Customs of Cold Clothes Festival

Customs of Cold Clothes Festival

Customs of Cold Clothes Festival, there are many traditional festivals in China, and the Cold Clothes Festival is one of them, and many regions will carry out some rituals on the day of the Cold Clothes Festival. The Cold Clothes Festival is said to have originated in the Zhou Dynasty, and it is also known as one of the Ghost Festivals in China. Here's a look at the customs of the Cold Clothes Festival.

Cold Clothes Day Customs 1

The Cold Clothes Day is a festival of rituals that takes place on the first day of the tenth month of every year, when people send cold clothes to the dead. In some parts of Shanxi, people send cold clothes by sandwiching cotton in the middle of five-color paper to make cotton clothes and quilts for the dead, while in Beijing, people will use cold clothes paper to cut clothes or wrap paper money and burn it to the dead.

The Cold Clothes Festival is a popular festival mainly in the northern part of China, which can also be called the Festival of the Underworld, the October Dynasty, and the Festival of Ancestor Sacrifice, and is celebrated on the first day of the tenth month of the Lunar Calendar every year.

In the festival of Cold Clothes Day, the customs of different regions are somewhat different. For example, in some parts of Shanxi, people buy some colorful paper and make cotton clothes and quilts for the dead and burn them on this day, which is called sending cold clothes.

In Beijing, there is also a custom of sending cold clothes, they will buy cold paper before the cold clothes festival, and then these cold paper with different colors and patterns are fried into the shape of clothes, or directly use it to wrap the paper money and burn it to the deceased.

As a matter of fact, in the north of China, once the first day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar arrives, the weather gets colder and colder day by day, and for this reason, not only do people send cold clothes to the dead for the winter, but also the living people have to carry out some traditional activities to symbolize the winter. Women have to bring out the good cotton clothes on this day for their children and husbands to change the season. If the weather is still warm at this time, it is not appropriate to wear cotton, but also to urge their children and husbands to try on, for good luck. Men, on the other hand, used to organize fireplaces and smoking pipes on this day. After installing them, they also try to make a fire to ensure smooth heating when it is cold. At the time of the festival, in addition to the general offerings such as food, joss sticks, paper money, etc., there is another indispensable offering, which is the meditative clothing. At the time of the festival, people will burn the clothes to their ancestors, which is called "sending cold clothes".

Cold Clothes Day Customs 2

Throughout history, the idea that the dead are the most important thing has always been respected by the people of China, so there have been a lot of customs of ancestor worship and grave sweeping. Even in today's modernized world, the state has still established a few unchanging festivals for ancestor worship, such as Qingming and Zhongyuan. In addition to these two festivals, many places also have the custom of visiting the New Year's graves during the New Year. Now the frost has passed, in a flash, the lunar calendar September will have passed most of the coming October 1, today we will introduce you to the October 1 day of the festival, as one of the four major ghost festivals "Cold Clothes Festival", you have heard of it?

"Cold Clothes Festival" is said to have originated in the Zhou Dynasty, on this day, the ancients paid special attention to pay tribute to their ancestors, there is a "send cold clothes" said about "Cold Clothes Festival" and the spring of the The "Cold Clothes Festival", together with the "Qingming Festival" in spring, the "Zhongyuan Festival" and the "Xiayuan Festival" in fall, are also known as the "Four Great Ghost Festivals" in China. The festival is also known as the "Four Great Ghost Festivals" in China.

The birth of the festival naturally have some say, it is said that there are a lot of allusions, organize some, there are mainly the following;

First, the pre-Qin dynasty to welcome the winter ceremonies

According to ancient records, the son of heaven in October of the lunar calendar on the day of the first day of winter, you need to lead the three ministers of the nine ministers of the northern suburb of the ceremony to welcome the winter in the ceremonies are completed, to reward The first thing you need to do is to get your hands dirty. Generally speaking, the pension and other donations are almost donated, if you still donate money in such a special holiday is a bit too perfunctory.

So there will be a cold clothes to send the saying, meaning that by sending clothes to express the court will not forget the kindness, but also hope that after the meritorious ministers can feel the warmth, but passed on the clothes originally given to the living hard to now become burned to the dead clothes, which is not enough to say that the bends and bends.

Second, Meng Jiangnu send cold clothes

This story must be a household name, we will briefly introduce here, the Qin Dynasty, there are two families in the south of Meng, Jiang, Jiang's family has a woman named Meng Jiangnu, and her husband is Fan Qiliang. As a result, her husband was taken to the northern border to repair the Great Wall on their wedding night.

