The origin or allusion of the traditional Chinese festival "Qingming Festival".

China's traditional Qingming Festival began around the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years. Qingming is a very important festival in the beginning, once Qingming arrives, the temperature rises, it is a good time for spring plowing and planting, so there is "before and after Qingming, planting melons and beans". "Tree planting, no more than the Qingming" proverbs. Later, due to the Qingming and cold food days close, and cold food is the folk ban on fire sweeping the day, gradually, cold food and Qingming into one, and cold food has become the alias of Qingming, but also become a custom for the Qingming festival, Qingming day does not move fireworks, only eat cold food.

On the cold food, there is such a legend:

According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, the consort of Duke Xian of Jin, Li Ji, in order to let her son Xi Qi succeeded to the throne, set up poisonous plots to kill the Prince Shen Sheng, who was forced to commit suicide. Shen Sheng's younger brother, Chong Er, went into exile in order to escape the disaster. While in exile, Chong Er suffered a lot of humiliation. Most of the ministers who followed him went their own way one after another. There were only a few loyal men left who followed him all the way. One of them was called Jie Zi Tui (介子推). Once, Chong Er passed out from hunger. In order to save Chong Er, Jie Zi Pui cut off a piece of meat from his own leg, cooked it over a fire and gave it to Chong Er to eat. Nineteen years later, Chong Er returned to his country and became the ruler, Duke Wen of Jin, one of the famous Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period.

When Duke Wen of Jin came to power, he rewarded those who had suffered with him, but he forgot about Jie Zi Tui. Some people complained for Jie Zi Tui in front of Duke Wen of Jin. Duke Wen of Jin suddenly remembered the old story, the heart of shame, immediately sent to ask the mesoteric pushes on the court to be rewarded by the official. However, after several trips, Jie Zi Tui did not come. Duke Wen of Jin had to go in person to invite. However, when Duke Wen came to Jie Zi Tui's house, he saw that the door was closed. Jie Zi Tui didn't want to see him, and had already carried his mother to hide in Mianshan Mountain (southeast of present-day Jiexiu County, Shanxi Province). The Duke of Jin then had his imperial army search the Mianshan Mountain, but they did not find him. So, someone came up with an idea, saying that it would be better to set fire to the mountain, lighting fires on three sides and leaving one side behind, so that when the fire started, Jie Zi Tui would come out on his own. Duke Wen of Jin ordered the fire to burn the mountain, but the fire burned for three days and three nights, after the fire was extinguished, did not see Kai Zi push out. Up the mountain to see, jiezi push mother and son holding a big charred willow tree has died. Duke Wen of Jin looked at the body of meson pushed to cry and worship for a while, and then buried the remains, and found meson pushed the spine blocked a willow tree hole, the hole seems to have something.

Cutting out his flesh and serving the king, he wished that his lord would always be clear.

It is better to be a ghost under the willow than to be an advisor to the king.

If you have me in your heart, you will always think of yourself when you remember me.

If I am not ashamed of myself in the nine springs, I will be diligent and clear in my administration.

Duke Wen of Jin hid the bloody book in his sleeve. Then he buried Jie Zi Tui and his mother under the charred willow tree. To honor Jie Zi Tui, Duke Wen of Jin ordered that Mian Shan be changed to "Jie Shan", built a shrine on the mountain, and designated the day the mountain was set on fire as the Cold Food Festival, telling the whole country to abstain from fireworks and to eat only cold food on that day every year.

When he left, he cut down a section of burnt willow wood and made a pair of wooden clogs in the palace, looking at them every day and sighing, "Woe is the foot." "This is said to have been the origin of the ancient term of respect used by subordinates for their superiors or peers.

The next year, the Duke of Jin led a group of ministers on a hike in plain clothes to pay homage and express their condolences. When he arrived at the grave, he saw the old willow tree come back to life, with thousands of green branches dancing in the wind. Duke Wen of Jin looked at the resurrected old willow tree and saw it as if he had seen Jie Zi Tui. He went to it respectfully, pinched a branch and wove a circle on his head. After the ceremony, the Duke of Jin gave the name "Qingming Willow" to the resurrected old willow tree, and designated this day as the Qingming Festival.

Afterward, Duke Wen of Jin often put the bloody book on his side, as a motto to spur himself to rule. He was diligent and clear, and he managed the country well.

