The origin of Qingming Festival and what are the customs of Qingming Festival

The Qingming Festival, also known as the Treading Green Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival and one of the most important sacrificial festivals at the intersection of mid-spring and late spring, a day of ancestor worship and grave sweeping. The traditional Chinese Qingming Festival began around the Zhou Dynasty, more than 2,500 years ago.

The origin of Qingming Festival:

According to the records, the Qingming Festival began around the Zhou Dynasty, which is more than 2,500 years ago. By the Tang Dynasty, the influence of Qingming Festival was getting bigger and bigger, and he gradually merged the Shangsi Festival with the Cold Food Festival to form the current Qingming Festival.

Legend has it that during the Spring and Autumn Period, the Prince of Jin, Chong Er, was persecuted and had to go into exile to escape. However, on the way to escape, he was so tired and hungry that he could hardly stand up and his life was at stake. However, the place was deserted and the ministers who accompanied him could not find food anywhere, so they were very anxious and could not do anything.

Then, the minister Jie Zi Tui quietly went to a secluded place, cut off a piece of meat from his thigh, boiled a bowl of soup, and let the prince drink it. Later, Chong Er became the king of the country and became the Duke of Jin. When he rewarded his ministers, he forgot about Jie Zi Tui. Many people advised him to ask for the reward, but Jie Zi Tui packed his clothes and accompanied his mother to Mianshan Mountain to live in seclusion. When Duke Wen of Jin heard about this, he was so ashamed that he personally went to invite Jie Zi push, but he had already left and went to live in Mian Mountain. He had no choice but to set fire to the mountain to force Jie Zi Tui out. But things did not go as planned, the fire burned all over, but did not see his figure. Later, after the fire was extinguished, people found that Jie Zi Tui was carrying his old mother on his back, sitting under an old willow tree and died. Jin Wendong see, mournful crying. When he was putting on the coffin, he found a piece of sash in the hole of the tree, on which was written, "Cutting flesh to serve the king with all my heart, but I wish my lord would always be clear."

In honor of Jie Zi Tui, Duke Wen of Jin ordered the day to be designated as the Cold Food Festival, in which fireworks are forbidden and only cold food is eaten. At the same time, he renamed Mianshan Mountain as "Jie Mountain" and built a shrine on the mountain in his honor. The next year, Duke Wen of Jin led his ministers to climb the mountain to pay homage to the old willow tree and found that the old willow tree was revived from the dead, so he gave the old willow tree the name of "Qingming Willow" and designated the day after the Cold Food Festival as the Qingming Festival.

Customs of Qingming Festival:

?1. Sweeping the tomb?

Tomb-sweeping on Qingming Day is called "thinking about the time of respect" for ancestors. The custom has a long history. In the Ming Dynasty, "The Scenery of the Imperial Capital", it is written: "On Qingming Day in March, men and women sweep the graves, carrying Pusaetha scandens and hanging kozo ingots on the backs of the palanquins and horses, and the road is full of them. Those who worship, pour libations, cry, and weed the graves, burn kozo and put paper money on the graves. If there is no paper money, the grave will be left alone. Weeping, do not return, tend to the fragrant trees, choose the garden, sit in the list of all drunk." In fact, tomb-sweeping before the Qin Dynasty, but not necessarily on the occasion of Qingming, Qingming tomb-sweeping is after the Qin Dynasty. Only in the Tang Dynasty did it begin to flourish. "Qing Tongli" cloud: "year, cold food and frost festival, worship sweeping Xieng Khouang tombs, the period plain clothes at the tomb, with wine and food and scythes cut grass and trees of the device, Zhou calloused seal tree, cut off the thorns and grasses, it is known as sweeping the tomb." And passed on to this day.

?2, trekking?

Treading green for spring excursions, also known as "spring", generally refers to the early spring to the countryside to walk and play. During the Qingming Festival to the nature to enjoy and appreciate the spring scenery, hiking in the countryside, this trekking is also called spring tour. In ancient times, it was called exploring spring and searching for spring, the meaning of which is to step on the green grass, play in the countryside and enjoy the spring colors. Treading green this seasonal folk activities, in our country has a long history, its source is the ancient farming rituals to welcome spring customs. This kind of farming rituals to welcome spring custom has a profound influence on the later generations.

When the Qingming Festival was held, it was the time for spring to return to the earth, and people took advantage of the opportunity to have some fun in the mountains and countryside while sweeping the graves of old and young people. There are also deliberately during the Qingming Festival to the nature to appreciate and enjoy the vibrant spring scenery, hiking in the countryside, a lyrical in the harsh winter since the depression of the heart. Before and after the Qingming Festival is a good time for trekking, so it has become an important part of the Qingming Festival customs.

?3. Planting trees?

