Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - The 24 Solar Terms - Can I buy furniture before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day?

Can I buy furniture before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day?

Yes, needless to say, Tomb-Sweeping Day is an important festival, which is a combination of Qingming Festival, Cold Food Festival and Shangsi Festival. Its customs and activities are rich and colorful, and there are two types: commemoration and leisure. This festival has a long history and is still highly valued in modern society. It has its unique social function, but it has been adjusted and innovated in the form and connotation of holiday customs. Tomb-Sweeping Day is an important traditional festival in China, and it is still one of the important festivals of the Chinese nation, including overseas Chinese. In traditional society, Tomb-Sweeping Day is a particularly grand festival. It is not only a festival to pay homage to the grave and remember the deceased relatives, but also a festival to walk and get close to nature. The folk activities around the two themes are rich and diverse, which is a grand view. It also has a long festival. Tomb-Sweeping Day (the15th day after the lunar vernal equinox, around April 5th of the Gregorian calendar) is only a symbolic time for festivals, and its customs and activities often last for five or six days to more than ten days (depending on the place). In modern society, the connotation, activities and scale of Tomb-Sweeping Day have changed greatly due to the changes in social life and cultural concepts and the restrictions of holiday system. However, it is still valued by Chinese people for its unique function and status, which has produced a social impact that cannot be ignored. It is of great social and cultural significance to investigate the historical evolution of Tomb-Sweeping Day customs, combine its inheritance in modern society, and make its positioning and planning conform to history, people's feelings and national conditions. Compared with other traditional festivals, Tomb-Sweeping Day has three characteristics: first, it has two "identities": solar terms and festivals; Second, outdoor activities (sweeping graves, hiking, etc.) are the main activities. ); Thirdly, it has two kinds of emotional atmosphere: solemnity (or sadness) (in grave-sweeping activities) and joy (in recreational activities such as hiking). The formation of this feature is closely related to its origin. From the perspective of origin and formation, Tomb-Sweeping Day is a festival that combines Tomb-Sweeping Day Qi, Cold Food Festival and Shangsi Festival. (1) Among the 24 solar terms in Tomb-Sweeping Day and Tomb-Sweeping Day, Qingming is the only solar term that is both a solar term and a festival (the winter solstice is also a festival in history, but it is no longer celebrated in most places). The name of Tomb-Sweeping Day is related to the weather and climate characteristics at this time. The Western Han Dynasty's "Huainanzi Astronomical Training" said: "On the fifteenth day after the vernal equinox, the bucket refers to B, and the Qingming wind is coming." "Qingming Wind" is a refreshing and clear wind. "When I was in 100 questions" said, "Everything grows at this time, clean and bright. So it is called Qingming. " Although Qingming, as a festival, was only formed in the Tang Dynasty, Tomb-Sweeping Day Qi, as a symbol of time sequence, has long been known by the ancients and clearly recorded in the Han Dynasty. Twenty-four solar terms are the climatic laws summed up by astronomers and people in ancient China in their life and production practice, which appropriately reflect the changes of temperature, phenology and rainfall throughout the year, and have indispensable guiding significance for people to arrange farming and sericulture activities on time. By Qingming, the temperature is getting warmer and the rainfall is increasing, which is a good season for spring ploughing and spring planting. Therefore, Qingming is an important solar term in ancient agricultural production. The farmer's proverb says, "Before and after Qingming Festival, point melons to plant beans" and "Planting trees is nothing more than Qingming Festival", which is precisely the truth. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cui Ai's Moon Order for Four recorded that "Tomb-Sweeping Day ordered a silkworm concubine to stay in the silkworm room ..." It is said that it was at this time that he began to prepare for sericulture. "Tomb-Sweeping Day" is just a solar term, not a festival. In addition, Qingming is in early spring and March, with beautiful spring, everything recovering, pleasant climate and full of vitality everywhere. This is a good time for spring outing and suburban entertainment, so before and after Qingming Festival, it naturally becomes a good time for people to enjoy playing outdoors and in the countryside. Although the Tomb-Sweeping Day mentioned in this paper mainly refers to festivals rather than solar terms, the atmosphere of Tomb-Sweeping Day provides important conditions for the formation of Tomb-Sweeping Day customs in terms of time, weather and climate characteristics, and this solar term should be regarded as one of the origins of Tomb-Sweeping Day. (2) Tomb-Sweeping Day and Cold Food Festival The Cold Food Festival is in March of the lunar calendar, one or two days before Tomb-Sweeping Day. Before the Han Dynasty, the Cold Food Festival was banned for a long time, only in January. The Han Dynasty designated the Cold Food Festival as the first three days of Tomb-Sweeping Day. The Chronicle of Jingchu's Age in the Southern Dynasties said: "On the 15th day of the Winter Festival, there was a strong wind and rain, which meant that there was no fire in the cold food for three days." The Tang and Song Dynasties were reduced to Tomb-Sweeping Day the day before. From the pre-Qin Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, cold food was regarded as a big festival. It was still a big festival in the Tang Dynasty, but it began to decline and was gradually annexed by Tomb-Sweeping Day. Regarding the formation of the custom of forbidding fire in the Cold Food Festival, there is a popular saying that it originated from people's commemoration and memory of Jiexiu, a famous loyal minister and righteous man. Jie Zitui was a minister in exile with Zhong Er, the son of Jin Dynasty in the Spring and Autumn Period. He once cut off the meat on his leg to satisfy his hunger. The latter will be rewarded with mesons after becoming a monarch (that is, Jin Wengong). Jiezitui took his mother to Mianshan for seclusion, and got nothing in return. Jin Wengong released Yamakaji and drove meson out of the mountain, where meson was burned to death. Jin Wengong designated Mountain Burning Day as the anniversary of meson pushing, and banned fire on this day. "Chronicle of Jingchu" notes: "meson Tui was burned by fire on March 5th, and China people mourned it. At the end of spring every year, because there is no fire and it rains and hurts the fields, it is called' no smoking'. " In fact, the custom of forbidding fire existed as early as the Zhou Dynasty, and the statement that forbidding fire is to commemorate and sacrifice mesons is purely a postscript. After the Han dynasty, this kind of collateral meeting spread gradually, which had a greater and greater impact on the formation and inheritance of the Cold Food Festival. Now people explain the reason why fire is forbidden in the Cold Food Festival. There are two main arguments. Attributable to specific folk beliefs in ancient times. The ancients divided the stars on Sunday into twenty-eight nights, and the horns and Kang Erxing of the Oriental Qinglong Palace were called "Long Xing", which occupied a wooden position in the five elements. In the pre-Qin period, the ancients thought that Long Xing appeared in the east in spring, which was easy to cause fire. So when Longxing first appeared in March, it should be forbidden to fire. The custom of forbidding fire existed in the Zhou Dynasty. You can't make a fire to cook during the fire ban, and you must prepare food in advance. This kind of cold food that can't be heated is called "cold food". Another view is explained by the habit of taking fire in ancient people's life, and it is believed that the prohibition of fire in cold food stems from the system of drilling wood to take fire for new fire. In ancient times, people drilled wood for fire, and the wood used in different seasons was different, so it was necessary to change the fire when the season changed. And every time you change the fire, you have to change it to a new one. Before a new fire comes, people should be forbidden to make a fire. "Zhou Li Autumn Lawsuit Xuanjiashi" said: "In mid-spring, it is forbidden to use Muduo to repair fires in junior high schools." It's mid-spring now,