What are the customs of Qingming Festival?

Qingming Festival, also called the Outing Festival, falls at the turn of mid-spring and late spring, which is the 108th day after the winter solstice. It is a traditional Chinese festival and one of the most important sacrificial festivals. It is a day for ancestor worship and tomb sweeping. The origin of the Qingming Festival is said to have begun with the ritual of "grave sacrifices" for emperors, generals and prime ministers in ancient times. Later, the people also imitated it. They worshiped their ancestors and swept their tombs on this day. It has been followed by generations and has become a fixed custom of the Chinese nation. In addition to ancestor worship and tomb sweeping, there are other festival customs during Qingming Festival.

?1. Tomb-sweeping?

In Chinese history, it has long been a custom to eat cold food, ban fire, and pay homage to ancestors. After the Tang Dynasty, the Cold Food Festival gradually declined, so sweeping tombs and worshiping ancestors during the Qingming Festival became an ongoing festival tradition. Even in today's society, people still have the custom of visiting tombs to pay homage to their ancestors before and after Tomb Sweeping Day: weeding out weeds, placing offerings, offering incense and prayers in front of the tombs, burning paper money and gold ingots, or simply offering a bouquet of flowers. To express the memory of ancestors.

? 2. Swinging?

Swinging is an ancient Chinese Qingming Festival custom. Swinging means moving by holding the leather rope. It has a very ancient history. It was first called Qianqiu. Later, in order to avoid taboos, it was changed to a swing. In ancient times, swings were mostly made of tree branches and tied with colorful ribbons. Later, they gradually developed into swings with two ropes and pedals. Playing on the swing can not only improve health, but also cultivate bravery. It is still loved by people, especially children.

Although "swing" became popular in the court in the Han Dynasty, the custom of "swinging" also formed among the people in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. But it is officially related to the "Cold Food Festival". Before the Tang Dynasty, "Cold Food" was originally a small festival in the Sanjin area. After Li Shimin and his son established the Tang Dynasty, they combined the hometown festival with the "Qingming" solar term and promoted it nationwide. The swing was officially fixed as a festival repertoire along with Cuju, cockfighting, outings and other activities.

? 3. Cuju?

Chuju is a kind of leather ball. The skin of the ball is made of leather and the inside of the ball is stuffed with hair. Cuju means kicking a ball with your feet. This is a game that people loved during the Qingming Festival in ancient times. According to legend, it was invented by the Yellow Emperor, and its original purpose was to train warriors. Playing polo is also one of the Dragon Boat Festival dramas. Polo is played by riding on a horse and holding a stick. It was called Juju in ancient times. There is a sentence in "Famous Capitals" written by Cao Zhi of the Three Kingdoms: "Strike the soil continuously". In Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty, there was a large stadium, and emperors such as Xuanzong and Jingzong were all fond of polo. The "Polo Picture" in the tomb of Prince Zhang Huai depicts the prosperity of polo in the Tang Dynasty: in the picture, more than 20 horses are galloping, their tails are tied up, and the player wears a scarf on his head, boots on his feet, and holds a ball. The sticks hit each other ball by ball.

"Analysis of Jinzhi" records that the Liao Dynasty regarded polo as a traditional festival custom, and played polo on the Dragon Boat Festival and Double Ninth Festival. "History of the Jin Dynasty·Li Zhi" also records that the Jin people hit the ball on the Dragon Boat Festival. In the Song Dynasty, there was a "playing ball music" dance team. By the Ming Dynasty, polo was still popular. "Xu Wen Tong Kao Le Kao" records that Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty went to Dongyuan to hit balls and shoot willows several times.

When I go home, I pick a few willow branches with newly bloomed leaves and put them on my head, which makes me happy. Some people also go out to nature during the Qingming Festival to appreciate and appreciate the vibrant spring scene. They go hiking in the countryside to express their depression since the harsh winter. This kind of outing is also called spring outing. In ancient times, it was called exploring spring and seeking spring. Its meaning is to step on the green grass, play in the countryside and enjoy the spring scenery.

Before and after the Qingming Festival is a good time for outing, so it has become an important part of the Qingming Festival customs. In ancient times, women were not allowed to travel casually on weekdays. Tomb-sweeping during the Qingming Festival was a rare opportunity for an outing. Therefore, women had more fun than men during the Qingming Festival. There is a folk saying that "a woman's Qingming Festival is a man's year."

5. Planting trees?

In addition to spring plowing and spring management, China has also had the custom of planting trees during Qingming Festival since ancient times, so some people call Qingming Festival "Arbor Day". When the Qingming Festival comes, the temperature rises and the rainfall increases. It is a good time to plant trees. Therefore, there is a farmer's proverb "Afforestation is better than the Qingming Festival"

Tree planting during the Qingming Festival is also related to ancestor worship, because most of the tombs are It is in the wild and is often covered with weeds. Sometimes it takes a long time to find the graves to worship ancestors. So some people planted evergreen pines and cypresses on the tomb, so that it would be more conspicuous. Later, it was gradually followed by people and became a custom.

