during the Chinese New Year. In recent decades, due to the implementation of cremation, cemeteries have become common, and grave sweeping is also carried out in cemeteries.

(3) remote sacrifice: also called "please", because of the bad weather, you can't go out, or you can't go to the cemetery to sacrifice in person, so you set up a sacrifice at home or near the field, incense to the ancestral cemetery in your hometown, and invite your ancestors to enjoy the sacrifice.

2. Things that need to be prepared for going to the grave: the dish palace (that is, steamed bread) used for offering in front of the hall is prepared in turn according to the size requirements. Sacrifice (meat) is mainly pork, and cows, sheep and chickens can do what they can; Every household can also prepare some other dining tables, dried fruits, sugar, fruits and so on. , can be prepared at will, there is no uniform regulation. However, after the host directs the unified donation, the head of the delegation will arrange a unified meal. Sacrifice and paper burning are all offered in front of the hall, while the Spring Festival Society is a unified ancestor worship, and it is not allowed to sacrifice and burn paper alone in front of relatives' graves.

After the sacrifice, the offerings include vows, extra wine and meat, raw and cooked food after meals, etc., which are distributed fairly by households, and fruits, dried fruits, sugar, etc. are distributed according to the number of households. At the same time, the food that everyone eats at the grave should also be given to the elderly and patients who can't go to the grave. The meals cooked at the grave site should first respect the elderly and guests, and then the managers will arrange for them to be distributed equally to everyone in order to ensure that everyone arrives, and they should be humble to each other and not compete with each other.

Extended data:

Precautions for grave sweeping:

1, avoid pregnant women sweeping graves

2. Avoid wearing brightly colored clothes.

3. Outsiders should not participate in other people's grave sweeping.

4. Don't take photos in the cemetery.

Step 5 repair the cemetery

6. Avoid sweeping graves in poor health

References:

Go to the grave-Baidu encyclopedia