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Brief introduction of Tomb-Sweeping Day

Tomb-Sweeping Day was also called March Festival in ancient times, and Tomb-Sweeping Day was one of the 24 solar terms in the Gregorian calendar from April 4th to 6th. Among the 24 solar terms, Qingming is the only solar term that is both a solar term and a festival.

The traditional Tomb-Sweeping Day in China began in the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years. Qingming is first and foremost a very important solar term. As soon as Qingming arrives, the temperature rises, which is a good time for spring ploughing and sowing. Therefore, there are agricultural proverbs such as "planting melons and beans before and after Qingming" and "planting trees is not as good as Qingming". Later, as the days of Qingming and cold food approached, cold food was the day when people banned fire to sweep graves. Gradually, cold food and Qingming became one, and cold food became another name of Qingming and became a custom of Qingming. On Qingming Day, there are no fireworks, only cold food.

In March and April, when spring is bright, pink and green, one of the most important festivals in China's traditional customs is Tomb-Sweeping Day. Tomb-Sweeping Day is now a folk grave-sweeping festival. According to Sunday, it is around April 5, and according to the lunar calendar, it is the first half of March. The ancients divided a year into 24 solar terms and used this calendar to sow and harvest. Qingming is one of the twenty-four solar terms, fifteen days after the vernal equinox. According to the saying of "always asking questions": "Everything is long, clean and bright at this time. So it is called Qingming. " Therefore, "Tomb-Sweeping Day" was originally the name of the solar term, and later, with the custom of banning fire from sweeping graves, Tomb-Sweeping Day was formed.

In the cold winter, it is forbidden to make a fire to eat cold food, for fear that some old, weak women and children can't stand the cold. In order to prevent cold food and cold food from harming their health, outdoor activities such as hiking, outing, swinging, playing football, playing polo, inserting willows, tug of war, fighting cocks, etc. It has been decided that everyone should come out to bask in the sun, exercise their bones and muscles and increase their resistance. Therefore, in addition to ancestor worship and grave-sweeping, there are various outdoor fitness activities in Tomb-Sweeping Day, which make this festival not only have emotional appeal, but also have a joyful atmosphere of spring outing. There are both sad and sour tears in Where Are You Going, and vivid and bright scenes everywhere. This is really a very special festival.

Qingming is one of the 24 solar terms in China. Because the 24 solar terms objectively reflect the changes of temperature, rainfall and phenology throughout the year, ancient working people used them to arrange agricultural activities. Huainanzi? Astronomical training says: "On the 15th day after the vernal equinox, the bucket refers to B, and the Qingming wind is coming." According to the centenarian question, "everything grows clean and bright at this time." So it's called Qingming. "As soon as Qingming arrives, the temperature rises and the rainfall increases, which is a good time for spring ploughing and spring planting. Therefore, there is an agricultural proverb that "before and after Qingming, point melons and plant beans" and "planting trees is not as good as Qingming". It can be seen that this solar term is closely related to agricultural production.

However, Qingming, as a festival, is different from pure solar terms. Solar terms are symbols of phenological changes and seasonal order in China, while festivals contain certain customs and activities, which have certain commemorative significance.

Tomb-Sweeping Day is a traditional festival in China, and it is also the most important festival to worship ancestors and sweep graves. Grave-sweeping is commonly known as going to the grave and offering sacrifices to the dead. Most Han people and some ethnic minorities visit graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day.

According to the old custom, when sweeping graves, people should bring food, wine, fruit, paper money and other items to the cemetery, offer food to the graves of their loved ones, then burn the paper money, cultivate new soil for the graves, break some green branches and insert them in front of the graves, then kowtow and worship, and finally go home after eating and drinking. The poem Qingming written by Du Mu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, said: "There are many rains during 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. " Write about the special atmosphere in Tomb-Sweeping Day. Grave-sweeping is the earliest custom in Tomb-Sweeping Day, which continues to this day and is gradually simplified with the progress of society. On the day of grave-sweeping, the descendants first pruned the graves of their ancestors and the weeds around them, and then offered food and flowers.

On this day in Tomb-Sweeping Day, you can bow silently in front of ancestors' graves, places where ashes are placed or temples.

No matter what form of commemoration, the most basic ceremony in Tomb-Sweeping Day is to remember the ancestors in front of the grave, where the ashes are placed or in front of the coffin. In order to make the ceremony of commemorating ancestors more meaningful, we should let the younger generation of family members know about the past struggle history of our ancestors.

Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the outing festival, according to the solar calendar, between April 4th and 6th every year, it is the season of beautiful spring and lush vegetation, and it is also a good time for people to have a spring outing (called outing in ancient times), so the ancients had the custom of going for an outing in Qingming and carrying out a series of sports activities.

To this day, the custom of worshipping ancestors and mourning the dead relatives in Tomb-Sweeping Day is still very popular.

Grave-sweeping in Tomb-Sweeping Day is a festival custom related to funeral customs. According to records, in ancient times, "tombs were not graves", that is to say, only graves were dug and graves were not built, so sacrifices were not recorded. Later, graves and graves, the custom of offering sacrifices to sweep graves, were supported. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, tomb sacrifice has become an indispensable ritual activity.

Tomb-Sweeping Day is a festival in memory of ancestors. The main memorial ceremony is to sweep the grave, which is a concrete manifestation of carefully pursuing the distance, caring for the family and filial piety to parents. Based on the above significance, Tomb-Sweeping Day has become an important festival for China people.

Tomb-Sweeping Day is at the turn of mid-spring and late spring, that is, after the winter solstice 106 days. Grave-sweeping activities are usually held 10 days before or 10 days after Tomb-Sweeping Day. In some places, people's grave-sweeping activities last for a month.

Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as Tomb Sweeping Festival, Ghost Festival and Ghost Festival, is called Sanming Festival together with Zhongyuan Festival on July 15 and Xiayuan Festival on July 10/5, which is related to offering sacrifices to ghosts and gods.

Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the outing festival, according to the solar calendar, between April 4th and 6th every year, it is the season of beautiful spring and lush vegetation, and it is also a good time for people to have a spring outing (called outing in ancient times), so the ancients had the custom of going for an outing in Qingming and carrying out a series of sports activities. Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the March Festival in ancient times, has a history of more than 2,000 years.

Tomb-Sweeping Day is one of the 24 solar terms around April 5th in the Gregorian calendar. Among the 24 solar terms, Qingming is the only solar term that is both a solar term and a festival. In ancient China, the Qingming Festival was divided into three stages: "One stage was when tung flowers began to bloom; Second, the vole became a quail; I'll see you when I wait for the rainbow. " That is to say, at this time, the white paulownia blooms first, then the happy voles in the shade disappear and all return to the underground caves, and then the rainbow can be seen in the sky after the rain.

It is said that the origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day began with the "grave-sweeping" ceremony of ancient emperors and generals. Later, people followed suit, and it became a fixed custom of the Chinese nation to worship ancestors and sweep graves on this day.

To talk about Tomb-Sweeping Day, we should start with a very famous ancient festival-Cold Food Festival.

Cold food festival, also known as cooked food festival, no smoking festival and cold food festival. Its date is from the winter solstice 105, that is to say, it is only one or two days away from Qingming. The main custom of this festival is to ban fire, cook without fire, and only eat prepared cooked food and cold food, hence the name.

In fact, the real origin of the Cold Food Festival originated from the ancient system of drilling wood for new fire. Because of different seasons, the ancients used different trees to drill fires, which is the custom of making fires in different seasons. And every time you change the fire, you have to change it with a new one. People are forbidden to make a fire until a new one comes. This was a great event at that time. "Zhou Li? Qiu Guan? Si Xuan's: "Mid-spring, the forbidden and Mu Duo repair the fire. "As you can see, he was shaking a log and frontispiece was walking down the street, and ordered a fire ban. This is the company's propagandist, that is, a small official who specializes in making fires. When the fire is banned, people prepare some cold food to eat, which gradually becomes a fixed custom. Later, it was linked with the legend of meson push and became the Cold Food Festival, which lasted for one month. After all, it is unhealthy, so the date is shortened from seven days to three days and gradually changed to one day. After the Tang Dynasty, it was integrated into Tomb-Sweeping Day.

