... look at the headline and talk about Tomb-Sweeping Day.

The annual "Tomb-Sweeping Day" arrived as scheduled. At this juncture, the topic of "Tomb-Sweeping Day" is essential. What's more, as early as eight years ago, Tomb-Sweeping Day was included in the first batch of "national intangible cultural heritage" list; It's still a legal holiday. Let's start with the origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day.

The 24 solar terms are very clear.

According to historical records, Tomb-Sweeping Day began in the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years. At first, "Qingming" was just one of the "twenty-four solar terms" in the lunar calendar. Later, on top of the "solar terms", it gradually evolved into a folk festival.

According to the calendar, 105 days from winter to the future and 15 days after the vernal equinox are called Qingming. At this time, everything recovers and the air is clear and bright, so it is called "Qingming". Qingming belongs to "third class": the beginning of first-class China; Second, the vole became a quail; See you after the rainbow. In other words, in the "Qingming" season, white tung blossoms; The voles all returned to their caves; You can see the rainbow after the rain. Of course, these are all scenic spots in the south of the Yangtze River. The "Qingming" in the northeast is far from clear enough.

After Tomb-Sweeping Day, the temperature began to rise gradually. For the Central Plains, it is a good time for spring ploughing and sowing, so there are agricultural proverbs such as "Before and after Qingming Festival, plant melons and beans" and "Planting trees is not as good as Tomb-Sweeping Day". In the "Qingming" season in Liaoning and Shenyang, the land has just been civilized and can only be cultivated in spring; Sowing can only be done in May in the solar calendar.

Butchers are not officials.

The mention of Qingming also triggered a story of a loyal hero.

According to historical records, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Jin Xiangong's concubine Li Ji conspired to kill Prince Shen Sheng in order to let her own son "Xi Qi" inherit the throne. Shen Sheng's brother Zhong Er has run away. Seeing was Zhong Er down and out, unable to make a comeback, the future is hopeless. The courtiers who fled with him left him one after another, leaving only a few loyal ministers. Meson push is one of them. On one occasion, Zhong Er fainted from hunger. Really can't find anything to eat, meson push reluctantly cut off a piece of meat from the leg and baked it for Zhong Er.

19 years later, Zhong Er returned to China and became the Jin Wengong, one of the "five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period" in history. After Jin Wengong came to power, he raised his courtiers who shared weal and woe with him during his escape, but only missed the meson push. After being reminded, Jin Wengong suddenly remembered that meson tui had saved his life, and regretted it. He immediately sent someone to invite meson tui to come to the court to be rewarded. However, after several trips, meson push could not persist. Helpless, Jin Wengong had to go to please. When Jin Wengong came to Jiezitui's residence, he saw the door closed and the house was empty. At this time, the stubborn meson push has been hiding in Mianshan (southeast of Jiexiu County, Shanxi Province) with his old mother on his back.

Blood poems stay in the fire.

Jin Wengong learned that meson push was retreating, so he ordered the body-guard to go to Mianshan to find meson push. However, the Kingsguard searched for many days over the mountains and failed to find the meson push.

At this moment, someone made a crooked idea: "Let Yamakaji go. Fire on three sides, leaving a mountain road. After the fire, mesons will definitely come out of the mountain road without fire in order to survive. " Jin Wengong heard this bad idea. So Jin Wengong ordered the body-guard to save Yamakaji. To Jin Wengong's surprise, after three days and three nights of fire, there was still no meson push. After the fire was put out, when the guards went up the mountain to inspect, they were surprised to find that the mother and son were holding a charred willow tree and were dead.

Jin Wengong said, stamped and wept bitterly, and ordered the meson to be reburied. When the corpse guard buried the bodies of mother and son, they found a tree hole in the willow tree embraced by meson push, which seemed to be stuffed with something. The guards took it out and saw a dress with a blood poem engraved on it: "May your master always be 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. "

Wear clogs on your feet. Think about your own feet.

