In 2022, there will be three traditional festivals during the Qingming holiday.

The Qingming holiday in 2022 is from April 3 to 5. In these three days, the third day is Shangsi Festival, the fourth day is Cold Food Festival, and the fifth day is Tomb-Sweeping Day.

Everyone is familiar with Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the Walking Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day, March Festival, ancestor worship festival and so on. Held at the turn of mid-spring and late spring. Tomb-Sweeping Day originated from the ancestral belief and the custom of worshipping spring in ancient times, which has both natural and humanistic connotations. It is both a natural solar term and a traditional festival. Grave-sweeping and outing are the two major themes of Tomb-Sweeping Day etiquette and customs, and these two traditional themes have been passed down from ancient times to the present in China.

But few people have heard of Shangsi Festival and Cold Food Festival. What festivals are Shangsi Festival and Cold Food Festival, how did they come from, and what are their customs?

The fourth day of the third month of the lunar calendar is the traditional Shangsi Festival, and it is also the day of spring bath. There is a custom of holding ominous sacrificial ceremonies at the water's edge. The custom of thinking about spring bath originated from the waterfront of the Zhou Dynasty, and was later presided over by the court, which specially assigned witches to take charge of it and became an official festival. In the Han Dynasty, Shangsi was designated as a festival, and after the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the third day of March was designated as the Spring Festival, which was one of the important festivals at that time. Shangsi Day is a festival to eliminate disasters and pray for blessings. The main contents are: getting rid of diseases and purifying body and mind. Hair: Trim and clean. Bathing: All swaddling clothes are finished by washing, so bathing has become the main content of swaddling clothes. At that time, not only the folk people bathed in the water, but also the emperors and queens in the court rushed to bathe in the water, forming a scene of "self-purification on the east running water". Shangsi Festival has a long history, and the word "Shangsi" first appeared in literary works of Han Dynasty. After Wei and Jin Dynasties, Shangsi Festival was changed to March 3rd, and gradually became a festival for drinking at the water's edge and having a spring outing in the suburbs.

It is said that Shangsi Festival originated from the witchcraft activities in Lantiang to ward off evil spirits. When the blue soup bath becomes an exorcism ceremony, this bathing activity must be organized and led by a full-time witch.

Shangsi Festival originated from the witchcraft activities of orchid soup to ward off evil spirits. Bluegrass is used as a spiritual object in this activity. Bluegrass has the characteristic of fragrant smell. The ancients fasted in advance before holding a major ceremony of offering sacrifices to the gods, including adopting the best bathing method at that time-blue soup bathing. The only difference between bathing in blue soup and bathing in blue soup is that bathing in blue soup is an individual behavior, mostly indoors, which can be implemented at any time, while bathing is a group activity and must be held regularly by the river.

Another view is that Shangsi Festival originated from the reproductive worship activities of ancestors. For example, Tao Siyan pointed out that the activity of swaddling is originally a belief behavior of men and women enjoying spring scenery and praying for pregnancy, while bathing with bluegrass or aromatic herbs is a function of arousing desire. Water is a mysterious allelopathic substance. Linjiang women not only want to wash away the dirt on their bodies in winter, but also hope to get pregnant when they get wet. This belief in near-water breeding related to primitive religion is the real reason for the custom of swaddling in March.

Others believe that Shangsi Festival originated in memory of Xuanyuan Huangdi. According to legend, March 3rd is the birthday of the Yellow Emperor. In the Central Plains, "On February 2nd, the dragon looked up; I was born in Xuanyuan on March 3rd. Apart from Shangsi Festival, March 3rd is the birthday of the Queen Mother of the West. This theory originated in Taoist legend. On this day every year, immortals from all walks of life will present gifts to Yaochi to celebrate their birthdays, and the famous "Ma Gu's Birthday Offering" came into being.

Shangsi Festival is still a festival for people. Everyone's Day is also a traditional festival. According to legend, Nu Wa created seven kinds of animals in seven days, arranged as follows: the first day is chicken day, the second day is dog day, the third day is sheep day, the fourth day is pig day, the fifth day is cow day, the sixth day is horse day, and the seventh day is human day. According to the arrangement of heavenly stems and earthly branches of A, B, C, D and Tatsumi at noon, the seventh day is earthly branches, so earthly branches are a day for people, so Shangsi Festival is also a day for people. In commemoration of People's Day, we should eat "Qibao Soup" and "Smoked Heaven". "Qibao soup" is a dish made of seven kinds of vegetables, while "Xuntian" is a pancake made in the open air. In addition, colorful silk fabrics should be cut into human figures or carved into human figures with gold foil and hung on screens or curtains for good luck.

An anecdote of "Qushui Flowing" also evolved from Shangsi Festival. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, when the literati were in infancy, they also held waterfront banquets, talked about writing and drank for fun. When drinking, put the glass in running water, and the glass will follow the water. Before anyone, you should drink and recite poems. This activity was recorded as "Qushui" in Preface to Lanting Collection by the famous calligrapher and writer Wang Xizhi. Qushui activities also spread as far as Japan, forming a Qushui banquet and welcome ceremony in Japan. Shangsi Festival is also a day for ancient emperors to evoke spirits. It is the custom of Zheng to hold a memorial ceremony in Qinshui on the last day. It can be seen that Shangsi Festival is a reading festival and calligraphy art festival in China.