The customs of the Cold Food Festival include going to the grave, sightseeing, cockfighting, swinging, playing with carpets, pulling hooks (tug of war) and so on. The custom of going to the grave is very old. Where there is a grave, there must be a tomb sacrifice. Later, due to the integration with the custom of evoking souls in March, it was gradually decided to sacrifice on cold food. The book of the Tang Dynasty says: "In the twentieth year of Kaiyuan, cold food went to the tomb, and the book of rites was silent. According to modern legend, it is advisable to go to the tomb to worship the ceremony. " Song Yu's "Chicken Ribs" volume: "Cold food is buried, and there is no fragrance. Paper money hangs on the tree. People who go to the countryside climb mountains to watch sacrifices. Breaking in the air is called breaking money. However, due to the fate of Shi Jing, we set up wine (seal, rice) and took our family for a spring outing. "

"The Story of Jingchu Times": "(Cold food) fighting chickens, carving chickens and laying eggs, fighting chickens and laying eggs." It can be seen that there was a game of cockfighting and eggs in the Southern Dynasties. Cockfighting is more common today, and egg fighting is mostly a game in which children in rural areas collide with their eggs. In ancient times, most of the eggs used for collision and fighting were dyed and carved (1ou, carved), which was very beautiful. Draw eggs. The custom of carving eggs originated from the "carving eggs" recorded in Guanzi. Undoubtedly, it developed from the ancient witchcraft of eating eggs for fertility and became the custom of cold food. Today, people still have the custom of eating eggs on Qingming Day (such as the "son-in-law" mentioned earlier). Cold food attacks autumn dryness. According to the Collection of Arts and Literature, Shanrong in the north played on a swing at the Cold Food Festival. But I'm afraid this is just a legend. Liu Xiang's Bielu records that he swings in spring, not necessarily in cold food. Another blanket, Wang Jian's "Gong Ci": "Cold food palace people step on the carpet." Dramas like pulling hooks and hitting carpets are not necessarily produced by cold food.

Because Tomb-Sweeping Day was angry on the third day of cold food, later generations gradually moved the custom of cold food to Qingming with the passage of time. After the Song Dynasty, the custom of cold food sweeping graves moved to Qingming. Customs such as spring outing and swinging are only held in Tomb-Sweeping Day. Tomb-Sweeping Day rose from a simple agricultural solar term to an important festival, and the influence of the Cold Food Festival disappeared. However, the custom of cold food has been handed down in several ways and has been preserved in Tomb-Sweeping Day.

Tomb-Sweeping Day source

When it comes to Tomb-Sweeping Day, people with a little knowledge of history will associate it with the historical figure meson tui. According to historical records, in the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2,000 years ago, Zhong Er, the son of the State of Jin, fled and lived a hard life. Follow his meson and cut a piece of meat from his leg to satisfy his hunger. Later, Zhong Er returned to the State of Jin and became a monarch (that is, Jin Wengong, one of the five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period). He rewarded all his followers who followed him into exile, but meson refused to accept the reward. He took his mother to live in seclusion in Mianshan and refused to come out. Jin Wengong was at his wit's end, so he had to let Yamakaji go. He thought that meson tui would be filial to his mother and would definitely come out with her. Who knows this torch meson mother and son burned to death. In order to commemorate Jie Zitui, Jin Wengong ordered that no fire should be lit on this day every year, and every household can only eat cold food, which is the origin of the Cold Food Festival.

Cold Food Festival is the day before Tomb-Sweeping Day. The ancients often extended the activities of the Cold Food Festival to Qingming. Over time, people combine cold food with Qingming. Now Tomb-Sweeping Day has replaced the Cold Food Festival, and the custom of worshipping Jietui has become the custom of sweeping graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day.

At the earliest time, people would go for an outing on Shangsi Festival and take a bath by the river. In addition, this day also has the function of "exorcism", which was called "bath removal" by the ancients. In ancient times, the function of festivals was to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters, such as "climbing mountains on the Double Ninth Festival". The actual reason is to avoid the plague at the foot of the mountain, and so is the "bath withdrawal". Zhu explained that the actual reason is that the river is too cold in winter and the water temperature is just right in early March, so people are eager to take their first bath after winter.

Shangsi Festival also has the function of courtship and mating. It was also during this period that the Book of Songs said that "Wei's wife and daughter, together, made fun of each other and gave peony". This tradition has always influenced the Tang and Song Dynasties, and Du Fu's "The Second Way" has the sentence "On March 3rd, the sky was clear, and many beautiful people took the Chang 'an waterfront". However, as the society became more and more civilized, the theme of sexual intercourse was replaced by begging for children, and Shangsi Festival formed the custom of worshipping and lying in the temple and women begging for children by the river.

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the literati also had the custom of "March 3rd", and "meandering water and flowing" was a popular leisure way at that time, which was read in Wang Xizhi's Preface to the Lanting Pavilion.

