The customs of Tomb-Sweeping Day in southern China.

(1) Grave sweeping and ancestor worship

In the history of China, it has long been a custom to eat cold food and 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.

(2) willow insertion

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.