What legends and stories did Tomb-Sweeping Day originate from?

Legend in Tomb-Sweeping Day: According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhong Er, the son of the Jin Dynasty, fled abroad to escape persecution. Tired and hungry, he couldn't stand up any more. He cut a piece of meat from his thigh under the minister's push and cooked soup for Zhong Er. Nineteen years later, Zhong Er became a literary official in A Jin, but Jiexiu died of a mountain fire with his back against a willow tree. To commemorate Jiexiu, Jin Wengong ordered that this day be designated as "Cold Food Festival".

The legend of the origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day tells the origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day. It is said that it began with the supplement of "basic sacrifice" by 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.

Tomb-Sweeping Day's legendary story "Huainanzi Astronomical Training" records: "At the fifteenth day after the vernal equinox, when the handle of the Big Dipper points to two places, the wind will be clear." The "Qingming" solar term got its name. Qingming is one of the twenty-four solar terms in China, which was determined by the ancients according to the astronomical phenomena and the cycle of the four seasons.

The Origin, Legends and Stories of Tomb-Sweeping Day

About the origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day: When Jin Wengong was exiled, Jie tui cut a piece of meat from his thigh to help Jin Wengong out of his misery. Later, in memory of him, Jin Wengong designated the day after the Cold Food Festival as Tomb-Sweeping Day.