As for the custom of ancestor worship in Tomb-Sweeping Day, there is a saying that it is related to the Cold Food Festival in March of the lunar calendar. The legend of the Cold Food Festival was founded by Jin Wengong to commemorate the minister of the Spring and Autumn Period. Zhu believes that this is actually a saying that future generations will attach themselves to it, just like the Dragon Boat Festival and Qu Yuan. The origin of the Cold Food Festival is related to the difficulty in getting fire in ancient times. Once the fire is obtained, it will be preserved for a long time. Today, some ethnic minority areas still keep the custom of setting fire pits in their houses. The Cold Food Festival is an annual "fire change" day. At that time, people had to change new kindling, so they had to eat cold food. Therefore, the Cold Food Festival itself has nothing to do with offering sacrifices to sweep graves.

Tomb-Sweeping Day wishes.

The traditional Tomb-Sweeping Day in China began in the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years. Tomb-Sweeping Day is one of the 24 solar terms around April 5th in the Gregorian calendar. Among the 24 solar terms, Qingming is the only solar term that is both a solar term and a festival. Because the 24 solar terms objectively reflect the changes of temperature, rainfall and phenology throughout the year, ancient working people used them to arrange agricultural activities. Huainanzi? Astronomical training says: "On the 15th day after the vernal equinox, the bucket refers to B, and the Qingming wind is coming." According to the centenarian question, "everything grows clean and bright at this time." So it's called Qingming. "As soon as Qingming arrives, the temperature rises and the rainfall increases, which is a good time for spring ploughing and spring planting. Therefore, there is an agricultural proverb that "before and after Qingming, point melons and plant beans" and "planting trees is not as good as Qingming". It can be seen that this solar term is closely related to agricultural production. Tomb-Sweeping Day is a traditional festival in China, and it is also the most important festival to worship ancestors and sweep graves. Grave-sweeping is commonly known as going to the grave and offering sacrifices to the dead. Most Han people and some ethnic minorities visit graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day. According to the old custom, when sweeping graves, people should bring food, wine, fruit, paper money and other items to the cemetery, offer food to the graves of their loved ones, then burn the paper money, cultivate new soil for the graves, break some green branches and insert them in front of the graves, then kowtow and worship, and finally go home after eating and drinking. The poem Qingming written by Du Mu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, said: "There are many rains during 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. " Write about the special atmosphere in Tomb-Sweeping Day. Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the outing festival, according to the solar calendar, between April 4th and 6th every year, it is the season of beautiful spring and lush vegetation, and it is also a good time for people to have a spring outing (called outing in ancient times), so the ancients had the custom of going for an outing in Qingming and carrying out a series of sports activities. To this day, the custom of worshipping ancestors and mourning the dead relatives in Tomb-Sweeping Day is still very popular.

The origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day

The traditional Tomb-Sweeping Day in China began in the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years. In ancient times, it was not as important as the Cold Food Festival the day before, because the dates of Tomb-Sweeping Day and the Cold Food Festival were close, and the people gradually merged their customs. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties (58 1 to 907), Tomb-Sweeping Day and Cold Food Festival gradually merged into the same festival, which became the day to visit graves and worship ancestors, that is, today's Tomb-Sweeping Day. Therefore, Tomb-Sweeping Day has become a fixed custom of the Chinese nation. Cold food festival-cold food means not getting angry, and you can only eat cold or pre-cooked food. According to legend, this custom originated in the Spring and Autumn Period. At that time, someone in the State of Jin wanted to kill his eldest son, Zhong Er, and the loyal minister Jiezhitui (also known as Jiezhitui) escorted Zhong Er to escape. Even when he was hungry and cold, he would cut off his own meat for Zhong Er to eat, hoping that he would return home safely, become a monarch, and be diligent and love the people. After more than ten years, Zhong Er finally returned to China to become a monarch, that is, Jin Wengong, one of the five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period, rewarded those who helped him during his exile, but forgot to introduce him. After being reminded by others, he quickly sent someone to invite Jiezhi to come and receive the reward. But Jiezhitui and his mother went to Mianshan (now Jiexiu Mianshan) to live in seclusion. Jin Wengong and his courtiers found nothing in the mountains. It is suggested that Yamakaji be released. Jie Zhitui is a dutiful son and will definitely save his mother. However, the fire burned for three days and nights, and there was still no referral. After the fire went out, people found Zhizhi carrying his mother's body under a willow tree. Jin Wengong was so sad and regretful that he buried them under the willow tree. Jin Wengong looked at meson push's body and cried for a while. Then I buried the body and found that the back of meson push was blocked by a willow hole, as if there was something. Take out a look, turned out to be a skirt, with a blood poem:

I hope your master is always clear.

