What is the origin of Mid-Autumn Festival?

"It rains in the Qingming period, and pedestrians on the road want to break their souls. Ask local people where to buy wine? The shepherd boy pointed to Xinghua Village. "

When it comes to Qingming, people will naturally think of this poem by Du Mu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty. But in the beginning, Qingming didn't mean it, just the name of a solar term. During the Qingming Festival, most parts of China return to the earth in spring, with sunny weather, warmer climate and recovery of everything. It is the best season for spring ploughing and planting. Farmers are busy everywhere in the fields. There is a saying among the people that "Qingming and Grain Rain are connected, and there is no need to delay immersion."

How did this solar term that urges spring ploughing become a festival to commemorate ancestors? It should be said that this is related to the Cold Food Festival two days ago (or one day). Cold Food Festival is an early festival in ancient China. Legend has it that it was set up in the Spring and Autumn Period to commemorate Jiexiu, a loyal minister of the State of Jin. In fact, from the historical reality, the prohibition of cold food mainly reflects the remains of the ancient custom of changing fire in China. In primitive society, our ancestors drilled wood for fire, and fire was hard-won. Due to the seasonal changes, the tree species used for making fires are constantly changing. Therefore, changing fire into new fire is a great event in the lives of the ancients. Spring and March are the seasons for changing fires, so people should forbid making fires before new ones come. The Han Dynasty called the Cold Food Festival a no-smoking festival, because people were not allowed to light a fire on this day, and candles were lit in the palace at night, and the fire spread to the homes of dignitaries. In this regard, there is a vivid description in the poem "Cold Food" by Han, a poet in the Tang Dynasty: "The spring city is full of flowers, and the cold food records the east wind and willows. At dusk, candles were passed in the Han Palace, and light smoke was scattered into the Hall of the Five Emperors. "

Since cooking with fire is forbidden in the Cold Food Festival, it is necessary to prepare some cooked food (that is, cold food) in advance for eating during the fire ban, which has become the custom of cold food. During the Cold Food Festival, in the north, steamed cakes made of flour are mainly used, with red dates attached and kneaded into the shape of swallows. A fermented cheese is prepared from stem rice and maltose. In the south, there are mainly rice cakes fried to golden yellow, which are similar to today's snacks; A steamed food, Bai Qing jiaozi, is made of glutinous rice and Bromus inermis juice, and stuffed with jujube paste or bean paste. In addition, duck eggs, jujube cakes, almond porridge, frozen pork and frozen fish are also commonly used foods in the Cold Food Festival.

During the Cold Food Festival, besides forbidding fire and cold food, there were also sacrifices to sweep graves, which later became the main content of Tomb-Sweeping Day. The ancients in China attached great importance to offering sacrifices to their ancestors. In ancient times, when someone died in the family, they only dug graves for burial, not built graves. Sacrifices are mainly held in ancestral halls. Later, when digging a grave, a mound was built, and ancestor worship was arranged in the cemetery, so there was material support. During the Warring States period, the wind of tomb sacrifice gradually flourished.

During the Qin and Han Dynasties, sweeping graves became more popular. According to Hanshu, Yan Yannian, the minister, regularly returned to his hometown to pay homage to the cemetery even though he was thousands of miles away from Beijing. In the Tang Dynasty, both literati and civilians regarded the grave sweeping of the Cold Food Festival as a ritual festival to return to their hometown and pursue religion. Because Tomb-Sweeping Day is close to the Cold Food Festival, people often extend the time for sweeping graves to Tomb-Sweeping Day. Poets' works are often cold food and Qingming. For example, Wei has a poem saying: "Qingming is good for cold food, and the spring garden is full of flowers." Bai Juyi also has a poem that says, "The cock crows and the tree is faint, and the Qingming cold food cries." In view of the fact that both folk cold food and Tomb-Sweeping Day have become a habit, the imperial court formally stipulated in the form of official documents that when Tomb-Sweeping Day came, he could have a holiday with the Cold Food Festival. This regulation has been around for more than 1200 years, which shows that Qingming began to have the color of a national statutory holiday.

During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Tomb-Sweeping Day gradually rose from being attached to the Cold Food Festival to replacing it. This is not only reflected in the fact that many ceremonies, such as grave sweeping, are held in Tomb-Sweeping Day, but also the customs and activities of the Cold Food Festival, such as cold food, cuju and swinging, have been taken over by Tomb-Sweeping Day.

Tomb-Sweeping Day later absorbed the contents of another earlier festival-Shangsi Festival. In ancient times, Shangsi Festival was held on the third day of the third lunar month. The main customs were jogging and bathing by the river, which reflected people's psychological needs for mental adjustment after a dull winter. There is a poem written by Lu Ji in the Jin Dynasty: "It's late spring and the weather is soft. Yuanji Longchu, swim the Yellow River. " It is a vivid portrayal of people's childhood travel in Shangsi Festival.

Since about the Tang Dynasty, people have been sweeping graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day, accompanied by recreational activities. As Tomb-Sweeping Day is going to the suburbs, while paying homage to his ancestors, it is also a way to adjust his mood to visit gardening and metallurgy in the bright spring. Therefore, Tomb-Sweeping Day is also called Youth Day. Children who are playful by nature are often not satisfied with having an outing in Tomb-Sweeping Day only once, just like the poem "When a teenager goes on a trip, he doesn't have to be both Tomb-Sweeping Day and thinking" written by Wang Wei, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty.

Tomb-Sweeping Day combined the essence of two ancient festivals, and finally formed a traditional festival in Song and Yuan Dynasties, which centered on worshipping ancestors and sweeping graves, and integrated cold food customs with activities such as thinking about going for an outing. The Ming and Qing Dynasties generally inherited the old system of the previous generation, and Tomb-Sweeping Day still adhered to and developed its position as an indispensable festival in spring life. During the Republic of China, on this day in Tomb-Sweeping Day, in addition to the original customs of sweeping graves and hiking, tree planting was also determined as a routine project, which was actually just an official recognition of the long-standing tree planting folk custom.

In the traditional culture of China, Tomb-Sweeping Day is a festival to commemorate ancestors and deceased relatives. The main memorial ceremony is grave sweeping, accompanied by hiking, tree planting and other activities. This festival embodies the significance of drinking water, uniting the nation, keeping fit in spring and caring for nature. Du Mu's poem "Seven Wonders of Qingming Festival" outlines a beautiful ink painting, including spring rain, a shepherd boy, a restaurant, and the poet's hurried footsteps pulling Tomb-Sweeping Day's poems. Zhang Zeduan's "The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" brings people into another festival scene. The shops in the forest, the bustling crowd and various shapes of chariots, horses and boats all present a busy and prosperous scene in the picture. Today, Tomb-Sweeping Day still occupies an important position in people's daily life. Commemorate our ancestors and pursue the future with caution; Remembering the martyrs, looking forward to the future and creating a happy future are the themes of our festival.