Shangsi Festival has a long history. In ancient times, Shangsi Festival has become a large-scale folk festival. In spring and quiet time, people go out of their homes and gather at the water's edge to hold ceremonies to clear up the ominous. Shangsi was first included in the documents of the early Han Dynasty. "Zhou Li" Zheng Xuan's Note: "When I was old, I was removed. This March is like water." Shangsi Festival is the most important festival in ancient times. "The Analects of Confucius": "People in late spring, spring clothing achievements, five or six top scholars, six or seven boys. Bathing is almost a deduction, and the wind is dancing and singing. " I wrote about the baby's situation at that time. The baby had to go to the water bank to wash away the dirt, and at the same time it took away the evil spirits from me, which was meaningful for prayer. "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty": "It is the fourth day of the month, and the officials and the people are all clean in the east water, which is called washing and descaling." The article talks about a custom of washing the body with running water and letting disasters and diseases drift with the tide.

After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, due to the fashion of advocating nature and indulging in landscapes, the significance of celebrating the last festival was greatly weakened for people, while the significance of enjoying the Spring Festival became stronger and stronger. The Biography of Xia Zhongyu in the Western Jin Dynasty described Luoyang as "a talented man and a rotten woman". The festival of Shangsi Festival is scheduled for March 3rd of the lunar calendar. In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Shangsi Festival gradually evolved into a festival for royal nobles, ministers and literati to drink water, from which another important custom of Shangsi Festival, Qushui, was derived.

In the Tang Dynasty, Shangsi became one of the grand festivals at that time. The contents of the festival are mainly spring outing and drinking by the water. Song and Wu wrote in Dream Volume II: "The Tang Dynasty hosted a banquet in Qujiang and poured all their money into it for an outing." What he said was the scene of men, women and children in Chang 'an feasting on the banks of Qujiang River. Du Fu's "Two Ways" also described this grand occasion: "On March 3rd, the weather was sunny, and there were many beauties by Chang 'an Waterfront ... The Banquet of Xie En Qujiang on March 3rd by Bai Juyi, a poet in the middle Tang Dynasty, also recorded this grand occasion in detail.

After the Song Dynasty, the Shangsi Festival on March 3rd suddenly disappeared in the north, which was not recorded in the literature, but it still circulated in some parts of the south and southwest.

The Cold Food Festival is a traditional festival in China, after the summer solstice and one or two days before Tomb-Sweeping Day. When the first day of the day is a holiday, smoking is forbidden and only cold food is eaten. In the development of later generations, the customs of sweeping, climbing, swinging, cuju, crochet and cockfighting were gradually increased. The Cold Food Festival lasted for more than 2,000 years and was once called the largest folk festival in China. Cold Food Festival is the only traditional festival of Han nationality named after food customs.

Speaking of the origin of the Cold Food Festival, we have to mention that one of the overlords in the Spring and Autumn Period was Jin Wengong. At that time, Zhong Er, the son of the State of Jin, had been in exile for 9 years/kloc-0. The minister of dismissal followed him all the time and never gave up. When Zhong Er fled to the mountains without food, he even cut the meat off his thigh for Zhong Er to eat. Later, Zhong Er tried to become a monarch, that is, Jin Wengong. However, Jiexiu did not ask senior officials to be generous, but chose to retire from Mianshan with his mother. In order to force him out of the mountain, Jin Wengong had to order the release of Yamakaji, but Jiexiu insisted on staying out of the mountain and eventually died in flames. Jin Wengong Jiexiu buried him in Mianshan and built a temple for him. In memory of him, he ordered the fire to be banned and only cold food to be eaten on the day he died.

Before the calendar reform in Tang Ruowang in the early Qing Dynasty, Tomb-Sweeping Day was scheduled for two days after the Cold Food Festival. After the reform of the Tang family, the Cold Food Festival was held the day before Tomb-Sweeping Day. The definition of the modern twenty-four solar terms follows that of the Tang Dynasty, so the Cold Food Festival is the day before Tomb-Sweeping Day.

From the Spring and Autumn Period to the present, the Cold Food Festival has a history of more than 2,600 years. The story took place in Shanxi, China, and was set as the day before Tomb-Sweeping Day. On this day, the custom of eating cold food, offering sacrifices and having an outing has been handed down and accepted by the whole country. With the passage of time, the Cold Food Festival has quietly merged into Tomb-Sweeping Day, and the people represented by the Cold Food Festival have praised loyalty, honesty and political clarity for thousands of years.

In this season, the ancients should hold a grand sacrificial ceremony to put out all the kindling handed down from the previous year, that is, "no fire"; Then rehearse it again, take out a new fire as the starting point of production and life in the new year, which is called "changing fire" or "inviting new fire". When changing fire, a grand sacrifice activity will be held, and the symbol of burning grain and millet will be called human sacrifice. After the custom was passed down, it formed the later No Fire Festival. There is an interval between banning fire and changing fire. Historical materials have different opinions such as three days, five days and seven days. In this period when there is no fire, people must prepare enough cooked food and live on cold food. This is the so-called "cold food", hence the name "Cold Food Festival". The Cold Food Festival has lasted for more than 2,000 years and is called the largest folk festival. A poem by Wang Biao, a poet in the Tang Dynasty: "A hundred flowers and a thousand trees and snow eat cold, and a million cigarettes are lit on Qingming Day."

During the Cold Food Festival, there are grave sweeping, no smoking, ancestor worship, cold food, willow insertion, outing, cuju, tree planting, swinging, flower viewing, cockfighting, feast feeding and poetry reading. Many activities, such as banquets, flower viewing, cockfighting, chicken carving, pulling hooks (tug-of-war), drilling wood for fire, flying kites, shooting herbs, throwing pottery toys and so on. , greatly enriched the social life in ancient China.