It is better to be a ghost than to accompany you as an exhorter.

If your master has me in his heart, remember that I often reflect.

I have a clear conscience in Jiuquan, diligent and honest.

Jin Wengong hid the bloody book in his sleeve. Then meson tui and his mother were buried under the charred willow tree. To commemorate Jiexiu, Jin Wengong ordered Mianshan to be changed to Jiexiu Mountain, and an ancestral temple was built on the mountain, and the day when Yamakaji was released was designated as the Cold Food Festival, telling the whole country that it is forbidden to set off fireworks and firecrackers on this day every year and only eat cold food. When he left, he cut a charred willow and made a pair of clogs in the palace. He looked at it every day and sighed, "What a pity." The "first step" is the name of ancient people's subordinates respecting each other between superiors or peers, which is said to come from it. The following year, Jin Wengong and his ministers climbed to the top of the mountain in plain clothes to pay homage to Jiexiu. They found that the old willow tree buried by Jiexiu came back from the dead. Jin Wengong stepped forward and folded the willow branches into a circle, put them on his head and hung them outside the door as a souvenir, which gradually evolved into today's Tomb-Sweeping Day custom. In March and April, when spring is bright, pink and green, one of the most important festivals in China's traditional customs is Tomb-Sweeping Day. Tomb-Sweeping Day is now a national grave-sweeping festival. According to Sunday, it is around April 5, and according to the lunar calendar, it is the first half of March. The ancients divided a year into 24 solar terms and used this calendar to sow and harvest. Qingming is one of the twenty-four solar terms, fifteen days after the vernal equinox. According to the saying of "always asking questions": "Everything is long, clean and bright at this time. So it is called Qingming. " Therefore, "Tomb-Sweeping Day" was originally a solar term. Later, the custom of forbidding cold food and fire and beating graves was added, and Tomb-Sweeping Day was formed. Originally, the Cold Food Festival and Tomb-Sweeping Day were two different festivals. In the Tang Dynasty, the day of sweeping graves was designated as the Cold Food Festival. The correct date of the Cold Food Festival is from winter to the future 105, around Qingming, so Qingming and cold food are combined into one! The custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors and sweeping graves in front of graves originated very early in China. As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, people attached great importance to tombs. Mencius in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and the Warring States Period? It is also mentioned in Qi People's Articles that a ridiculed Qi people often went to the tomb of Dongguo to beg for food and sacrifices, which shows that sweeping graves was very popular during the Warring States Period. When I arrived in Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, I designated cold food sweeping the grave as one of the "five rituals". Therefore, whenever Tomb-Sweeping Day comes, "the fields and roads are crowded with scholars and women, and the servants and beggars of soap merchants get their parents' graves." (Liu Zongyuan's Book with Xu Jingzhao) Grave sweeping has become an important social custom. In spring, when it is still cold, it is forbidden to make a fire to eat cold food, for fear that some old, weak women and children can't stand the cold. In order to prevent cold food from harming their health, outdoor activities such as hiking, outing, swinging, playing football, playing polo, inserting willows, tug of war, fighting cocks, etc. It has been decided that everyone should come out to bask in the sun, exercise their bones and muscles and increase their resistance. Therefore, in addition to ancestor worship and grave-sweeping, there are various outdoor fitness activities in Tomb-Sweeping Day, which make this festival not only have emotional appeal, but also have a joyful atmosphere of spring outing. There are both sad and sour tears in Where Are You Going, and vivid and bright scenes everywhere. This is really a very special festival. Grave-sweeping in Tomb-Sweeping Day is a festival custom related to funeral customs. According to records, in ancient times, "tombs were not graves", that is to say, only graves were dug and graves were not built, so sacrifices were not recorded. Later, graves and graves, the custom of offering sacrifices to sweep graves, were supported. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, tomb sacrifice has become an indispensable ritual activity. According to the biography of Yan Yannian in the Han Dynasty, although Yan is thousands of miles away from Beijing, her family will still return to the East China Sea Tomb in Qingming. Yan Yannian's behavior is reasonable in terms of the development and strengthening of ancestor worship and consanguinity consciousness of China people. Therefore, the tomb sacrifices that were not included in the norms in ancient times were also included in the Five Rites: "It is desirable for a scholar to go to the grave and be included in the Five Rites, and it will always be a routine. "With the official affirmation, the wind of tomb sacrifice is bound to prevail. Tomb-Sweeping Day is a festival in memory of ancestors. The main memorial ceremony is to sweep the grave, which is a concrete embodiment of being cautious in pursuing the future, caring for the family and filial piety. Based on the above significance, Tomb-Sweeping Day has become an important festival for China people. Tomb-Sweeping Day is at the turn of mid-spring and late spring, that is, after the winter solstice 106 days. Grave-sweeping activities are usually held 10 days before or 10 days after Tomb-Sweeping Day. Some people in their hometown have been sweeping graves for a month.

