When is the Qingming Festival every year?

It is calculated based on the vernal equinox every year. There is a solar term every 15 days after the vernal equinox, so Qingming falls between April 4th and 6th in the Gregorian calendar, mostly on the 5th. It is not fixed on April 5 of the Gregorian calendar, nor is it determined based on the lunar calendar. The vernal equinox changes with the rotation of the earth. The earth's daily rotation is not 24 hours, but 23 hours and 56 minutes. It will decrease by one day every four years, thus affecting the time of solar terms. According to this rule, next year's Qingming Festival will happen to be on April 4 date, so the calendars on the market are not misprinted.

1 Introduction to Qingming Festival

1. Introduction to Qingming Festival

Fifteen days after the Spring Equinox is Qingming Festival, which is a good day for outings. Qingming Festival is also a day for sweeping graves and worshiping ancestors. It is also known as "Ghost Festival" and "Ming Festival" among the people. Together with July 15 and October 1, it is collectively known as "Three Underworld Festivals". There is a ceremony for the city god to make a patrol.

Hanshi and Qingming are originally two festivals, but most people in Shandong combine the two festivals into one. It is generally called Qingming Festival, and in a few areas it is called Cold Food Festival, but the festival is celebrated on the day of Qingming Festival. Counting from the three days before Qingming Festival in Kenli area, it is called "Big Cold Food", "Two Cold Foods" and "Three Cold Foods". The fourth day is Tomb Sweeping Day. People visit tombs and go outing during these four days. Juancheng regards the day before Qingming as the Cold Food Festival, also known as Qingming Festival as the "Ghost Gate Festival".

Grave sweeping is a major activity during the Qingming Festival. In the old days, the tomb-sweeping ceremony in Tai'an was more grand. The male host carries four side dishes and dumplings to the ancestor's grave, first offers the sacrifice, then burns incense and paper, and sprinkles wine to pay homage. When sweeping tombs in Zhaoyuan, Jimo, Linqu, Linqing and other places, new soil is added to the tombs. It is said that this is to build the house for the ancestors to prevent it from leaking due to heavy rain in summer. In essence, it is to commemorate the ancestors. Most areas sweep tombs on the Qingming day, a few areas (such as Zhucheng) sweep the tombs on the Hanshi day, and Longkou, Boxing and other places sweep the tombs four days before the Qingming day. Nowadays, graves are usually swept on the Qingming Festival.

2. The origin of Qingming Festival

The ancients had the custom of welcoming spring. The weather in early March of the lunar calendar is exactly the time of spring, which is suitable for people to carry out various activities, including outings. Even "Yehe", so the most important festival in spring is also at this time. The early Qingming Festival did not have the function of sweeping sacrifices. The activities of the Qingming Festival were the same as those of other festivals in early March.

Qingming is one of the twenty-four solar terms. The twenty-four solar terms are based on the solar calendar and are not festivals themselves. Qingming happens to fall in early March of the lunar calendar, coinciding with the ancient spring festivals Shangsi Festival and Cold Food Festival. Over time, Qingming has become a part of the spring festivals.

Today, Shangsi Festival has disappeared from the Chinese festival spectrum, but in the past it was one of the most important festivals of the year. Before the Han Dynasty, it was set as Si day in early March, but later it was fixed as the third day of March in the lunar calendar. According to records, the Shangsi Festival has become popular during the Spring and Autumn Period. The Analects of Confucius said, "In late spring, spring clothes are ready, five or six crowned people, six or seven boys, bathing in Qiyi, dancing in the wind, chanting and returning." What was written was the situation at that time.

In the earliest days, people would go for outings and bathe by the river on the Shangsi Festival. In addition, this day also has the function of "exorcising evil spirits", which the ancients called "exorcism bath". In ancient times, the function of festivals was to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters, such as "climbing high on the Double Ninth Festival". The actual reason was to avoid the plague at the foot of the mountain, and the same principle applies to "bathing by the side". Zhu Xuqiang explained that the actual reason is that the river water is too cold in winter, and the water temperature in early March is just right, so people are eager to take their first bath after overwintering.