Jin Wengong hid the blood poem in his sleeve, and then buried meson tui and his mother's body around the charred willow. To commemorate meson push, Jin Wengong ordered Mianshan to be changed to "Jieshan"; Establish a ancestral temple on the mountain to commemorate the meson push; The day that Jiezitui died was designated as "Cold Food Festival". Jin Wengong also told people all over the country: On the annual "Cold Food Festival", don't make a fire to cook, only eat cold food. Jin Wengong also cut off a charred willow branch and went back to the palace to make a pair of "clogs" to wear on his feet. After that, Jin Wengong looked at the clogs every day and sighed: "Sadly, the first step!"

Since then, the word "one step away" has become a written title of respect for friends. For example, Records of the Historian Xiang Yu's Biography "The First Step of a General", and Yang Mo's Song of Youth, chapter 13: "My first step and I are classmates of Peking University" and so on.

In the second year after Jiexiu's death, Jin Wengong led ministers in plain clothes to climb Jiexiu Mountain on foot to pay homage to Jiexiu. When Jin Wengong went to Jiezitui's grave, he saw that big willow tree really came back from the dead, and thousands of green branches were swaying in the wind. Looking at the vibrant willow, Jin Wengong seemed to see the meson push. He respectfully approached the willow tree, lovingly pinched off some branches, braided them into a circle and put them on his head. After the sacrifice, Jin Wengong named the resurrected willow "Qingming Willow"; Designate this day as "Tomb-Sweeping Day".

Two adjacent parts in a part.

From then on, Jin Wengong often took the blood poems written by meson with him as a "motto" to urge him to be diligent and love the people. Sure enough, Jin Wengong was in power and made great efforts to create a century-old foundation of the State of Jin. Jin Wengong's literary martial arts were told by later generations, and together with Qi Huangong, they were called "Qi Huan Bronze", which was praised by later Confucianists and Legalists.

After the Jin people lived and worked in peace and contentment, they missed Jiezitui who didn't want to be an official. People knead flour and jujube paste into swallows, string them with wicker, and insert them on the door, and name them "Pushing Swallows" ("mesopush" is also called "mesopush") to commemorate mesopush. Since then, "Cold Food Festival" and "Tomb-Sweeping Day" have become people's grand festivals. During the "Cold Food Festival", people spontaneously do not make a fire to cook, but only eat cold food. In the north, people prepare cold food such as jujube cake and wheat cake in advance; In the south, there are mostly "green groups" and "glutinous rice and sugar lotus roots". Every year in Tomb-Sweeping Day, people will inherit the practice of Jin Wengong, weave wicker into a circle and wear it on their heads; Stick willow branches in front of the house, miss meson push.

Because the dates of "Tomb-Sweeping Day" and "Cold Food Festival" are close, and "Cold Food Festival" is also a day when people are forbidden to burn fire to sweep graves. As a result, "Cold Food Festival" and "Tomb-Sweeping Day" gradually merged into one.

Cuju Liucha Le Qing

According to historical records, in earlier years, people called "Tomb-Sweeping Day" Youth Day. "Tomb-Sweeping Day" is located between April 4th and 6th in the solar calendar every year, with beautiful spring and long grass, which is a good time for people to go for an outing in spring. When "hiking", people not only enjoy the beautiful scenery in spring, but also engage in various sports activities and have fun.

The sports activities of "outing" include swinging, cuju, inserting willows, shooting willows, cockfighting and flying kites. Swing is a traditional custom in ancient Tomb-Sweeping Day. Cuju's bow is a ball made of leather and stuffed with wool. Cuju is playing football. It is said that the custom of "inserting willows" is to commemorate "Shennong", the ancestor of farming who taught people to grow crops (timbre, Se). In some places, people put willow branches under the eaves to forecast the weather. As the old saying goes: "Willow branches are green and rainy; The wicker is withered, and the sky is high and the clouds are light. During the Huang Chao Uprising, it was stipulated that "Qingming lasts for a period, and Liu Dai is the number. The custom of "inserting willows" is enduring.

