Qingming Festival is one of the 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar. At the turn of mid spring and late spring, it is a festival full of harmony and pleasant atmosphere. The traditional Qingming Festival of the Han nationality in China began in the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2500 years. "Almanac": "on the 15th day after the spring equinox, dou Zhiding is Qingming. When everything is clean and neat, it is Qingming. When it is covered, it is Qingqi and Jingming, and everything is obvious. Therefore, it is named." Qingming Festival is a festival to offer sacrifices to ancestors. The traditional activity is tomb sweeping. On May 20, 2006, the festival was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list approved by the State Council.
In the long years of history, some unique customs of tomb sweeping, suburban spring outing, folding willows and inserting doors, swinging and flying kites have gradually formed. However, where does this traditional festival come from?
When it comes to the origin and evolution of the Qingming custom, we must start with the cold food festival, a very famous and now lost festival in ancient times. It is said that the cold food festival originated from the Jin State in the spring and Autumn period. It is to commemorate Jie Zitui, the Minister of the prince of the Jin State. Chong Er, the son of the Duke of Jin, was exiled abroad for 19 years. Jie Zitui escorted him and made great achievements. Later, Chong Er returned to the country and ascended the throne as Duke Wen of Jin. After Duke Wen of Jin ascended the throne, Jie Zitui, who did not seek fame and wealth, took his mother on his back and hid in Mianshan. Duke Wen of Jin went to look for it, but he couldn't find it. So he set fire to the mountain and tried to push Jie Zi out. Unexpectedly, Jie Zi Tui and his mother held a big tree and would rather burn to death than go out of the mountain. Duke Wen of Jin was so sad that he ordered Mianshan to be renamed "Jieshan" (that is, Jieshan in Jiexiu County, Shanxi Province). He also ordered that the day when jiezitui was burned to death should be designated as "cold food festival". Every year after that, it was forbidden to make a fire and eat cold meals during cold food festival to show his memory. Therefore, the cold food festival is also called "cooked food festival", "no smoking Festival" and "cold Festival".
In the cold winter, we should ban fire and eat cold food. I'm afraid some old and weak women and children can't stand the cold. At the same time, in order to prevent cold food from hurting their bodies, we decided to set outings, outings and other outdoor activities, so that everyone can come out to bask in the sun and exercise their muscles and bones to increase their resistance.
When Emperor Xuanzong came to the Tang Dynasty, he ordered the world to "go to the tomb with cold food" and made cold food tomb sweeping one of the "five rites" at that time. Therefore, when the tomb sweeping day came, "the fields and roads were full of scholars and women, and the servants and beggars in zaoli got their parents' tomb." (Liu Zongyuan's book with Xu Jingzhao) tomb sweeping has become an important social custom.
Since the date of the cold food festival is only one or two days from the winter solstice, that is, the Tomb Sweeping Day, later generations gradually moved the custom of cold food tomb sweeping to the Tomb Sweeping Day. After the Song Dynasty, the cold food festival and the Qingming Festival have become one. The so-called "Qingming Festival sweeps are different" (a poem by Gao juqing, a poet of the Song Dynasty). In fact, "Qingming Festival sweeps" (worship and tomb sweeping) is only one of the activities of Qingming Festival. The important contents that really have rich humanistic connotation and seasonal fun are "outing", "spring outing", "folding willows", "tug of war", "Cuju" (playing football), "flying kites" and "swing". Therefore, the Qingming Festival was promoted from a simple agricultural solar term to an important festival, and the influence of the cold food festival disappeared. However, some customs in the cold food festival are still handed down. Therefore, in addition to offering sacrifices to ancestors and sweeping tombs, there are also various outdoor fitness activities on Qingming Festival, so that this festival not only has the feeling of cautiously pursuing the future, but also integrates the joy of outing and enjoying spring; It is a festival with national characteristics and special significance.
Qingming is a season of mourning, a season of melancholy, a festival of tears and a festival of remembrance. A fragrance and a bunch of chrysanthemums convey to our lost loved ones. I wish them all well.