The origin, time and customs of Qingming

Tomb-Sweeping Day was also called March Festival in ancient times, and Tomb-Sweeping Day was around April 5th in Gregorian calendar, which is one of the 24 solar terms. Among the 24 solar terms, Qingming is the only one that is both a solar term and a festival.

When it comes to Tomb-Sweeping Day, people who have a little knowledge of history will associate it with the historical figure meson tui. According to historical records, in the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2, years ago, Zhong Er, the son of the State of Jin, fled and lived a hard life. The meson who followed him cut a piece of meat from his leg to satisfy his hunger. Later, Zhong Er returned to the State of Jin and became a monarch (Jin Wengong, one of the five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period). He rewarded all the followers who followed him in exile, but Jietui refused to accept the reward. He took his mother to Mianshan in seclusion and refused to come out.

There was nothing Jin Wengong could do, so he had to let Yamakaji go. He thought that Jietui was filial to his mother and would definitely come out with her. Who knows that this fire burned the meson mother and son to death. In memory of meson tui, Jin Wengong ordered that on this day every year, no fire should be lit, and every household can only eat cold food, which is the origin of the Cold Food Festival.

The Cold Food Festival is the day before Tomb-Sweeping Day. The ancients often extended the activities of the Cold Food Festival to Qingming. Over time, people combined cold food with Qingming. Now, Tomb-Sweeping Day has replaced the Cold Food Festival, and the custom of worshipping mesons has become the custom of sweeping graves at Qingming Festival.

There is another saying:

The ancients had the custom of welcoming spring, and the weather in early March of the lunar calendar was just the time when spring was full, which was suitable for people to carry out various activities, including outing and even "wild intercourse", so the most important festival in spring was also at this time. Zhu Xuqiang believes that the early Tomb-Sweeping Day did not have the function of offering sacrifices to sweep, and the activities in Tomb-Sweeping Day were the same as other festivals in early March.

As we know, Qingming Festival is one of the 24 solar terms, which is a calendar based on the solar calendar and is not a festival in itself. Qingming is just in the beginning of March of the lunar calendar, which coincides with Shangsi Festival and Cold Food Festival in ancient spring. Over time, Qingming has become a part of spring festivals.

Today, Shangsi Festival has disappeared from the Chinese festival spectrum, but it used to be one of the most important festivals in a year. Before the Han dynasty, it was designated as the fourth day of early March, and later it was fixed as the third day of the third lunar month. According to records, Shangsi Festival has become popular in the Spring and Autumn Period. The Analects of Confucius said that "those who are in the late spring, who have already taken their spring clothes, have five or six champions, and six or seven boys, who have bathed in seven interpretations, are dancing in the wind and return home with singing" is the situation at that time.

At the earliest time, people would go for an outing and take a bath by the river on Shangsi Festival. In addition, this day also has the function of "exorcising evil spirits", which the ancients called "removing the bath". In ancient times, the function of festivals was to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters, such as "climbing the mountain on the Double Ninth Festival". The actual reason was to avoid the plague at the foot of the mountain, and the same is true of "removing the bath". Zhu Xuqiang explained that the actual reason was that the river was too cold in winter and the water temperature was just right in early March, so people were anxious to take their first bath after wintering.

As we said earlier, Shangsi Festival also has the function of courtship and mating. It also happened during this period that the Book of Songs said that "Wei Shi and female, Yi Qi tease each other and give them peony". This tradition has always influenced the Tang and Song Dynasties, and Du Fu's two for the road has the sentence "on the third day of the Third-month in the freshening weather, many beauties take the air by the Changan waterfront". However, later, as the society became more civilized, the theme of sexual intercourse was replaced by seeking children, and the custom of paying homage to Loi Wo Temple and women seeking children by the river was formed on Shangsi Festival.

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the scholar-officials also had the custom of "March 3", and "meandering water and flowing" was a popular leisure way at that time, which we all read in Wang Xizhi's Preface to the Lanting Pavilion.

As for the custom of ancestor worship in Qingming Festival, there is a saying that it has something to do with the Cold Food Festival in the third month of the lunar calendar. The legend of the Cold Food Festival is because Jin Wengong set it up in the Spring and Autumn Period to commemorate the minister Jie Zhi. Zhu Xuqiang believes that this is actually a statement that future generations will attach themselves to it, just like the Dragon Boat Festival and Qu Yuan. The origin of the Cold Food Festival is related to the difficulty in getting fire in ancient times. Once the fire is obtained, it will be preserved for a long time. Today, some ethnic minority areas still retain the custom of setting fire pits in their houses. The Cold Food Festival is an annual "fire-changing" day. People have to replace new kindling in those days, so they can only eat cold food. Therefore, the Cold Food Festival itself has nothing to do with sacrificial sweeping.

