Customs and habits of Cold Clothes Festival

1, Han Festival, a traditional festival in China, is also called "October Dynasty", "Ancestor Festival" and "Ghost Festival" on the first day of October in the lunar calendar every year, which is called Ghost Head Festival by the people and is a traditional festival of sacrifice in China. It is said that it originated in the Zhou Dynasty. The Cold Clothes Festival is popular in the north, and many northerners will offer sacrifices on this day to commemorate their deceased relatives. This is called sending cold clothes.

2. In the north, Hanyi Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day in spring and Mid-Autumn Festival on July 15 are collectively called the three "ghost festivals" in China. At the same time, this day also marks the arrival of severe winter, so it is also a day to send warm clothes to parents, lovers and others who care about it.

3, customs: October, early Qin, send cold clothes. The festival food of the Qin people for the New Year is "millet _", and "Old Records of Jingchu Years" records: "The first day of October, millet _, commonly known as the first year of Qin Dynasty." The first day of October in the lunar calendar is called the October Dynasty. Although the Qin Dynasty died early, the customs at the beginning of the Qin Dynasty were not only used in the early Han Dynasty, but also had an impact after the taichu calendar Law in the Han Dynasty. Pu Jizhong, a poet in the Song Dynasty, compiled "Ancient and Modern Miscellaneous Fu", which included 38 poems about drinking in early winter by the poet Shen Li, among which he chanted: "My people have been Qin people for a long time, and there is still the custom of October." Thus, Qin culture remained until the Song Dynasty. Since ancient times, our country has had the custom of paying homage to ancestors in the new harvest season to show filial piety and not forget our roots. Ancient people also offered sacrifices to their ancestors Xiaomi on the first day of the tenth lunar month. Sacrifice to ancestors on the first day of the tenth lunar month, including family sacrifice and grave sacrifice. Cold clothing festival is very popular in the north, but it is rarely heard in the south. [ 1][ 10]

In the north, after the first day of the 10th lunar month, the weather is getting colder every day. To this end, people should not only send warm clothes to the dead for the winter, but also carry out some traditional activities symbolizing winter. On this day, women will take out cotton-padded clothes and let their children and husbands change seasons. If the weather is still warm, it is not suitable to wear cotton at this time, and children and husbands should be urged to try it on for good luck. People are used to arranging stoves and chimneys on this day. After installation, try to make a fire to ensure smooth heating in cold weather. In addition to food, incense sticks, paper money and other general offerings, there is also an indispensable offering-shroud. When offering sacrifices, people incinerate ghost clothes to their ancestors, which is called sending cold clothes.

Later, the custom of "burning cold clothes" changed in some places. Instead of burning cold clothes, people burned a lot of ghost paper in a paper bag with the names of the recipients and senders and their corresponding names written on it. This is called "baggage". There is a name of cold clothes, but there is no reality of cold clothes. People think that the underworld, like the dead, can buy many things with money.