Tomb-Sweeping Day custom

Tomb-Sweeping Day's customs are rich and interesting. In addition to paying attention to the prohibition of fire to sweep graves, there are a series of customs and sports activities such as jogging, swinging, cuju, playing polo and inserting willows. According to legend, this is because Tomb-Sweeping Day wants to ban cold food and fire. In order to prevent the harm of cold food and cold meal to people, we all take part in some sports activities to exercise. Therefore, this festival is a distinctive festival, with both sad tears to sweep graves and laughter for an outing.

Swing is a custom in ancient Tomb-Sweeping Day, China. Swing, that is, lift the rope, move. It has a very long history. It was originally called Qian Qiu, but later it was changed into a swing to avoid taboos. In ancient times, swings were made of branches and tied with ribbons. Later, it gradually developed into two ropes, a pedal swing. Playing swing can not only improve health, but also cultivate courage, which is deeply loved by people, especially children.

Hiking is also called spring outing. It was called Tanchun and Xunchun in ancient times. March is clear, spring returns to the earth, and nature is full of vitality everywhere, which is a good time to go for an outing. Our people have kept the habit of walking in Tomb-Sweeping Day for a long time.

Before and after planting trees, it is clear, the spring is bright, the spring rain is flying, and the survival rate of seedlings is high and the growth is fast. Therefore, China has the habit of planting trees in Qingming since ancient times. Some people even call Tomb-Sweeping Day Arbor Day. The custom of planting trees has been passed down to this day. 1979, the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) stipulated March 12 every year as China's Arbor Day. This is of great significance to mobilize people of all ethnic groups in China to actively carry out activities to green the motherland.

Flying kites is also the most popular activity in Tomb-Sweeping Day. During their stay in Tomb-Sweeping Day, people not only wore it during the day, but also at night. At night, a string of colored lanterns is hung under the kite or on the wind-stabilizing stay, like twinkling stars, which is called "magic lamp". Someone used to put kites in the blue sky, then cut the strings and let the breeze send them to the ends of the earth. It is said that this can eliminate diseases and disasters and bring good luck to yourself.

Pay tribute to the dead at their graves.

The first grave sweeper: Jin Wengong.

The first grave sweeper in Tomb-Sweeping Day: meson push

Sweeping graves on Qingming Festival is called "respecting thinking about time" for ancestors. Its customs have a long history. In the Ming Dynasty's "A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Imperial Capital", it was written: "On the Qingming Festival in March, men and women went to the grave to pay their respects, and the gold ingot was hung on the back of the sedan chair, and the road was full of embarrassment. Worshipers, mourners, weeping, weeding, adding soil to graves, burning ingots several times, and buying graves with paper money. If you can't see the paper money, it will be a lonely grave. After crying, don't go back, go to the fragrant tree, choose the garden, and sit down and get drunk. " In fact, grave-sweeping existed before the Qin Dynasty, but not necessarily during the Qingming period, but after the Qin Dynasty. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that it became popular. Qing thomas lee said, "On New Year's Eve, the Cold Food Festival and the First Frost Festival, you should offer sacrifices to sweep the graves. During the period, I will serve my bed with vegetarian food, use wine and tools for cutting vegetation, seal trees in the middle of the week, and break Cao Jing, so it is called sweeping the grave. " And spread to this day.

Tomb-Sweeping Day's sweeping ceremony was supposed to be held in person, but because of the different economic conditions of each family, the way of sweeping was different. "Burning a bundle" is the main form of paying homage to ancestors. The so-called "baggage", also known as "parcel", refers to the postal parcel that Xiao sent from Shi Yang to the underworld. In the past, Nanzhi store sold the so-called "wrapped skin", that is, a big bag was pasted with white paper. There are two forms: one is a woodcut version with Sanskrit transliteration of "Death Mantra" printed around it, and a lotus memorial tablet printed in the middle with the name of the deceased who received the money, such as "The late Zhang Fujun was afraid of the boss in Yunshan", which is both a package and a memorial tablet. The other is plain foreskin, which does not print any patterns. Just put a blue sign in the middle and write down the name of the deceased. Also used as a master card. There are many kinds of money in the bag.