[ Edit this paragraph] Tomb-Sweeping Day customs

The customs in Tomb-Sweeping Day are rich and interesting. Besides paying attention to banning fires and sweeping graves, there are also a series of customs and sports activities such as hiking, swinging, cuju, polo and willow planting. According to legend, this is because Tomb-Sweeping Day wants to ban cold food and fire. In order to prevent cold food and cold meals from hurting people, we all take part in some sports activities to exercise. Therefore, this festival is a distinctive festival, with both sad tears to sweep the new grave and laughter for an outing.

Swing is a custom in Tomb-Sweeping Day in ancient China. Swing, which means pulling the leather rope and moving. Its history is very old. It was first called Qianqiu, and later it was changed to a swing to avoid taboos. In ancient times, swings were made of branches of trees and tied with ribbons. Later, it gradually developed into a swing with two ropes and pedals. Playing swing can not only improve health, but also cultivate courage, which is loved by people, especially children.

Cujuju is a kind of rubber ball, the leather cover of the ball is made, and the ball is stuffed with wool. Cuju is to play football with your feet. This is a popular game in ancient Tomb-Sweeping Day. According to legend, it was invented by the Yellow Emperor, with the original purpose of training warriors.

outing is also called spring outing. In ancient times, it was called tanchun and xunchun. March is clear, spring returns to the earth, and nature presents a vibrant scene everywhere, which is a good time for an outing. Our people have long maintained the habit of going for a walk in the Qingming Festival.

before and after planting trees in Qingming, the spring sun shines and the spring rain flies, and the survival rate of planted seedlings is high and the growth is fast. Therefore, since ancient times, China has the habit of planting trees in Qingming. Some people even call Tomb-Sweeping Day Arbor Day. The custom of planting trees has been passed down to this day. In 1979, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress stipulated that March 12th every year was Arbor Day in China. This is of great significance to mobilizing people of all ethnic groups in China to actively carry out activities to green the motherland.

Flying kites is also a favorite activity in Qingming Festival. During the Qingming Festival, people not only put it on during the day, but also at night. At night, a string of small colored lanterns is hung under a kite or on a wind-stable stay line, like a flashing star, which is called a "magic lamp". In the past, some people put kites in the blue sky, then cut the strings and let the breeze send them to the ends of the earth. It is said that this can eliminate diseases and disasters and bring good luck to themselves.

Tomb Sweeping

The first tomb sweeper: Jin Wengong

The first tomb sweeper: Jiezitui

Tomb Sweeping, which is called "respect for the time" for ancestors. Its custom has a long history. The Ming Dynasty's "A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Imperial Capital" reads: "On the Qingming Day in March, men and women visited the graves, carrying their respect, and hanging ingots from the back of the sedan chair, the road was full of embarrassment. Worshippers, mourners, weeping, weeding and adding soil to the tomb, burn ingots several times and buy graves with paper money. If there is no paper money in sight, it will be a lonely grave. After crying, don't go back, go to the fragrant trees, choose the garden, and sit down and get drunk. " In fact, sweeping graves existed before Qin dynasty, but not necessarily during Qingming period, but after Qin dynasty. It didn't become popular until the Tang Dynasty. "Qing Tong Li" says: "On the New Year's Eve, cold food and first frost Festival, you worship to sweep the tomb. During the period, you will serve the tomb in plain clothes, with wine and tools for cutting vegetation, and you will seal the trees and cut off the jingcao in the week, so it is called sweeping the grave." And passed down to this day.

The Qingming Festival sweeping ceremony should have been held in person, but because each family's economic conditions and other conditions are different, the way of sweeping is different. "Burning a bundle" is the main form of paying homage to ancestors. The so-called "baggage", also known as "parcel", refers to the postal parcel sent by filial piety from Yangshi to Sheol. In the past, Nanzhi store sold so-called "wrapped skins", that is, a large bag was pasted with white paper. There are two forms: one is a woodcut version, in which the Sanskrit transliteration of the "Death Mantra" is printed around it, and a lotus tablet is printed in the middle to write the names of the dead people who receive money, such as "the late Zhang Fujun was afraid of the boss in Yunshan", which is both a parcel and a tablet. The other is plain wrapped leather, which does not print any patterns. Just stick a blue sign in the middle and write down the names of the dead. Also used as the main card. There are many kinds of money in the bag.