Shooting Willow is a game to practice archery. "Ming History" records that pigeons were put in a big gourd, and then the big gourd was hung high on the willow tree. After people shoot gourds with bows and arrows, pigeons fly out, and then judge the outcome by the flying height of pigeons, which is "shooting willows". During the Qingming Festival, the ancients also played the game of "cockfighting". "Cockfighting" started from "Tomb-Sweeping Day" and lasted until "Summer solstice". The earliest record of cockfighting in China can be found in Zuo Zhuan. By the Tang Dynasty, "cockfighting" had become a common custom, not only among the people, but also among the court emperors. In history, the "cockfighting" of Xuanzong in Tang Dynasty was particularly serious.

Sweeping graves and flying kites.

In ancient times, "sweeping graves" was the content of "Cold Food Festival" in Tomb-Sweeping Day the day before. In the 20th year of Kaiyuan in Tang Dynasty (732), Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty ordered the world to "return cold food to the tomb". As the "Cold Food Festival" and "Tomb-Sweeping Day" met, over time, it gradually became the "Tomb-Sweeping Day" grave-sweeper. After sweeping the grave, the children will fly kites. Some kites are equipped with bamboo flutes. When the spring breeze blows, they jingle like guzheng. Thus, the name of "kite" was born.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, "Tomb-Sweeping Day" became a grand festival for people. Zhang Zeduan's "The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" depicts the bustling scene of the streets on both sides of the Bianliang River in Tokyo during the Qingming Festival in Huizong period of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Manchu tombs don't burn paper.

In the early years, Manchu called "Tomb-Sweeping Day" a "tomb sacrifice". "Grave-sweeping Festival" is a traditional festival of Manchu. In the past, on the day of Tomb Sweeping Festival, Manchu families came to the cemetery by bus, and their elders inserted "Buddha" on the new grave; The willow branches in the old grave tell our ancestors that our family is prosperous and there are successors. Then, sprinkle wine on the ground to sacrifice to ancestors. The whole family kowtowed in front of the grave to show that their children and grandchildren never forgot the kindness of their ancestors.

The "Buddha" inserted by Manchu people during the Tomb Sweeping Festival is made of a thorn or wicker and a corn syrup, covered with several layers of colored paper cut into ears or money. Manchu people have different opinions on the origin of the custom of inserting Buddha. There is a saying that it symbolizes the long hair of the Buddha's mother when she was killed by Li, the chief soldier of the Ming Dynasty, after rescuing Nuerhachi, the old king of Han, indicating that people will never forget the kindness of the Buddha's mother in saving the old king of Han when they worship their ancestors. Another way of saying it is that people pray to the gods of their ancestors to bless the years. The colorful paper in the shape of money hanging on the Buddha means that the financial resources are rolling, so the Buddha is commonly known as the cash cow.

Manchu people's custom of "sweeping graves and offering sacrifices" has a history of hundreds of years. The graves of Manchu people are all in the root of the mountain or in the "Woladou" of the mountain. On Qingming Day, one or several willows "Buddha" should be inserted in the middle of each tomb. Two days before "Tomb-Sweeping Day", the younger generations of Manchu will go to Liuxiang, choose straight willow branches with the thickness of thumb, peel off the skin, and stick iron dragon colored paper strips on the top of willow branches, which look like small flowers from a distance. Tomb-Sweeping Day, a Manchu, did not burn paper to worship his ancestors.

Egg tofu spring-pancake

In Tomb-Sweeping Day, Manchu people still had many rules of "Old Order". For example, "Qingming does not eat eggs, and it is too poor to tremble"; "Qingming does not eat beans, so poor" and so on. In "Tomb-Sweeping Day", Manchu people not only eat eggs and tofu, but also eat "spring cakes". Because the hand-rolled "Spring Cake" is as thin as lotus leaf, it is also called "Lotus Leaf Cake". "Spring Cake" is to fold two pancakes together, roll them almost transparently with a rolling pin, and then roll the shredded pork with mung bean sprouts and shredded onion in the batter, which is soft and delicious to eat. Manchu families in Xinbin, Qingyuan, Huanren, Xiuyan and other rural areas have to dig small root vegetables, cat claw vegetables, bracken and other wild vegetables up the mountain, wash them, chop them up, mix them with shredded eggs, shredded pork and vermicelli, and bake them into "pancake boxes" to eat. That smell, not to mention how fragrant and delicious it is.