Is there a custom of sweeping graves on the vernal equinox in Guangxi?

In ancient times, the spring equinox was also called the "month of mid-spring" because it was in the middle of spring, dividing it into two halves. Although the spring equinox is not a holiday, as a festival, it is also a day that people pay great attention to. In Guangxi, unlike other places, the spring equinox has the local custom of sweeping graves, and the food to be eaten on this day is also very unique. Then the spring equinox folk custom in Guangxi tomb sweeping? What food to eat on the spring equinox?

Guangxi spring equinox folk sweeping

Guangxi spring equinox folk sweeping.

The custom of sweeping graves on the vernal equinox is found in Guangxi and Fujian.

On the vernal equinox of February, tomb-sweeping and ancestor worship, also known as the spring festival, begins. Before sweeping the graves, a grand ceremony of ancestor worship is held in the ancestral hall, pigs are killed, sheep are slaughtered, drummers are invited to play music, the ritual student reads the ritual text, and three offerings are made with the guide. When tomb-sweeping starts at the spring equinox, the first thing to do is to sweep the graves of the founding ancestor and the distant ancestor, and the whole clan and the whole village will be mobilized on a very large scale, with the team often amounting to several hundred or even thousands of people. After the graves of the founding ancestors and distant ancestors are swept, then the ancestors' graves are swept in different houses, and finally the private graves of each family are swept. In most Hakka areas, the spring ancestor sweeping starts at the spring equinox or earlier, and should be completed by Qingming at the latest. There is a saying that the door to the tomb will be closed after Ching Ming, and the spirits of the ancestors will not be used.

What food to eat on the spring equinox

In Guangxi, chicken shit vine and spring vegetables are eaten on the spring equinox.

Chicken Poop Vine

Chicken Poop Vine is a kind of wild vegetable that people in Beihai area of Guangxi love to eat, and their local people have the custom of eating Chicken Poop Vine in the spring, which is made into flour and rolled out to become Chicken Poop Vine, which tastes sweet and delicious, and it's a kind of special food, which is the favorite of the local people.

Spring Vegetables

Eating spring vegetables at the spring equinox is such an ancient custom that many places still maintain the tradition of eating spring vegetables. Spring vegetables are actually also known as lettuce, thousand gold vegetables, is a typical seasonal vegetables, especially around the spring equinox is the most fresh and delicious. Ancient people believed that eating spring vegetables on the vernal equinox could bless the whole family with peace and happiness throughout the year, so slowly this unwritten custom has been passed down.