The traditional culture of Qingming Festival, history, heroes and exemplary deeds

Every year, around April 5 on the Gregorian calendar (mostly in the third month of the lunar calendar), is "Qingming". Yi Tong Hanging test" said, all things to this are clean and clear, this section is named, is a sign of the time the world clear and clean, warm climate, grass and trees sprouting, most of our country has changed the winter cold yellow scene, agricultural production is busy in the spring plowing and planting in the spring. Jiangnan farmers proverb: "Qingming rain two connected, dip seed plow field do not delay." Another cloud: "planting trees and forests, not more than the Qingming."　In the twenty-four solar terms, that is the festival and holiday only Qingming, winter solstice, but the influence of Qingming is relatively larger and wider. Qingming Festival, also known as "Treading Green Festival" and "March Festival", has a history of more than 2,500 years. It is a day for people to pay tribute to their ancestors and remember them, and in 2006, it was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. China first included the Qingming Festival as a national holiday in 2008.　　

According to the old custom in Fuqing, the Qingming Festival is called "Tomb Sacrifice" to clean the graves of the ancestors. The offerings of the people of Fuqing for "tomb sacrifice" are not limited, but there are two essential things, one is the light cake, and the other is cooked razor clams or clams. The day of the Qingming Festival, Fuqing light cake special best-selling, usually a dollar can buy 4, this time can only buy 2, late to buy if you can not buy, some have to be booked early.　　

On the Qingming Festival, in addition to light cakes, people also bring wine, razor clams, clams, meat, bamboo shoots and money, firecrackers and other items, the first offerings in front of the graves of loved ones, and then for the graves of the cultivation of new soil, remove weeds, trimming the tree fengshui, refresh the epitaphs, pressed with money and paper. After kowtowing and paying homage, they eat the food they brought with them and scatter razor clams or clam shells on the grave. After the "Tomb Sacrifice", people mostly pick some green branches and bring them back.　　According to local custom, the first year's tomb, to be in the day of the Qingming Festival or a day or two before the cleaning, as well as the timely sacrifice of the tomb on filial piety, so there is "unfilial son of Qingming not sacrificed sacrificed to the valley rain," said. In the case of the Year of the Tiger, but also pushed forward or pushed back a day or two to pay homage.　　

There are many forms of honoring ancestors at Qingming Festival, and "tomb sacrifice" is one of the earliest and most common. This custom continues to this day, has gradually changed with the progress of society. In recent years, the Qingming Festival sacrifices a few less fireworks, with flowers to send condolences to the people obviously more up, both civilized and elegant, and then silence, bowing in front of the mausoleum of the ancestors in silence, to express the feelings of remembrance and remembrance of the intention, both simple and solemn, showing "civilized ancestor worship, green Qingming," the characteristics of. In fact, the humanistic spirit of Qingming Festival has two levels, one is to commemorate gratitude and remember the deceased, and the other is to maintain the new life. At the time of Qingming, Yang Qi rises and everything springs up, people welcome the arrival of spring with joy, welcome the arrival of a new growing season, and welcome the beginning of a new situation. Therefore, the cultural connotation of Qingming Festival is not only to remember the deceased, but also to get close to nature and cherish life. The spirit of the festival is to "juxtapose life and death".