Why is Tomb-Sweeping Day also called Cold Food Festival?

The Cold Food Festival is to commemorate Jie Jie, a famous minister of Jin State in the Spring and Autumn Period. Legend has it that during Jin Wengong's exile, meson tui once cut shares to satisfy his hunger. When Jin Wengong returned to China as a monarch, he forgot to recommend him when he was enfeoffed. Jiezitui didn't want to boast about his achievements and compete for favor, so he took his mother to live in seclusion in Mianshan. Later, Jin Wengong personally went to Mianshan to find Jiezitui, who didn't want to be an official and hid in the mountains. Wen Gong's people released Yamakaji. The intention is to force mesons to show their faces. As a result, meson pushed his mother and was burned to death under a big tree. In order to commemorate this loyal minister and righteous man, on the day when he retired, he did not cook with a fire and ate cold food, which was called Cold Food Festival.

From the day before Tomb-Sweeping Day to the day after Tomb-Sweeping Day, Tomb-Sweeping Day was included in the Cold Food Festival. Yao Hui, Tang Dynasty: "On February 15th of the 12th year of Dali, I forgave:' Eat tomorrow from cold'". Zhou Mi in the Southern Song Dynasty said in "Returning to the Heart and Miscellaneous Knowledge": "beginning of winter is a cold food from the last day to the 106th day, that is, Qingming is a cold food." Cold food, Qingming festival.