Qingming Festival, also known as outing Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival and one of the most important sacrificial festivals. It is a day for ancestor worship and tomb sweeping. Tomb sweeping, ancestor worship and outing are the basic themes of Qingming Festival. Today, I sorted out the reasons for Tomb Sweeping during the Qingming Festival_ For your reference, let's have a look!
Reasons for Tomb Sweeping during Qingming Festival
Qingming was originally just the name of a solar term, which became a festival to commemorate ancestors, which is related to the cold food festival. Duke Wen of Jin set the day after the cold food festival as Qingming Festival. In most areas of Shanxi, the cold food festival is celebrated the day before the Qingming Festival; Yushe County and other places celebrated the cold food festival two days before the Qingming Festival; Yuanqu County also pays attention to the cold food festival the day before the Qingming Festival and the small cold food the next day.
The Chinese people pay attention to being cautious in the end and pursuing the far. There have been many sacrificial activities corresponding to this concept. With the passage of history, most of these activities have declined. Only tomb sweeping during the Qingming Festival is still handed down. Therefore, it is regarded by experts as one of the folk customs with the longest life force.
It is generally believed that the custom of tomb sweeping during the Qingming Festival inherits the tradition of the cold food festival, "Tomb Sweeping before the Tang Dynasty was during the cold food festival. The confusion between the Qingming Festival and the cold food festival began about the Tang Dynasty; the confusion between the cold food tomb sweeping and the Qingming tomb sweeping only began about the Tang Dynasty"
So when did the custom of cold food tomb sweeping begin? This is another controversial issue since the Song Dynasty.
Ouyang Xiu of the Song Dynasty said, "the rites of the Five Dynasties were bad. He ate cold food and burned paper money for wild sacrifices." (Volume 30 of Xinyu congkao by Zhao Yi of the Qing Dynasty) in other words, the custom of cold eating and tomb sweeping began in the Five Dynasties, and this is the result of the relaxation of the ritual system.
Later, it was pointed out that the custom of cold food tomb sweeping had been popular at least in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. According to the imperial edict of the seventh year of emperor Xianzong ' Later, someone noticed the record in the book of the old Tang Dynasty Xuanzong Benji that "cold food to go to the tomb should be incorporated into the five rites and always be the constant style", so it was concluded that cold food to sweep the tomb began in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty Xuanzong. For example, the book of Huguang annals said: "the scholars and common people do not order the temple to offer sacrifices, and it is appropriate to go to the tomb, starting from the Ming emperor of the Tang Dynasty." This conclusion has a great impact, and many works on Tomb Sweeping during the Qingming Dynasty have been followed.
Some people find out the original text of the edict "it is advisable to go to the tomb" in 732 of the 20th year of Kaiyuan of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty from Volume 23 of the meeting of the Tang Dynasty: "when going to the tomb with cold food, there is no text in the ritual scriptures, which is handed down in modern times, and soaked into customs. If scholars and common people do not enjoy it in the temple, why should they show filial piety? It is advisable to go to the tomb... Which is still incorporated into the ritual code and will always be the norm." It can be seen that this imperial edict only uses the form of decree to recognize the popular custom of cold food going to the tomb, rather than the origin of the custom.
There are two theories about the source of cold food tomb sweeping in folklore. One said that Zhuge Liang ruled Shu during the Three Kingdoms period, which won popular support, but after his death, the imperial court did not build a temple for it, so the people worshipped on the field road during the cold food. Since then, the imperial court has made improper introspection and formally attached sacrifices to Zhuge Liang in the ancestral (Liu Bei) temple, but the custom of cold food and wild sacrifice has been formed and evolved into each person's sacrifice to sweep the tombs of their ancestors; Another said that the custom of cold food tomb sweeping and the cold food festival were formed at the same time in the spring and Autumn period, both of which were promoted by the commemoration of the hermit Jie Zi.