Legend has it that at the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, the first Han emperor, did not have the time to go back to his hometown to pay tribute to his ancestors because he was always away on wars, and he did not have the chance to go back home to pay tribute to his ancestors until he became the emperor. But because he hadn't been back to his hometown for years, he didn't find his parents' graves. Later, with the help of his ministers, he found a broken tombstone in the weeds, so he ordered people to repair the grave and set up a monument, and planted pines and cypresses as a sign in front of the grave. It so happened that this day was the Qingming Festival, one of the twenty-four solar terms in the lunar calendar, so Liu Bang, on the advice of the Confucians, designated Qingming as a festival of ancestor worship. From then on, every Qingming Festival, Liu Bang would return to his hometown with honor and hold grand ancestor worship and tree planting activities. Later, this custom was spread to the folk, and people combined ancestor worship and tree planting in Qingming, and gradually formed a fixed folk custom. To the Tang Dynasty, Qingming willow has become a very popular folk custom. The so-called willow, originally refers to the behavior of people wearing willow branches, but in the process of ancestor worship, people tend to willow branches to the graveyard or the ground a plug, as the saying goes, "mindless willow shade", willow to the ground a plug, willow branches will come to life, and unintentionally play a role in planting trees.

There is another way to say it: before and after the Qingming Festival, the spring sun shines, the spring rain sprinkles, planting saplings with a high survival rate, fast growth. Therefore, since ancient times, our country has Qingming tree planting habit. Some people also call the Qingming Festival "Tree Planting Day". Tree-planting custom has been handed down to the present day. 1979, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress stipulated that every year on March 12 for China's Tree Planting Day. This is to mobilize the people of all nationalities to actively carry out activities to green the motherland, has a very important significance.

?4. Dai willow Willow Plug willow?

Wearing and inserting willow is a traditional custom of the Qingming Festival, popular throughout the country, especially in the south. Nowadays, the custom of planting trees on Qingming Festival is also evolved from the custom of wearing willow and inserting willow on Qingming Festival. On the day of the festival, people insert willow branches in front of doorways or eaves, some wear willow rings on their heads, and in some places, women wear willow hairpins on their heads and men wear willow on their bodies. According to legend, this custom was originally intended to honor Shennong, who "taught the people to gather crops". During the North and South Dynasties, people inserted willow branches on New Year's Day, believing that they could avoid ghosts. Later, this custom was transferred to the Cold Food Festival or the Qingming Festival. In addition, the willow also has the meaning of remembering the year and praying for life, there is a folk proverb: "wear a wheat, live a hundred; wear a flower, live a hundred and eight; insert a willow, live a hundred and nine."

There is another way to say that the Qingming willow, wear willow: the original Chinese people to Qingming, July half and the October solstice for the three major ghosts, is the time of the ghosts out of the discussion. People in order to prevent the ghosts of the persecution of the persecution and inserted willow, wear willow. Willow in people's minds have the function of warding off evil spirits. Influenced by Buddhism, people believe that the willow can drive away ghosts, and called "ghosts horror wood", Guanyin to willow branches dipped in water to help all beings. Northern Wei JiaSiFu "qimin yaojutsu" said: "take willow branches on the household, a hundred ghosts do not enter the home." Qingming is a ghost festival, the willow sprouting season, people have naturally inserted willow wear willow to avoid evil.

?5, Cuju?

Cuju is a kind of leather ball, the ball skin made of leather, the ball with hair stuffed tight. Cuju, is to use the foot to kick the ball. It is a favorite game in ancient times during the Qingming Festival. It is said to have been invented by the Yellow Emperor, and its original purpose was to train warriors. Playing polo is also one of the plays of Dragon Boat Festival. Polo, is riding on a horse, holding a stick to play ball, the ancient name of bow. Cao Zhi of the Three Kingdoms has a line in his book "The Name of the City", which reads, "The land is full of bows and bows". Chang'an in the Tang dynasty, there is a wide field, Emperor Xuanzong, Jingzong and other emperors like polo. Zhanghuai Prince's tomb in the "polo", painted the Tang Dynasty polo flourished: painting, more than 20 horses galloped, horse tail tied up, the ball player head 幞巾, foot on the boots, holding the ball staff by the ball hit each other.

"Analysis of the Jin Zhi" recorded the Liao country to play polo as a traditional custom of the festival, in the Dragon Boat Festival, the ninth strike. Jin Shi - Rites of the record also recorded Jin people in the Dragon Boat Festival. Song dynasty "playing ball music" dance team. To the Ming Dynasty, polo is still popular. Continuing the literature Tongkao - Lekao" recorded that the Ming Emperor Chengzu had several times to the East Garden batting, shooting willow.

?6, eat green dumplings?

Eating green dumplings at Qingming, this custom can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty more than two thousand years ago. According to the "Zhou Li" records, at that time, there is "in the middle of spring to the wood to the fire ban in the country," the regulations, so the people out of cooking, "cold food for three days". In the cold food period, that is, one or two days before Weiming, but also specific for the "cold day festival".

Anciently, the traditional food for the Cold Food Festival was glutinous rice cheese, wheat cheese, almond cheese Yang, these foods can be made beforehand, for the Cold Food Festival to feed the hungry, without having to raise the fire for cooking. Now, some of the green dumplings are using green wormwood, some of the grass juice and glutinous rice flour and then pounded with bean paste as a filling and become, passed down for more than a hundred years, is still an old face. People use it to sweep tombs and pay homage to ancestors, but more often than not, it is a new taste of the season, the green dumplings as a sacrificial function is increasingly diluted.

"Swallows come when the new society, pear blossom behind the Qingming", let us have a "clean and clear" Qingming, all kinds of joy and sorrow, food and drink, are turned into a good spiritual support < /p>