first, burn paper, nine k white paper, and throw four rows of round money, each with five pieces;

second, the ghost money is copied after the world has a foreign money ticket, with the words "Paradise Bank", "Ghost Country Bank" and "The Bank of the underworld" written on it, and the pattern of the capital of Fujian, mostly with huge face value, and the Buddhist "Death Mantra" printed on the back;

3. Fake foreign currency, with hard paper as the core, wrapped with silver foil and stamped with the same pattern as the prevailing silver dollar at that time;

Fourth, the "Death Mantra" printed in red on yellow paper is a round money, so it is also called "Death Money";

5. Gold and silver foil-stacked ingots and rollers, some of which are threaded into strings, with a colored paper spike at the bottom. In the old days, no matter whether rich or poor, there was a move to burn burdens. On that day, a confession case was set up in the ancestral temple or the main house of the family house, and the baggage was placed in the middle. In front of it, offerings such as dumplings, cakes and fruits were set up, and incense was burned and candles were held. After the whole family salutes according to seniority, they can be incinerated outside the door. When incinerating, draw a big circle and leave a gap in the direction of the graveyard. Burn three or five pieces of paper outside the circle, which is called "sending away the special things outside."

some wealthy families want to take their families and their families by car and go to the graves to pay homage. At that time, it is necessary to trim the grave, or symbolically add soil to the grave, and put some paper money on it to let others see it, knowing that there are still descendants in this grave. After the sacrifice, some sat around for dinner and drinking; Others fly kites and even compete with each other for entertainment. Women and children will also fold some Yang Liuzhi nearby and wear the steamed food offerings with wicker. Others weave wicker into a reed and wear it on their heads, saying that "if you don't wear willow in Qingming, you will become a yellow dog in the afterlife." This is a grave-sweeping and an outing, and you can only go home when you are happy.

It is said that the custom of inserting willows is also to commemorate Shennong, the founder of farming who taught the people to cultivate crops. In some places, people put willow branches under the eaves to forecast the weather. There is an old saying, "The willow branches are green and rainy; The saying that the wicker is dry and the sky is sunny. During the Huang Chao Uprising, it was stipulated that "Qingming is a period, Dai Liu is the number". After the failure of the uprising, the custom of wearing willow was gradually eliminated, and only inserting willow prevailed. Willow has a strong vitality, as the saying goes: "If you have the heart to plant flowers, you will not grow them." Wicker lives when it is inserted into the soil, where it is inserted, where it lives, and when it is inserted year after year, it becomes cloudy everywhere.

Tomb-Sweeping Day has beautiful spring breeze and trees. People go hiking, sweep graves and go to graves on this day. Everyone should wear willows, and willow branches should be inserted at the door of every household. Where did this custom come from? There is a legend about Tomb-Sweeping Day related to Liu Yong, a great poet in the Song Dynasty. It is said that Liu Yong lives a dissolute life and often travels between Huajie Liuxiang. Geisha at that time all loved their talents and were proud of being favored by Liu Yong. However, because of his bad life, Liu Yong was not allowed by his official career all his life. Although he passed the Jinshi, he died in poverty in Xiangyang. His funeral expenses were all raised by the singer who admired him. Every year, in Tomb-Sweeping Day, singing girls stick willow branches in his grave as a memorial, and it has become a custom to stick willow branches in Qingming. In fact, this custom existed as early as the Tang Dynasty. People in the Tang Dynasty believed that wearing willow branches when offering sacrifices by the river on March 3 could get rid of the harm of poisonous insects. After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the custom of inserting willows was very popular in Tomb-Sweeping Day. People came back for an outing and inserted willows at home to avoid insect pests. Whether recorded in folklore or historical records, Tomb-Sweeping Day's willow planting is always related to avoiding diseases and epidemics. As the climate gets warmer during the Spring Festival, all kinds of germs begin to multiply, and people can only hope to shake willow branches in the case of poor medical conditions.

