The Origin and Customs of Tomb-Sweeping Day Children's Edition

Tomb-Sweeping Day is one of the 24 solar terms in the lunar calendar. The traditional Tomb-Sweeping Day in China began in the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years.

"Almanac": On the fifteenth day after the vernal equinox, the bucket refers to Ding, hence the name because everything is clear and clear, and everything is clear and clear when it is covered. "Qingming is coming, the temperature is rising, and the rain is increasing. It is a good season for spring ploughing and sowing. Therefore, there is a proverb "Before and after Qingming Festival, plant melons and beans".

Tomb-Sweeping Day is a festival for ancestor worship, mainly for grave-sweeping, which is a concrete embodiment of being cautious in pursuing the future and caring for the family. Tomb-Sweeping Day is at the turn of mid-spring and late spring, that is, after the winter solstice 106 days. On May 20th, 2006, this folk festival was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. Qingming is a famous poem written by Du Mu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty.

Tomb-Sweeping Day customs: sweeping graves, planting trees, hiking, swinging and flying kites.

1, sweeping the grave

The most important thing for Tomb-Sweeping Day is to worship his ancestors. He is an ancestor who dedicated his life and precious life to his family, city and even nation and country.

Tomb-Sweeping Day belongs to "ancestor worship festival", which is an important festival to express filial piety. According to the different places of worship, it can also be divided into tomb sacrifice and ancestral temple sacrifice. Tomb-Sweeping Day usually goes to the grave in the morning, and he will bring wine, food and fruit and burn paper money in front of the grave. Cultivate new soil for the grave and kowtow.

2. Tree planting activities

Before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day, the spring was bright and the spring rain was falling, and the survival rate of planted seedlings was high and the growth was fast. Therefore, China has had the habit of planting trees in Qingming since ancient times, and some people even call Tomb-Sweeping Day "Arbor Day", and the custom of planting trees has been passed down to this day. In order to plant trees, there is a name of Arbor Day in China. In fact, tree planting, which is familiar to modern people, evolved from the ancient custom of inserting willows at Qingming Festival.

Step 3 go for an outing

Also known as spring outing, it was called exploring spring and seeking spring in ancient times. In April, Wan Li is clear, and spring returns to the earth. Nature is full of vitality everywhere. People take advantage of the opportunity of sweeping graves and have fun in mountainous areas and rural areas. After returning home, they conveniently folded some budding willow branches and put them on their heads, having a good time.

During their stay in Tomb-Sweeping Day, some people go hiking in the suburbs to express their stagnant mood since the severe winter, and go to nature to enjoy and appreciate the vibrant spring scenery. This kind of outing is also called spring outing, which was called spring exploration and spring hunting in ancient times.

Step 4 swing

Swing is a sport created by northern minorities in ancient China. It was introduced into the Central Plains in the Spring and Autumn Period. After the Han Dynasty, the swing gradually became a folk activity of Tomb-Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival and other festivals, which has been passed down to this day. Swing was originally called "Qian Qiu". According to legend, the swing was introduced by Qi Huangong, a native of Shanrong, a northern ethnic group in the Spring and Autumn Period, and became a folk game in Tomb-Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival and Cold Food Festival after the Han Dynasty.

5. Fly a kite

Flying kites is people's favorite activity in Tomb-Sweeping Day. During their stay in Tomb-Sweeping Day, people not only released them during the day, but also released them at night. At night, they hang a string of colorful lanterns under kites or on windproof stay wires, like twinkling stars, which is called "magic lamp".

The ancients believed that if someone was sick, they could write down or draw their illness on the kite, tie the kite in the air with a string, let it fly to the sky, cut the cable, and the disease disaster would fly away with the kite. Later, kites gradually developed into a popular outing entertainment.