When is Tomb-Sweeping Day? About origin?

April 5th of the Gregorian calendar is Tomb-Sweeping Day every year.

Origin:

According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhong Er, the son of the Jin Dynasty, went into exile to escape persecution. On the way to exile, he was tired and hungry in a deserted place and couldn't stand up anymore. I searched for it for a long time, but I couldn't find anything to eat. When everyone was in a hurry, I pushed the minister to a quiet place, cut a piece of meat from his thigh and cooked a bowl of broth for the son to drink. Zhong Er gradually recovered his spirit. Zhong Er shed tears when he found that the meat was cut off by mesons pushing his legs.

Nineteen years later, Zhong Er became the monarch, that is, the historical Jin Wengong. After he ascended the throne, Wen Gong rewarded the heroes who accompanied him in exile at first, but forgot to push the meson. Many people complained about meson push and advised him to admire it. However, mesons despise those who strive for merit the most. He packed his bags and quietly went to Mianshan with his mother. Hearing this, Jin Wengong was ashamed and personally took someone to ask Jiexiu, but Jiexiu had left home for Mianshan.

Mianshan Mountain is high and dangerous, with dense trees. It's hard to find two people. Someone offered a plan to burn Mianshan from three sides and force a meson to push out. The fire burned all over Mianshan, but there was no trace of meson push. After the fire was put out, it was found that Jiezitui had sat under an old willow tree with his old mother on his back and died. Jin Wengong said, and then cried.

In order to commemorate meson push, Jin Wengong ordered that this day be designated as "Cold Food Festival". The following year, Jin Wengong led ministers to climb mountains to pay homage. He found that the old willow was dead and resurrected, so he gave it the title of "Qingming Willow" and told the world, so he named the day after the Cold Food Festival "Tomb-Sweeping Day".

Extended data:

Tomb-Sweeping Day custom:

1, sweeping graves to worship ancestors

Tomb-Sweeping Day is a traditional Spring Festival, corresponding to the Mid-Autumn Festival of the Double Ninth Festival. Tomb-Sweeping Day's grave-sweeping, which means "grave-sweeping sacrifice", is a "respect for time and thought" for ancestors. Sacrificing ancestors is a way of remembering ancestors, and its custom has a long history.

According to archaeological findings, the tombs found at Qingtang site in Yingde, Guangdong Province, are about13,500 years ago, which shows that the ancients had a clear sense of grave robbing behavior and customs as early as10,000 years ago. Grave-sweeping is the center of Tomb-Sweeping Day custom. Tomb-Sweeping Day is a cultural tradition of paying homage to his ancestors and pursuing the future with caution, mainly offering sacrifices to his ancestors and expressing his filial piety and yearning for them.

Step 2 entertain

In addition to the above-mentioned custom of sweeping graves to worship ancestors, walking in the green and inserting willows, there are many entertainment habits in Tomb-Sweeping Day that have been loved by people for thousands of years, such as hooking, flying kites, swinging, shooting willows, cuju, etc., which were all the rage for a while, but now they are rare.

3. Tug of War

Tug of war was called "tug of war" in the early days and "strong hook" in the Tang Dynasty. It was invented at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, which became popular in the military and later spread among the people. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, a large tug-of-war was held in Tomb-Sweeping Day. Since then, tug-of-war has become a part of the Qingming custom.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Tomb-Sweeping Day (one of the four traditional festivals in China)

Baidu Encyclopedia-Tomb-Sweeping Day Customs