What are the customs in Tomb-Sweeping Day?

Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the Walking Festival, is at the turn of mid-spring and late spring, that is, the first 108 day from winter to the future. It is a traditional festival in China, and it is also one of the most important festivals to worship ancestors and sweep graves. 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. Besides ancestor worship and grave sweeping, there are other festivals and customs in Tomb-Sweeping Day.

? First, sweeping the grave?

In the history of China, it has long been a custom to eat cold food, forbid fire and pay homage to ancestors. After the Tang Dynasty, the Cold Food Festival gradually declined, so it became a continuous festival tradition for Tomb-Sweeping Day to sweep graves to worship ancestors. Even in today's society, before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day, people still have the custom of going to graves to pay homage to their ancestors: uprooting weeds, placing offerings, burning incense and praying in front of graves, burning paper money and gold ingots, or simply offering a bunch of flowers to express their memory of their ancestors.

? Second, swing?

Swing is a custom in ancient Tomb-Sweeping Day, China. Swing refers to moving through a lapel rope. 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 mostly made of branches and tied with ribbons, and then gradually developed into swings with two ropes and pedals. Playing swing can not only improve health, but also cultivate courage, which is deeply loved by people, especially children.

Although "swinging" was popular in the court of Han dynasty, the folk custom of "swinging" was also formed in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. But it is officially related to the "Cold Food Festival", which was originally a local festival in Sanjin before the Tang Dynasty. After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin and his son combined the festivals in their hometown with "Tomb-Sweeping Day" and spread them to the whole country. Swing, cuju, cockfighting, outing and other activities are officially fixed as reserved programs for the festival.

? Third, cuju?

Bow is a rubber ball, the skin of which is made of leather, and the ball is stuffed with wool. Cuju is kicking the ball with your feet. This is a popular game in ancient Tomb-Sweeping Day. According to legend, it was invented by the Yellow Emperor with the original purpose of training warriors. Playing polo is also one of the ways to play the Dragon Boat Festival. Polo is riding a horse and hitting with a stick. In ancient times, it was called bowing. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, there is a saying in Cao Zhiming's name that "there is a sentence in a row". In Chang 'an in the Tang Dynasty, there was a wide stadium, and emperors such as Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Jing Zong all liked polo. Ma Qiutu, in the tomb of Prince Zhang Huai, depicts the prosperity of polo in the Tang Dynasty: more than 20 horses galloped at high speed and their ponytails were tied up. Players are wearing shawls, boots and sticks, hitting each other one by one.

Analysis of Golden Branches records the traditional custom of polo as a festival in Liao country, and polo is played on Dragon Boat Festival and Double Ninth Festival. Li Shizhi also recorded that Jin people hit the ball during the Dragon Boat Festival. In the Song Dynasty, there was a "Ball Play Music" dance team. In the Ming Dynasty, polo was still popular. According to the general examination of continued literature, Ming Chengzu hit the ball and shot the willow many times in Dongyuan.

? Fourth, go for an outing?

At the time of Qingming, it is spring that returns to the earth. People took advantage of the opportunity of sweeping graves, and the whole family, old and young, enjoyed themselves in Shan Ye. When they got home, they broke some branches and put them on their heads. They were very happy. 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. It means stepping on the grass, playing in the country and watching the spring.

Tomb-Sweeping Day is a good time to go for an outing, so it has become an important part of Tomb-Sweeping Day customs. Ancient women could not go out casually on weekdays, and it was a rare opportunity for Tomb-Sweeping Day to visit the grave. Therefore, in Tomb-Sweeping Day, women have more fun than men, and there is a folk saying called "Women's Qingming Year".

? 5. plant trees?

