What are the characteristics of Tomb-Sweeping Day's customs and what folk activities are there in Tomb-Sweeping Day?

Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional festival, is highly valued in our country, because it is also a festival for the whole people to worship their ancestors. Therefore, every year, Tomb-Sweeping Day has the custom of sweeping graves to worship ancestors. Besides, do you know the customs and characteristics of Tomb-Sweeping Day? What folk activities are there in Tomb-Sweeping Day? If you don't know, just read my introduction.

Pay tribute to the dead at their graves.

Sweeping graves on Qingming Festival is called "respecting thinking about time" for ancestors. Its customs have a long history. In the Ming Dynasty's "A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Imperial Capital", it was written: "On the Qingming Festival in March, men and women went to the grave to pay their respects, and the gold ingot was hung on the back of the sedan chair, and the road was full of embarrassment. Worshipers, mourners, weeping, weeding, adding soil to graves, burning ingots several times, and buying graves with paper money. If you can't see the paper money, it will be a lonely grave. After crying, don't go back, go to the fragrant tree, choose the garden, and sit down and get drunk. " In fact, grave-sweeping existed before the Qin Dynasty, but not necessarily during the Qingming period, but after the Qin Dynasty. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that it became popular. Qing thomas lee said, "On New Year's Eve, the Cold Food Festival and the First Frost Festival, you should offer sacrifices to sweep the graves. During the period, I will serve my bed with vegetarian food, use wine and tools for cutting vegetation, seal trees in the middle of the week, and break Cao Jing, so it is called sweeping the grave. " And spread to this day.

Tomb-Sweeping Day's sweeping ceremony was supposed to be held in person, but because of the different economic conditions of each family, the way of sweeping was different. "Burning a bundle" is the main form of paying homage to ancestors. The so-called "baggage", also known as "parcel", refers to the postal parcel that Xiao sent from Shi Yang to the underworld. In the past, Nanzhi store sold the so-called "wrapped skin", that is, a big bag was pasted with white paper. There are two forms: one is a woodcut version with Sanskrit transliteration of "Death Mantra" printed around it, and a lotus tablet printed in the middle to write down the name of the deceased in the area code, such as "The late Zhang Fujun was afraid of the boss in Yunshan", which is both a package and a tablet. The other is plain foreskin, which does not print any patterns. Just put a blue sign in the middle and write down the name of the deceased. Also used as a master card. There are many kinds of money in the bag.

Chuanliuzhi

It is said that the custom of inserting willow branches is also to commemorate Shennong, the ancestor of farming who taught the people to cultivate crops. In some places, people put willow branches under the eaves to forecast the weather. There is an old saying called "willow branches and green rain; The saying that there is another village. During the period of Huang Chao, it was stipulated that "Qingming lasts for a period, and Liu Dai is the number". After the failure of the uprising, the custom of wearing willow was gradually eliminated, and only willow was popular. Willow has a strong vitality, as the saying goes: "If you plant flowers with your heart, you will plant willows without your heart. "Wicker lives when it is planted in the soil, and it lives where it is planted. When it is planted year after year, it becomes gloomy everywhere.

There is another saying in Tomb-Sweeping Day: It turns out that China people regard Tomb-Sweeping Day, July 30th and the first day of October as the three major ghost festivals, which are the time for ghosts to haunt and ask for help. In order to prevent the harassment and persecution of ghosts, people put willows and put them on. Willow has the function of ward off evil spirits in people's minds. Influenced by Buddhism, people think that willows can exorcise ghosts and call them "ghost trees". Guanyin dipped willow branches in water to help all beings. Jia Sixie of the Northern Wei Dynasty said in the Book of Qi Yao Min: "Take a willow branch and put it on the house, and a hundred ghosts will not enter the house." Tomb-Sweeping Day is a ghost festival. When wicker sprouted, people naturally inserted willows to ward off evil spirits.

Liu She

Shooting willow is a game to practice archery. According to the records of the Ming Dynasty, pigeons were placed in gourds, then the gourds were hung high on willow trees, and the gourds and pigeons flew out with bows, and the victory or defeat was judged by the height of the flying pigeons.

play on the swing

This is the custom of ancient Tomb-Sweeping Day in China. Swing, that is, lift the rope, move. It has a very long history. It was originally called Qian Qiu, but later it was changed into a swing to avoid taboos. In ancient times, swings were made of branches and tied with ribbons. Later, it gradually developed into two ropes, a pedal swing. Swing can not only improve health, but also cultivate courage, which is deeply loved by people, especially children.

play football

Bow is a rubber ball, the skin of which is made of leather, and the ball is stuffed with wool. Cuju is kicking the ball with your feet. This is a popular game in ancient Tomb-Sweeping Day. According to legend, it was invented by the Yellow Emperor with the original purpose of training warriors. Playing polo is also one of the ways to play the Dragon Boat Festival. Polo is riding a horse and hitting with a stick. In ancient times, it was called bowing. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, there is a saying in Cao Zhiming's name that "there is a sentence in a row". In Chang 'an in the Tang Dynasty, there was a wide stadium, and emperors such as Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Jing Zong all liked polo. Ma Qiutu, in the tomb of Prince Zhang Huai, depicts the prosperity of polo in the Tang Dynasty: more than 20 horses galloped at high speed and their ponytails were tied up. Players are wearing shawls, boots and sticks, hitting each other one by one. Analysis of Golden Branches records the traditional custom of polo as a festival in Liao country, and polo is played on Dragon Boat Festival and Double Ninth Festival. Li Shizhi also recorded that Jin people hit the ball during the Dragon Boat Festival.

