What are the family customs in Qingming?

Sweep graves, worship ancestors, swing, etc.

In the history of China, it was forbidden to eat cold food and worship ancestors by fire, and it became a continuous custom and tradition for Tomb-Sweeping Day to sweep graves to worship ancestors. Even in today's society, before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day, people still have the custom of going to the grave to worship their ancestors: uprooting weeds, placing offerings, burning incense and praying in front of the grave, and burning paper money and gold ingots.

Grave-sweeping is the center of Tomb-Sweeping Day custom. In some places, sweeping graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day is called "sweeping mountains", "offering sacrifices to heaven" or "offering sacrifices to mountains". Out of respect for ancestors, or the rhetorical habit of "doing everything except evil and calling it beauty". For example, when Tomb-Sweeping Day visits the grave, it is called going to the grave in the north and "worshipping the mountain" in the south coast, avoiding the words "grave" and "tomb". "Worship the mountain" is quaint, and one of the ancient meanings of the word "mountain" is interpreted as "tomb". Today, Kanyu community still refers to the sitting direction of the cemetery as "mountain direction". There are two kinds of "mountains" for offering sacrifices: one is called "home mountain" for tracing ancestors within three generations, and the sacrifice of home mountain is called "family sacrifice"; The other is the worship of clan ancestors, which is called "Zushan" and "Dazhongshan", and the worship of Zushan is called "sweeping Dazhongshan".

Qingming Festival is the season when spring blooms, and everything is in bud, so it has long been a custom to have a spring outing in the wild. Going for an outing is also called a spring outing. In ancient times, it was called spring exploration. This seasonal folk activity, outing, has a long history in China, and its source is the ancient Spring Festival custom of farming sacrifice. During the Qingming Festival, spring returns to the earth, and nature presents a vibrant scene everywhere, which is a good time to go for an outing. People use the opportunity of sweeping graves to have fun with their families in mountainous areas and rural areas.