Apart from spring ploughing and spring pipes, China has the custom of planting trees in Tomb-Sweeping Day since ancient times, so some people call Tomb-Sweeping Day "Arbor Day". Qingming comes, the temperature rises and the rainfall increases, which is a good time to plant trees. Therefore, there is an agricultural proverb that "planting trees is not as clear as Qingming"

Planting trees in Qingming Festival is also related to ancestor worship, because graves are mostly in the wild and often covered with weeds. Sometimes it takes a long time to worship ancestors and find graves. So someone planted evergreen pine and cypress on the grave, which would be more conspicuous. Later it was gradually imitated by people and became a custom.

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. China has the habit of planting trees in Qingming since ancient times. Some people even call Tomb-Sweeping Day Arbor Day, and the custom of planting trees has been passed down to this day. The 6th meeting of the 5th the NPC Standing Committee decided to designate March 12 as the Arbor Day in China.

? 6. Fly a kite?

The ancients believed that flying kites could take away evil spirits and bad luck. It is said that the first kite in the world was made of wood by Lu Ban, a famous craftsman in the Spring and Autumn Period, and there were kites made of bamboo at that time. Paper kites appeared in the Han Dynasty, called "paper kites".

After the Tang Dynasty, kites became more and more popular as a children's toy. Gao Ding, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, once described the scene of flying kites like this: "The grass grows in February, and the willows on the embankment are drunk with spring smoke. The children came back from school early and were busy flying kites in the east wind. "

People added a bamboo flute to the kite, and the day after it was released, it was blown by the wind and made a "whoop" sound, like flying a kite, so people renamed it "kite". Since 1984, it has been held in Tomb-Sweeping Day every year, and Weifang is therefore known as "the kite capital of the world".

Because Tomb-Sweeping Day is originally a cold food festival, cold food should be banned and only cold meals can be eaten. In order to prevent the harm of cold food and cold meal to your body, you should go out and do some recreational activities to exercise, so there is a mixed phenomenon of sadness and joy. The Cold Food Festival met "Tomb-Sweeping Day" and merged into Tomb-Sweeping Day. In addition, the custom of flying kites in ancient times met Tomb-Sweeping Day, so there was the saying of "flying kites in Qingming Festival".

? Seven, insert willow, wear willow?

Tomb-Sweeping Day is the time when willows sprout and smoke is green. There are folk customs of folding willow, piercing willow and inserting willow. When people go out for an outing, they break off some wicker branches, which can be played with in their hands, woven into hats and worn on their heads, or taken home and inserted on the lintels and eaves. There are proverbs that "a beauty becomes a bright eye without wearing willow in Qingming Festival" and "a dog turns yellow after death without wearing willow in Qingming Festival", which shows that folding willow in Qingming Festival is a very common custom in the old society. It is said that willow branches can ward off evil spirits, so it is not only a fashionable decoration, but also has the effect of praying for evil spirits. It may also be related to the custom of using willow branches to beg for new fire in the past cold food festival. Today, it seems that breaking willow branches at will is a kind of damage to trees and should not be advocated. The custom of planting trees by inserting willows in Tomb-Sweeping Day is said to commemorate Shennong who invented various agricultural production tools and tasted all kinds of herbs. On the other hand, it is said that the willow tree that meson held when he died came back to life. Jin Wengong named it Qingming Willow and folded it into a circle to wear on her head. This custom was later introduced to people. Although the sources of allusions are different, these customs are still inseparable from the joy of people returning to the earth in spring.

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. People stick around to prevent ghosts from harassing and persecuting. Willow has the function of ward off evil spirits in people's minds. Influenced by Buddhism, people think that willow can exorcise ghosts, which is called "fear of ghost wood". Guanyin Bodhisattva 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 the season of wicker germination comes, people naturally insert willows and wear willows to avoid evil spirits.

In addition, due to the combination of the Cold Food Festival and Tomb-Sweeping Day, some places still maintain the habit of eating cold food in Tomb-Sweeping Day. Eat egg cake in Jimo, Shandong, and eat egg cake in Laiyang, Zhaoyuan and Long Island. It is said that if you don't do this, you will be hail. Taian eats cold pancakes and rolls bitter vegetables. It is said that his eyes are bright.