Others believe that cold food tomb sweeping comes from the custom of ancient ancestors offering sacrifices to Gao at the spring equinox. Gao Zhen is the high mother. In the primitive society where people only recognized their mother and did not recognize their father, the high mother was the ancestor. To worship Gao is to worship our ancestors. The original period of the cold food festival was in the second half of February, which was consistent with the ancient time of worshiping Gaoyao. Therefore, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty set cold food as the ancestor worship Festival. In later generations, the cold food festival was reduced to the last three or two days, or directly combined with the Qingming Festival, so cold food tomb sweeping became tomb sweeping during the Qingming Festival.
Some people have even talked about "drawing salary from the bottom of the barrel": not only did the cold food tomb sweeping not start from the Tang Xuanzong, but even the tomb sweeping during the Qingming Festival was not transformed from the cold food festival customs. According to the twenty-first volume of "Tang Hui Yao" and "Yuanling gifts", in the second year of Yonghui (651), the relevant departments presented to Gao zongzo that when the former Emperor (i.e. Emperor Taizong of Tang) was alive, he offered food to the Mausoleum (i.e. the tomb of emperor Gaozu of Tang) during "new moon, hope, winter solstice, summer solstice, wax, Qingming and Society (day)". Now the funeral period of the former Emperor has ended, and your majesty should follow the old example. Gaozong "follows it". It can be seen that the system of royal tomb sacrifice for Qingming in Li and Tang Dynasties has been established since Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty. Further back, it can be found that this ritual system has actually been formed in the Han Dynasty. When Prince Zhang Huai of the Tang Dynasty annotated the book of the later Han Dynasty, he quoted Ying Shao's "official instrument of the Han Dynasty": "the first emperor of Qin rises and sleeps on the side of the tomb, and the Han Dynasty does not change because of the Han Dynasty. The tombs sleep with darkness, hope, 24 Qi, three volts, society, wax and four seasons." Ying Shao's so-called "24 Qi" should include Qingming. Because as early as in the Han Dynasty records such as Huainanzi, Weishu Yitong divination test and the contract of filial piety and economic aid to God, the twenty-four Qi has been completely consistent with the present twenty-four Qi.
So, what tradition did the tomb sacrifice of Qingming in Han Dynasty follow? How to change the "Spring Festival" and "Spring Festival" of the Tang Dynasty? Does the tomb sacrifice of the Tang Dynasty Royal family go hand in hand with the popular cold food on the tomb, each with its own origin, or does it come from the same source and flow, and finally become one? It seems that it is impossible to completely reveal the mystery of the origin of tomb sweeping during the Qingming Festival without distinguishing these problems one by one.
What's special about Tomb Sweeping on Tomb Sweeping Day
1. If you go to the Tomb Sweeping Day, you'd better choose the time when the Yang is relatively strong, that is, after 9 a.m. to before 3 p.m. to complete the Qingming mountain worship activity, because the previous time is the time when the Yang is strong, which is conducive to worship. Don't go in the evening. If it's too late, you can delay it for a day, because the Yin is too heavy at dusk, which is easy to be bad for the weak. Sacrificing in an overcast evening may affect your luck. It can be five days before and after the Qingming Festival and on the day of the Qingming Festival, but you can't sweep the grave on the cold food festival, which is the first day of the Qingming Festival.
2. Pregnant women and young children should pay more attention before and after the Tomb Sweeping Day. They don't have to go to the cemetery. It's better to be far away from the dark place. Unless there are special circumstances, they must be equipped with amulets. If it is a woman who goes to the grave, it is best to avoid the time of the holiday. It is suggested that pregnant women should not go to the grave and worship at home.
3. If a person is ill or weak, it's best not to participate in Tomb Sweeping activities, because such people are in an overall downturn and lack of popularity is very likely to lead to bad luck. In addition, good or bad forehead look is also very important to people. If the forehead looks dark and gray on Qingming Festival, it is not recommended to go to the grave again. For friends who like to leave bangs, it is best to separate the bangs on that day.
4. Don't go to too remote places for sacrifice, because sacrifice will inevitably go to some sparsely populated places. It's best to take the road that people often take. Don't go outing in remote areas. One is safety. Moreover, Feng Shui is easy to get involved in evil spirits. If you really need to go, it is recommended that many people go together.