There is another saying: It turns out that China people regard Qingming Festival, July 3 and October New Moon as the three major ghost festivals, which are the time for ghosts to haunt and seek. In order to prevent the harassment and persecution of ghosts, people put in willows and wear willows. Willow has the function of ward off evil spirits in people's minds. Influenced by Buddhism, people think that willows can exorcise ghosts, and call them "ghosts and trees". Guanyin helps all beings by dipping willow branches in water. Jia Sixie in the Northern Wei Dynasty said in "Qi Min Yao Shu": "Take a willow branch and put it on the house, and a hundred ghosts will not enter the house." Qingming Festival is a ghost festival. On the occasion of wicker germination, people naturally insert willows and wear willows to ward off evil spirits. Han people have the custom of "folding willows to bid farewell": Baqiao is in Chang 'an East, crossing the water as a bridge, and Han people send guests to this bridge and fold willows to bid farewell. Li Bai has a saying: "Every year, the willow leaves, and Baling hurts." In ancient times, on both sides of Baqiao Bridge in Chang 'an, the dike was ten miles long, with one willow step at a time. Many people who went from Chang 'an East came here to bid farewell to their relatives, and folded willow branches to bid farewell to their relatives, because "willow" was homophonic with "stay" to show their intention of retaining. This custom originated from the book of songs, Xiaoya Caiwei, which said, "In the past, I was gone, and the willows were reluctant." Give a willow as a parting gift to express the feelings of being inseparable, unable to bear to part, and reluctant to part. Willow is the symbol of spring. Willow swaying in spring always gives people a sense of prosperity. "Folding willows to bid farewell" contains the wish that "spring is always there". The ancients saw off the willows and sent them to each other, which also meant that relatives were like willow branches leaving their hometown. I hope that when they go to a new place, they can take root and sprout quickly, as if willow branches can live everywhere. It's a good wish for friends. There are also a lot of references in the poems of the ancients to breaking willows and giving them away. Quan Deyu's poem in the Tang Dynasty: "Give me a gift for my new knowledge", Jiang Baishi's poem in the Song Dynasty: "Don't worry if there are no green willows on the other side of the road", and Guo Dengshi's poem in the Ming Dynasty: "When you are old, you will see someone off, and all the willows on the side of the city will be folded." Chen Weisong's Ci in Qing Dynasty: "How many wickers are left today? To be discounted. " People will not only feel sad when they see the willow, but also touch the mood when they hear the song "Folding the Willow". Li Bai's "Smelling the flute in Los Angeles on a Spring Night": "Everyone can't afford to miss their hometown." In fact, willow can have many symbolic meanings, and the ancients gave willow all kinds of feelings, so it is reasonable to borrow willow to send feelings.

the customs of ancient cold food festival

the customs of cold food festival include going to the grave, sightseeing, fighting cocks, swinging, playing carpets, pulling hooks (tug of war) and so on. The custom of going to the grave is very old. Where there is a grave, there must be a tomb sacrifice. Later, due to the integration with the custom of evoking souls in March, it was gradually decided to sacrifice on cold food. The Book of the Tang Dynasty says: "In the twentieth year of Kaiyuan, cold food went to the tomb, and the Book of Rites was silent. According to modern legend, it is advisable to go to the tomb to worship the ceremony. " Song Zhuang Ji Yu's "Chicken Ribs" volume: "Cold food is buried, and there is no incense. Paper money hangs on the tree. Those who go to the countryside all climb mountains to look at the sacrifices. Breaking in the air is called breaking money. However, due to the fate of the four parties in Jingshi, they set up a wine essay (zhuan, meals) and took their family for a spring outing. "

The custom of Tomb-Sweeping Day in old Beijing

Another custom in Tomb-Sweeping Day, old Beijing, is to go to the Town God Temple to burn incense, worship and pray for divination on this day. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were seven or eight Town God temples in old Beijing, and incense was the most prosperous at that time. The "Lord Chenghuang" enshrined in the Chenghuang Temple was the most popular deity outside the Kitchen God and the God of Wealth. In fact, this "grandfather" is the minister of a city or a county. When Tomb-Sweeping Day, a ghost festival, is opened every year, people go to pray for wishes, for drought and rain (sunny when it rains), for peace when they go out, for recovery when they are sick, for the dead, and so on. At that time, the temple fair was very lively inside and outside, and there were stages and performances in the temple. According to the memories of the old people at home, in the early years of the Republic of China, there was also a tour of the "Lord Town God". People used eight-lift sedan chairs to carry the "Lord Town God" made of rattan around the city, and all kinds of incense would accompany them. After the "Lord Town God", they performed yangko, stilts, five tiger sticks, etc., while walking and performing, and the market visitors passed by were like There is a miscellaneous chant: "The temple is also divided into inner and outer cities, and the competition in spring is expected to be clear, and it is also the beginning of autumn and the beginning of winter. Men and women burn incense and ask about life and death." That is, the custom of Tomb-Sweeping Day.