First burn paper, nine k white paper, and smash four rows of round money, five for each row;

2. Ghost banknotes, which are copied after the world has foreign currency tickets, are written with the words "Paradise Bank", "Ghost Bank" and "Bank of Hell and Cao Yin", and have the pattern of the capital city, mostly with huge denominations, and the Buddhist "death curse" is printed on the back;

3. Fake foreign currency, with cardboard as the core and wrapped in silver foil, suppressing the same pattern as the prevailing silver dollar at that time;

Fourth, the "death curse" printed in red on yellow paper is round money, so it is also called "death money";

Five, with gold foil and silver foil stacked ingots, hammers, and some string into a string, with a colored paper ear at the bottom. In the old society, no matter rich or poor, there was a burning burden. On that day, a confession case was set up in the ancestral hall or the main room of the family house, with the luggage in the middle. In front of it, there are offerings such as jiaozi, cakes and fruits, burning incense and holding candles. After the whole family salutes according to their generations, they can be incinerated outside the door. When incinerating, draw a big circle and leave a gap in the direction of the cemetery. Burning three or five pieces of paper outside the circle is called "special delivery."

It is said that the custom of inserting willows is also to commemorate Shennong, the ancestor of farming who taught the people to cultivate crops. In some places, people put willow branches under the eaves to forecast the weather. There is an old saying that "the willow branches are green and the rain is raining;" The saying that there is another village. During the period of Huang Chao, it was stipulated that "Qingming lasts for a period, and Liu Dai is the number". After the failure of the uprising, the custom of wearing willow was gradually eliminated, and only willow was popular. Willow has a strong vitality, as the saying goes: "If you plant flowers with your heart, you will plant willows without your heart. "Wicker lives when it is planted in the soil, and it lives where it is planted. When it is planted year after year, it becomes gloomy everywhere.

There is another saying in Tomb-Sweeping Day: It turns out that China people regard Tomb-Sweeping Day, July 30th and the first day of October as the three major ghost festivals, which are the time for ghosts to haunt and ask for help. In order to prevent the harassment and persecution of ghosts, people put willows and put them on. Willow has the function of ward off evil spirits in people's minds. Influenced by Buddhism, people think that willows can exorcise ghosts and call them "ghost trees". Guanyin dipped willow branches in water to help all beings. Jia Sixie of the Northern Wei Dynasty said in the Book of Qi Yao Min: "Take a willow branch and put it on the house, and a hundred ghosts will not enter the house." Tomb-Sweeping Day is a ghost festival. When wicker sprouted, people naturally inserted willows to ward off evil spirits. The Han people have the custom of "folding willows to bid farewell": Baqiao is in Chang 'an East, crossing the water is the bridge, and the Han people send guests to this bridge and fold willows to bid farewell. Li Bai has a saying: "Willow falls every year, Lingling hurts." In ancient times, on both sides of Chang 'an Baqiao, the embankment was ten miles long, one step at a time. Many people who walk from Chang 'an East come here to bid farewell to their loved ones and fold willow branches to bid farewell to their loved ones, because "willow" is homophonic with "stay" to show the meaning of retaining. This custom originated from the book of songs, Xiaoya Cai Wei, which said, "I was away yesterday, Liu Yiyi." Send a willow tree as a parting gift to express feelings that are inseparable and reluctant to part. Willow is a symbol of spring. Willow swaying in spring always gives people a feeling of prosperity. "Farewell to the Willows" contains the wish that "spring is always there". The ancients sawed off the willows and sent them to each other, which also meant that their relatives, such as willow branches, left their hometown. I hope that when they arrive in a new place, they can take root and sprout quickly, as if willow branches can grow everywhere. It's a good wish for friends. There are also many references to folding willows to give people away in ancient poems. Quan Deyu's poem in Tang Dynasty: "Give me new knowledge", Song Dynasty's poem: "There are no green willows on the other side of the road, don't worry", and Ming Dynasty's poem: "Give someone away when you are old, and the willows on the edge of the city will be folded." Chen Weisong's Ci in Qing Dynasty: "How many border crossings are left? Want a discount. " People will not only feel sad when they see willow trees, but also touch their mood when they hear the song "Breaking Willow". Li Bai's "Smelling the flute in Los Angeles on a Spring Night": "Everyone can't stand the homesickness." In fact, Liu can have many symbolic meanings. The ancients endowed Liu with various feelings, so it is reasonable to borrow Liu to send feelings.