The Shangsi Festival also has the function of courtship and mating. The "Book of Songs" said that "the Vishnu and the girl teased each other and gave her peony as a gift" also happened during this period. This tradition has continued to influence During the Tang and Song Dynasties, Du Fu's "Beautiful People's Journey" included the sentence "The weather is new on March 3, and there are many beauties by the water in Chang'an". However, as society became more civilized, the theme of wild marriage was replaced by praying for children. The Shangsi Festival later formed the custom of paying homage to Nuwa Temple and women praying for children by the river.

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the scholar-bureaucrats also had the custom of "March 3rd". "Qu Shui Shang" was a popular way of leisure for people at that time. This was mentioned in Wang Xizhi's "Lanting Preface" Read that.

As for the custom of worshiping ancestors during the Qingming Festival, there is a theory that it is related to the Cold Food Festival in the third month of the lunar calendar. The legend of the Cold Food Festival was established by Duke Wen of Jin in the Spring and Autumn Period to commemorate minister Jie Zitui. Zhu Xuqiang believes that this is actually a saying that later generations will follow, just like bringing the Dragon Boat Festival and Qu Yuan together. The origin of the Cold Food Festival is related to the difficulty of making fire in ancient times. Once fire is obtained, it must be kept for a long time. Today, some ethnic minority areas still retain the custom of setting up fire pits in houses. The Cold Food Festival is the annual "fire change" day. During these days, people have to replace the fire with new ones, so they can only eat cold food. Therefore, the Cold Food Festival itself has nothing to do with the festival.

2 Customs of Qingming Festival

1. Tomb sweeping. Qingming Festival is a traditional festival in my country and the most important sacrificial festival. It is a day for worshiping ancestors and sweeping tombs. Tomb sweeping, commonly known as visiting graves, is an activity to pay homage to the deceased. Most of the Han people and some ethnic minorities visit tombs during the Tomb Sweeping Day.

2. Food customs. During the Qingming Festival, there is a custom of eating green dumplings in Jiangnan area. Green dumplings are made by mashing a wild plant called "wheat straw" and squeezing out the juice. The juice is then mixed and kneaded with the dried pure glutinous rice flour, and then the dumplings are made. The filling center of the dumplings is made of fine sugar bean paste. When filling, a small piece of sugar lard is added.

After the dumplings are made, put them into a basket and steam them. When they come out of the basket, use a brush to evenly brush the cooked vegetable oil on the surface of the dumplings, and you're done. Green dumplings are as green as jade, waxy and soft, with a fragrant fragrance. They taste sweet but not greasy, fat but not plump. Qingtuanzi is also a necessary food for people in Jiangnan area to worship their ancestors. Because of this, Qingtuanzi is particularly important in the folk food customs in Jiangnan area.

3. Outing. Qingming usually falls around the third month of the lunar calendar, which is the time when spring returns to the earth. After a long and cold winter, people have come out of their homes and come outdoors to explore the breath of spring - either outing in the fields or relaxing in the countryside. These outings are called "outings." Outing, also called spring outing. In ancient times, it was called Tanchun, Xunchun, etc.

4. Fly a kite. Flying kites is a favorite activity during the Qingming Festival. People not only play it during the day, but also at night. After some people fly the kites into the sky, they cut the strings and let them be blown to the ends of the earth. It is said that this can eliminate diseases and disasters and bring good luck to oneself.

5. Dai Liu. In the Qing Dynasty, wearing willows was used to ward off evil spirits in most parts of our country, but in some places it has the meaning of commemorating the years. There is a saying that planting willows during the Qingming Festival "marks the years", and "if you don't wear willows during the Qingming Festival, a beautiful woman will become a bright head". . This custom is a remnant of the "cold food" crown ceremony in the Song Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, the time for adult men and women to wear hairpins was unified on the "Cold Food" festival, regardless of the year and month of birth. "All officials and people, regardless of their family size, whose children have not yet had hairpins, will go to the palace on this day." ("Meng Liang Lu") 》) Wearing Liu is a sign of adulthood. Based on this, later generations had the custom of "commemorating their beauty" and evolved into the custom of women wearing willow balls on their temples to pray for eternal beauty. Here, the green willow tree also symbolizes youth. When women wear Liu in spring, they show their cherishment and nostalgia for their youth.