Before and after the Qingming Festival, when the spring sun shines and the spring rain falls, the saplings planted have a high survival rate and fast growth. Since ancient times, our country has had the habit of planting trees during the Qingming Festival.

Some people also call Qingming Festival "Arbor Day", and the custom of tree planting has been passed down to this day. The Sixth Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Fifth National People's Congress decided that March 12 every year will be my country's Arbor Day.

? 6. Flying kites?

The ancients believed that flying kites can take away evil spirits and bad luck. It is said that the first kite in the world was made of wood by Lu Ban, a famous craftsman in the Spring and Autumn Period. At that time, there were also kites made of bamboo. Paper kites appeared in the Han Dynasty, called "paper kites".

After the Tang Dynasty, kites became increasingly popular as a children's toy. Gao Ding, a poet of the Qing Dynasty, once described the scene of flying kites like this: "The grass is growing and orioles are flying in February, and the willows are blowing on the embankment and drunk with the spring smoke. Children come back early from school, and they are busy taking advantage of the east wind to fly kites."

People. A bamboo flute was added to the paper kite. After the paper kite flew into the sky and was blown by the wind, it made a "woo-woo" sound, which was like the sound of a kite, so people renamed the paper kite "kite". Since 1984, it has been held every year during the Qingming Festival, and Weifang is known as the "Kite Capital of the World".

Since Tomb-Sweeping Day was originally a cold food festival, cold food was forbidden and only cold food was allowed. In order to prevent cold food from harming the body, it is necessary to go out and do some recreational activities to exercise, so that there is a phenomenon of both joy and sorrow. The Cold Food Festival met the "Qingming" solar term and merged into the Qingming Festival. In addition, the ancient custom of flying kites also coincided with the Qingming Festival, so there is a saying of "Kite Flying during the Qingming Festival".

? 7. Inserting willows and wearing willows?

Qingming Festival is the time when willows sprout and turn green. There is a folk custom of breaking willows, wearing willows and inserting willows. When people go out for an outing, they break off a few willow sticks. They can hold them in their hands and play with them, or they can make them into hats and wear them on their heads. They can also take them home and insert them on the lintels and eaves of the house. There are proverbs such as "If you don't wear willows during the Qingming Festival, a beautiful woman will have a bright head" and "If you don't wear a willow during the Qingming Festival, you will turn into a yellow dog after death", which shows that folding willows during the Qingming Festival was a very common custom in the old days. It is said that willow branches have the function of warding off evil spirits, so wearing willows is not only a fashionable decoration, but also has the effect of praying for blessings and warding off evil spirits. Planting willows during the Qingming Festival may also be related to the custom of begging for new fires with willow branches during the Cold Food Festival in the past. Today, it seems that breaking off willow branches at will is a kind of damage to the trees and should not be promoted. The custom of planting willow trees during the Qingming Festival is said to commemorate Shennong, who invented various agricultural production tools and "tasted hundreds of herbs"; another theory is that the willow tree that Jie Zitui held when he died later came back to life, and Duke Wen of Jin named it Qingming Willow. , and fold willow into a circle and wear it on the head. This custom was later introduced to the people. Although they have different origins of allusions, these customs are still inseparable from people's joy at the return of spring to the earth.

There is another saying about planting willows and wearing willows during the Qingming Festival: It turns out that the Chinese regard the Qingming Festival, the first half of July and the first day of October as the three major ghost festivals, when hundreds of ghosts haunt them. People plant willows and wear willows to prevent the intrusion and persecution of ghosts. Willow has the function of warding off evil spirits in people's minds. Influenced by Buddhism, people believe that willow can drive away ghosts and call it the "ghost-terrifying tree." Avalokitesvara dips willow branches in water to save all living beings. Jia Sixie of the Northern Wei Dynasty said in "Qi Min Yao Shu": "Putting willow branches on the door will prevent all ghosts from entering the house." Qingming is the Ghost Festival, and when willows germinate, people naturally plant willows to ward off evil spirits.

In addition, because the Cold Food Festival and Qingming Festival are combined into one, some places still retain the habit of eating cold food during Qingming Festival. In Jimo, Shandong, people eat eggs and cold pastries, while in Laiyang, Zhaoyuan and Changdao, they eat eggs and cold sorghum rice. It is said that if you don't do this, you will be hit by hail. Tai'an eats cold pancakes rolled with raw bitter herbs and is said to have bright eyes after eating them.