The custom of ancient cold food festival

The customs of the Cold Food Festival include going to the grave, sightseeing, cockfighting, swinging, playing with carpets, pulling hooks (tug of war) and so on. The custom of going to the grave is very old. Where there is a grave, there must be a tomb sacrifice. Later, due to the integration with the custom of evoking souls in March, it was gradually decided to sacrifice on cold food. The book of the Tang Dynasty says: "In the twentieth year of Kaiyuan, cold food went to the tomb, and the book of rites was silent. According to modern legend, it is advisable to go to the tomb to worship the ceremony. " Song Yu's "Chicken Ribs" volume: "Cold food is buried, and there is no fragrance. Paper money hangs on the tree. People who go to the countryside climb mountains to watch sacrifices. Breaking in the air is called breaking money. However, due to the fate of Shi Jing, we set up wine (seal, rice) and took our family for a spring outing. "

The Cultural Connotation of Tomb-Sweeping Day

As an important festival in Tomb-Sweeping Day, the customs such as offering sacrifices and hiking mainly come from the Cold Food Festival and Shangsi Festival. The Cold Food Festival is related to the ancient people's understanding of nature. In China, the rebirth of a new fire after a cold meal is a transitional ceremony to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. It reveals the information of seasonal alternation and symbolizes the beginning of a new season, a new hope, a new life and a new cycle. Later, there was a sense of gratitude, and more emphasis was placed on nostalgia and gratitude for the past.

Cold food is forbidden to eat cold food tombs, and Qingming takes a new fire to travel. Before the Tang Dynasty, Cold Food Festival and Tomb-Sweeping Day were two consecutive festivals with different themes. The former mourns the past and the latter seeks new life. One yin and one yang, one breath for life, are closely related. Fire is forbidden to make a fire, and sacrifice to the dead is to save lives. This is the internal cultural connection between cold food and Qingming. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, the imperial court fixed the custom of sweeping graves at the Cold Food Festival in front of Tomb-Sweeping Day by decree. Because cold food and Qingming are closely related in time, the custom of cold food festival has long been linked with Qingming, and grave sweeping has been postponed from cold food to Qingming.

After entering the Song Dynasty, Qingming and cold food gradually merged into one, and Qingming put the sacrificial customs in the cold food festival under its name. At the same time, Tomb-Sweeping Day has also integrated into the festival custom of "Spring outing on Shangsi Festival". After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Shangsi Festival withdrew from the festival system, and the Cold Food Festival basically disappeared. There is only one Tomb-Sweeping Day left in spring.

"Tomb-Sweeping Day is the synthesis and sublimation of almost all Spring Festival, and Tomb-Sweeping Day customs have richer cultural connotations." Shi Aidong said. Different from other traditional festivals, Tomb-Sweeping Day is a comprehensive festival that combines "solar terms" and "festival customs". In terms of solar terms, Tomb-Sweeping Day has just passed the vernal equinox. At this time, the weather is warmer and everywhere is full of vitality. People go hiking and get close to nature, which can be said to conform to the weather, help to absorb the pure sun of nature, dispel depressed emotions and be beneficial to physical and mental health.

Tomb-Sweeping Day's grave-sweeping and outing were originally two different cultural themes, which gradually merged into one after the Song Dynasty and were constantly endowed with positive cultural significance. People directly associate ancestor worship with the Chinese national character of attaching importance to filial piety and cautiously pursuing the future, and think that Tomb-Sweeping Day custom embodies the moral consciousness of China people who are grateful and never forget their roots. Its cultural significance is similar to Thanksgiving in the West. Tomb-Sweeping Day's activities of worshipping ancestors and sweeping graves and remembering ancestors' merits are deeply related to the profound ancestor worship and filial piety culture in China culture, which is the pillar of the harmonious and stable development of China society for thousands of years, and helps to establish a harmonious intergenerational relationship between the ancients and the modern, predecessors and descendants, thus promoting the harmonious relationship between man and nature, which is also the folk foundation with strong vitality in Tomb-Sweeping Day.