Customs in Tomb-Sweeping Day, Henan

Customs in Tomb-Sweeping Day, Henan: inserting willows, offering sacrifices to ancestors, frying dumplings, steaming jujube cakes, eating eggs and so on.

1, willow

Tomb-Sweeping Day has beautiful spring breeze and trees. On this day in Tomb-Sweeping Day, willow branches will be inserted at the door. Many old people also use willow branches to string baked sesame cakes and hang them under the eaves to dry and give them to children. It is said that they can help digestion and eliminate accumulation. Every household should plant willows. So why did Qingming put the willow at the door? It turns out that China people regard Tomb-Sweeping Day, July 30th and October 1st as the three major ghost festivals, and people try to stop ghosts from harassing and persecuting them.

2. ancestor worship

Sacrificing ancestors is definitely a meaningful thing and a fundamental traditional virtue. At this time, every family goes to the grave to worship their ancestors. The reason for sweeping graves in Qingming is that winter goes and spring comes, and plants germinate. When people sweep the graves of their ancestors, they will personally check whether the graves have collapsed due to the rainy season, or have been pierced by foxes and rabbits. During the ritual sweeping, weeds were pulled from graves, new soil was added, pigs were sacrificed, incense was burned and paper money was burned, and a simple ceremony was held to commemorate ancestors.

3. fried dumplings

"Zanzi" is a kind of fried food, crisp and delicate, and was called "cold ware" in ancient times. The custom of forbidding fire and cold in the Cold Food Festival is not popular in most areas, but the prickly heat related to this festival is deeply loved by the world. The color of prickly heat is Huang Liang, which is displayed layer by layer, light and beautiful. It is crispy and delicious after drying, and it will melt when soaked in milk.

Step 4 steam jujube cake

Jujube cake is also called "self-pushing cake". In some parts of Henan, fermented grains are used to make dough and steamed dates. They are also used to making jujube cakes into swallows, stringing them with wicker and hanging them on the door, and eating them cold to commemorate the noble quality of mesons in promoting fame and fortune.

Step 5 eat eggs

In some places in Henan, eating eggs in Tomb-Sweeping Day is as important as eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival and eating moon cakes on the Mid-Autumn Festival. According to folk custom, Tomb-Sweeping Day has good health all year round after eating an egg. According to experts, the custom of eating eggs in Qingming has a history of thousands of years.