I asked about the composition of Qingming, not about going to the grave.

Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the outing festival, is a traditional festival in China, which falls on April 5 of the Gregorian calendar every year. At this time, the winter when everything sleeps has passed, and the spring when everything recovers has come. Everywhere is a clear sight of bright spring and budding vegetation.

"There are many rains during the Qingming period, and pedestrians on the road want to break their souls; Excuse me, where is the restaurant? The shepherd boy refers to Xinghua Village. " This poem perfectly reflects the natural environment and sad atmosphere in Tomb-Sweeping Day. According to time-honored customs, people often sweep graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day, but the grave-sweeping ceremony is not held in Tomb-Sweeping Day, but on Singles' Day near Tomb-Sweeping Day. It is said that only monks offer sacrifices to sweep graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day. Then why go to the grave in Tomb-Sweeping Day?

According to legend, at the end of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang, the Emperor Gaozu, and Xiang Yu, the overlord of the Western Chu Dynasty, finally won the world after several rounds of wars. When he returned to his hometown, he wanted to worship his parents' graves, but due to years of war, the graves were covered with weeds, and the tombstones were uneven, some broken and some broken, and the words on the tombstones were unrecognizable.

Liu bang is very sad. Although his subordinates also helped him search all the tombstones, he didn't find his parents' graves until dusk. Finally, Liu Bang took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, tore it into many small pieces by hand, held it tightly in his hand, and prayed to God: "My parents are in the spirit of heaven, and now the wind is blowing so hard, I want to throw these small pieces of paper into the air. If the paper falls in one place and the wind can't move, it is my parents' grave. " With that, Liu Bang threw the paper into the air. Sure enough, a piece of paper landed in front of a grave. No matter how the wind blew, Liu Bang ran over and looked at the vague tombstone carefully. Sure enough, he saw his parents' names engraved on it.

Liu Bang was so happy that he immediately had his parents' graves renovated. Since then, Tomb-Sweeping Day has visited his parents' graves every year. Later, folks like Liu Bang, Tomb-Sweeping Day went to the ancestral graves every year, and pressed a few pieces of paper on the graves with small clods to show his grave-sweeping.

On Qingming Day, new willows will be picked, made into wicker rings and put on their heads. As the folk proverb says, "dogs are born yellow and will never wear willows in Qingming." In fact, the custom of wearing willow in Tomb-Sweeping Day originated very early, just as Fu Cha Dunrong's "Yanjing Time" in the Qing Dynasty said: "The person who wears willow in Tomb-Sweeping Day is Tang Gaozong. On March 3, he was given a rent and a willow ring to the minister, saying that wearing it can avoid poison. It is also the legacy of today's teachers. "

According to Tian Ming Rucheng's Notes on Traveling to the West Lake, the Tomb-Sweeping Day in Hangzhou is like this: "One day, the whole city was buried on a hill, between the north and south mountains, with many chariots and horses, drinking and eating, enjoying a tour in a single village shop, or playing with grass, drifting with the waves and forgetting to return at sunset." What is described here is not only going to the grave, but also stepping on the spring.