This is the difference between yin and yang. Meng Jiangnu found the Great Wall to learn that her husband is dead, hard to the Great Wall 800 miles of the Great Wall to cry down, so think of it is also quite powerful. As for the aftermath of how not to say, in short, Meng Jiangnu looking for her husband to send cold clothes this story is widely spread in folklore, so the custom of sending cold clothes has also been passed down.

Three, Zhu Yuanzhang "awarded clothes"

Lunar October, basically the whole country has been harvested, in ancient times is also so. The ceremony of wearing winter clothes by the son of God was a good way to show the people that winter had arrived. According to historical records, at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang Nanjing after the emperor in order to show that his ascension to the throne in accordance with the times, so in October 1 this day held a "clothing" ceremony, the harvest of red beans, glutinous rice cooked into a hot porridge reward to the ministers.

So in Nanjing there is also a saying "October morning, wear a cotton jacket, eat bean soup, cold". In addition to these official ceremonies, on this day, people will also send some clothes to their children who are still studying abroad, to show their concern and care, and the warmth of human feelings is also in it.

In addition to these stories, we can not rule out the business promotion. Suspicion, just like every ancestral season to the deceased to burn paper money, remember when I was a child in the graveyard when I saw a lot of people not only burn paper money, burn clothes, there is a burning refrigerator, burning car practice, only you can not think of no these businessmen can not do, in ancient times is also the case, the sedan chair, the paper man fake slave, as long as you are willing to spend money to have everything.

In the "Cold Clothes Festival" this day, not only is the ancestor this is a reminder to pay attention to cold and warmth, "frost" has just passed, the temperature is getting lower and lower in the Cold Clothes Festival after more than a week will be close to the beginning of winter, the northern region may usher in a wave of rapid cooling process, even if it is a little too cold, it will be a little too cold, but it is a little too cold. Rapid cooling process, even the South also need to add some clothing, after all, in the seasonal transition is the most prone to colds and fevers, once accidentally caught a cold, that taste who try who knows.

If you have a child at home, friends should pay more attention to the child's immunity is weak, when the change of season is not taken seriously, be sure to give the child to wear some clothes.

What are the traditional customs of the Cold Clothes Festival

Beijing

October 1, send the cold clothes," the old saying came from the old Beijing, probably in the Ming Dynasty. The custom of sending cold clothes was introduced to the people in the Ming Dynasty. Every year, when the weather gets colder, people will put on warm clothes, and it is the right time to send cold clothes to the dead relatives. Therefore, on the first day of October every year, people will use paper mache to make cold clothes, write the name and address on the cold clothes package, and burn them for the dead relatives.

Nanjing

People in Nanjing on the first day of October, will be various colors of paper paste into clothes, shoes and hats, and so on, and in a red paper bag, written on the name and identity of the deceased relatives, the night of the red paper bag to offer sacrifices, and then burned, as a way to express the memory of loved ones, blessing loved ones. Some people will also use the harvested grain to make some soup for their relatives to taste the new.

Luoyang

In Luoyang, there is an old saying: "October 1, oil kiki", which means that on the first day of October in the lunar calendar every year, people will deep fry some food, wrapped dumplings, and use these foods to worship ancestors, because these foods are more fatty, so it will make the "oil kiki". The food is very fatty, so it will be "oily". In Luoyang, people in some areas do not go to the graves to burn cold clothes, but burn them in front of their houses or at the crossroads. In the evening of the first day of October, when it is almost dark, people will grab a handful of soil, spread it in a circle in front of their houses, and then burn the cold clothes to pay tribute to their ancestors. Some enthusiastic people will also go to the crossroads, for the dead without descendants burned to send the cold clothes.

What are the traditional customs of Cold Clothes Day in different places

Shandong

Every year, on the first day of October in the lunar calendar, it is also the day for Shandong people to go to the graves of their dead relatives, and they will make offerings for the dead relatives of their autumn harvests, to report to the ancestors on the fruits of the year's harvest. In addition to these, they will also use colored paper cut into clothes, burned for the ancestors, said "October 1, the tomb burn cold clothes" meaning for the dead relatives to send winter clothes. In Shandong's Zichuan area, in addition to their ancestors on the grave, in the evening will also go to the intersection of the field, for those who do not have descendants of the dead to send cold clothes.

Shanxi

In the south of Jinnan, people used to use five-color paper made of clothes, and then add cotton in the paper, meaning that for the deceased loved ones to do some cotton clothes, quilts, or let them through the cold winter. And in the northern region of Jin, people pay attention to the use of five-color paper made of clothes, hats, shoes, quilt and other cold items, some people will also use the paper to make a set of houses, with doors and windows, for the dead burned, very delicate and beautiful.