In the Song Dynasty, there was a "Ball Play Music" dance team. In the Ming Dynasty, polo was still popular. According to the general examination of continued literature, Ming Chengzu hit the ball and shot the willow many times in Dongyuan. In the Ming Dynasty's "Music Map of Xuanzong", there are scenes of Xuanzong enjoying polo. At that time, Wang Zhi, an official, wrote a poem about watching the game in the afternoon: "Jade is like a golden horse, carved with seven treasures." When you fly, you will be shocked and feel the stars. The incitement page has become three wins, and joy is the first. Qingyun follows the footsteps and winds in the eastern end of the temple. "In front of the Baiyun Temple in Beijing, there are also rules for the masses to ride horses and hit the ball. There were polo in the Temple of Heaven in Qing Dynasty, and polo didn't disappear until the middle of Qing Dynasty. In recent years, antique polo has appeared in Xi 'an, which makes this ancient sport reappear on the land of China after many years of disappearance.

spring outing

Also called spring outing. It was called Tanchun and Xunchun in ancient times. Qingming in April, spring returns to the earth, and nature presents a vibrant scene everywhere, which is a good time for an outing. Our people have kept the habit of walking in Tomb-Sweeping Day for a long time.

plant trees

Before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day, the spring was bright and the spring rain was falling, and the survival rate of planted seedlings was high and the growth was fast. Therefore, China has the habit of planting trees in Qingming since ancient times. Some people even call Tomb-Sweeping Day Arbor Day. The custom of planting trees has been passed down to this day. 1979, the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) stipulated March 12 every year as China's Arbor Day. This is of great significance to mobilize people of all ethnic groups in China to actively carry out activities to green the motherland.

fly a kite

Flying kites is also the most popular activity in Tomb-Sweeping Day. During their stay in Tomb-Sweeping Day, people not only wore it during the day, but also at night. At night, a string of colored lanterns is hung under the kite or on the wind-stabilizing stay, like twinkling stars, which is called "magic lamp". Someone used to put kites in the blue sky, then cut the strings and let the breeze send them to the ends of the earth. It is said that this can eliminate diseases and disasters and bring good luck to yourself.

gamecock

In ancient times, cockfighting competitions prevailed in Qingming, which began in Qingming and lasted until the summer solstice. The earliest record of cockfighting in China can be found in Zuo Zhuan. In the Tang dynasty, cockfighting became a common practice, not only among the people, but also the emperor. For example, Tang Xuanzong likes cockfighting best.

Canhuahui

"Silkworm Flower Festival" is a unique folk culture in Silkworm Township. During the past period in Tomb-Sweeping Day, this folk activity was held in Wu Tong, Wuzhen, Chongfu and Zhouquan. Among them, A?vagho?a Temple in Zhouquan and Double Temple in Qingshi are the most spectacular. A?vagho?a Temple, located in the west of Zhouquan Town, is known locally as "the king of temples". Every year, there are many activities, such as welcoming the silkworm god, rocking the clippers, making trouble in Taiwan Pavilion, worshiping incense benches, boxing, playing dragon lanterns, lifting poles and singing operas. Some of these activities are carried out on shore, and most of them are carried out on ships, which is very characteristic of water towns. In recent years, in the activities of Shixiang in Wuzhen, only a few projects, such as meeting silkworm gods, stepping on white boats and lifting poles, have great potential to be tapped.

Traditional food in Tomb-Sweeping Day.

1, Zanzi

Xunzi, a kind of food mainly made of rice flour and fried food, is the color of Huang Liang. It tastes crisp, and the more you chew it, the more fragrant it becomes. I remember when I was a child, I liked to eat prickly heat in rice porridge, which melted in my mouth.

2. Aizan

Aizan is an indispensable traditional snack for Tomb-Sweeping Day Hakkas. There is a local saying: "If you eat Aizan before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day, you won't get sick all year round".

Step 3 push steamed bread

Purple-legged steamed stuffed bun, also called old steamed stuffed bun, is a traditional food in Tomb-Sweeping Day.

4.pancakes

Pancakes are traditional specialties in Chaozhou, Guangdong and Fuzhou, Fujian. Pancakes are also a holiday food in Tomb-Sweeping Day. In Tomb-Sweeping Day, every morning, people go up the mountain to worship their ancestors, and then go home and have pancakes for lunch.

5, warm mushroom bag

Warm mushroom bag is a traditional food of Taining people in Tomb-Sweeping Day, belonging to Fujian cuisine. Because of the different raw materials, it is divided into steamed buns and steamed buns.