Since then, the people of Jin have been able to live and work in peace and contentment, and they miss Jie Zi Tui very much. On the day of his death, people banned fireworks to commemorate him. Also with flour and jujube clay, kneaded into the swallow, with willow string up, inserted in the door, to summon his soul, this thing is called "the push of the swallow" (jiezitui also known as jiezhitui). Since then, the cold food and Qingming became the grand festivals of the people all over the country. Whenever cold food is served, people do not make fire to cook and only eat cold food. In the north, the people only eat pre-made cold food such as jujube cake, wheat cake, etc.; in the south, it is mostly green dumplings and glutinous rice candy root. Every Qingming, people weave willow into a circle and wear it on their heads, and stick willow branches in front of and behind their houses to show their remembrance.

In March and April, when the spring is bright and the peaches are red and the willows are green, one of the most important festivals in traditional Chinese customs is the Qingming Festival. The Qingming Festival is now known as No Tomb Festival. According to the Sunday, it falls around April 5, and according to the lunar calendar, it falls in the first half of March. Ancient people divided the year into twenty-four seasons and used this calendar to sow and harvest. Qingming is one of the twenty-four seasons, which occurs fifteen days after the vernal equinox, and according to the "Hundred Questions about the Time of the Year," "Everything grows at this time, and it is all clean and clear. Therefore, it is called Qingming." Therefore, "Qingming" is the name of the festival, and later added the cold food ban on fire and no grave customs to form the Qingming Festival.

Originally, the Cold Food Festival and the Qingming Festival were two different festivals, but during the Tang Dynasty, the day for visiting tombs was designated as the Cold Food Festival. The correct date for the Cold Food Festival is one hundred and five days after the winter solstice, around the time of Qingming, so Qingming and the Cold Food Festival were combined into one!

The custom of making offerings to ancestors and sweeping graves has a very early origin in China. As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, great importance was attached to burials. In the Warring States period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Meng Zi's Qi Ren chapter also mentioned that a disgraced Qi man often went to Dongguo graves to beg for food and offerings to the tomb, so it can be seen that in the Warring States period, the custom of sweeping the tomb was very prevalent. To the Tang Xuanzong, the imperial decree set the cold food tomb sweeping as one of the "five rituals", so whenever the Qingming Festival comes, "the fields and roads, women all over, soaps and servants and beggars, all have to parents Qiu tomb." (Liu Zongyuan "and Xu Jingzhao book") tomb sweeping has become an important social custom.

And in the spring is still a little cold, but also to ban the fire to eat cold food, for fear that some of the old and weak women and children can not withstand the cold, but also in order to prevent cold food and cold food injuries, so it is set up a trekking, picnicking, swinging, playing soccer, polo, willow, tug-of-war, cockfighting, and other outdoor activities, so that everyone out of the sun, activities, activities, and increase the resistance. Therefore, in addition to the Qingming Festival, in addition to ancestor sweeping, there are various field fitness activities, so that the festival, in addition to a prudent end of the sentimental, but also a blend of the atmosphere of joy and enjoyment of the spring; both the parting of life and death of the tears of sadness and sorrow, but also everywhere a fresh and bright and vivid scene. It's really a very special festival with a lot of characteristics.

Cleaning the graves at Qingming is a festival related to funeral rites and customs. It is reported that in ancient times, "the tomb but not the grave", that is to say, only hit the grave pit, do not build mounds, so the festival will not be seen in the book. Later on, the tomb and the grave, the custom of cleaning will have a basis. In the Qin and Han Dynasties, the tomb festival has become an indispensable ritual and customary activities.

The Book of Han.

The Book of Han. In terms of Chinese ancestor worship and the development of the sense of kinship, Yan Yan Nian's action is reasonable. Therefore, later generations did not include the ancient norms of the tomb sacrifice into the five rituals: "the common people's homes, it is appropriate to allow the tomb, into the five rituals, forever as a regular pattern." With this official recognition, the style of tomb worship was bound to flourish.

The Qingming Festival is a festival to honor ancestors. The main commemorative ritual is to sweep the graves, which is a concrete expression of the prudence of the end of the day, the family and the family and the filial piety, based on the above significance, the Qingming Festival has become an important festival of the Chinese people.

The Qingming Festival falls on the 106th day after the winter solstice, at the intersection of mid-spring and late spring. Tomb-sweeping activities usually take place 10 days before or 10 days after the Ching Ming Festival. Some people of the same origin have their tomb-sweeping activities for as long as a month.