Is Tomb Sweeping Day on March 3rd?

The Qingming Festival is not March 3rd, but around April 5th in the Gregorian calendar. March 3rd in the lunar calendar is the Shangsi Festival.

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 traditional Qingming Festival of the Chinese Han people began around the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years. Influenced by Han culture, 24 ethnic minorities in China, including the Manchu, Hezhe, Zhuang, Oroqen, Dong, Tujia, Miao, Yao, Li, Shui, Jing and Qiang, also have the custom of celebrating Tomb-Sweeping Day. Tomb-sweeping to worship ancestors and outings are the basic themes.

Qingming was originally just the name of a solar term. It became a festival to commemorate ancestors and was related to the Cold Food Festival. Duke Wen of Jin designated the day after the Cold Food Festival as Qingming Festival. In most areas of Shanxi, the Cold Food Festival is celebrated the day before Tomb-Sweeping Day; in Yushe County and other places, the Cold Food Festival is celebrated two days before Tomb-Sweeping Day; in Yuanqu County, the day before Tomb-Sweeping Day is also called Cold Food Festival, and the two days before it are Small Cold Food Festival.

Qingming Festival is one of the important "Eight Festivals of the Year" in China. It is usually around April 5 in the Gregorian calendar. The festival is very long. There are two versions: 10 days before and 8 days after; , these past 20 days are all Qingming Festival. Qingming Festival originally refers to the fifteen days after the Spring Equinox. In 1935, the government of the Republic of China designated April 5 as the national holiday Qingming Festival, also known as the National Tomb Sweeping Day.

Shangsi Festival:

Shangsi (sì) Festival, commonly known as March 3, is a traditional festival of the Han nationality. Before the Han Dynasty, the festival was set as Si day in early March, and later it was fixed on The third day of the third month of the lunar calendar. The traditional Shangsi Festival falls on the first Si day of March in the lunar calendar, which is also the day to exorcise evil spirits, that is, the Spring Bathing Day. Shangsi Festival, like Huachao Festival, is gradually being forgotten by people.

"Shangsi" first appeared in documents in the early Han Dynasty. Zheng Xuan's note in "The Rites of Zhou": "It was expelled at every age, and now it is like water in the third month." According to records, the Shangsi Festival was already popular during the Spring and Autumn Period. Shangsi Festival is the most important festival in ancient times where the "purification bathing" activity was held. "The Analects of Confucius": "In late spring, the spring clothes are ready, five or six people are crowned, and six or seven boys are bathing in Yi, and the wind is dancing, and they return home chanting." This is the situation at that time. After the Song Dynasty, Neo-Confucianism became popular, etiquette became increasingly strict, and the customs of Shangsi Festival gradually declined in Han culture. In addition, the Shangsi Festival on March 3rd corresponds to the Double Ninth Festival on September 9th. As Liu Xin's "Miscellaneous Notes of Xijing" of the Han Dynasty said: "On March 3rd and the Double Ninth Festival in September, the maids play games to ward off evil spirits and climb high." One in late spring, the other in late spring. In late autumn, outings and farewells also reach their climax.