65438+February 65438+April 2007, the State Council officially issued the "Decision on Changing National Statutory Holidays and Memorial Days" (the second revision), stipulating that from 2008 10 1 day, Qingming, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival will be legal holidays, and Qingming, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival will be one day off.
Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as Tomb Sweeping Festival, Ghost Festival and Ghost Festival, is called Sanming Festival together with Zhongyuan Festival on July 15 and Xiayuan Festival on July 10/5, which is related to offering sacrifices to ghosts and gods.
Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the outing festival, according to the solar calendar, between April 4th and 6th every year, it is the season of beautiful spring and lush vegetation, and it is also a good time for people to have a spring outing (called outing in ancient times), so the ancients had the custom of going for an outing in Qingming and carrying out a series of sports activities. Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as March Festival in ancient times, has a history of more than 2,000 years.
Tomb-Sweeping Day is one of the 24 solar terms around April 5th in the Gregorian calendar. Among the 24 solar terms, Qingming is the only solar term that is both a solar term and a festival. In ancient China, the Qingming Festival was divided into three stages: "One stage was when tung flowers began to bloom; Second, the vole became a quail; I'll see you when I wait for the rainbow. " That is to say, at this time, the white paulownia blooms first, then the happy voles in the shade disappear and all return to the underground caves, and then the rainbow can be seen in the sky after the rain.
Because the 24 solar terms objectively reflect the changes of temperature, rainfall and phenology throughout the year, ancient working people used them to arrange agricultural activities. "Huainanzi Astronomical Training" says: "Fifteen days after the vernal equinox, the bucket refers to B, and the Qingming wind is coming." According to the centenarian question, "everything grows clean and bright at this time." So it is called Qingming. " As soon as Qingming arrives, the temperature rises and the rainfall increases, which is a good time for spring ploughing and planting. Therefore, there is a saying in agriculture that "before and after Qingming, point melons and plant beans" and "planting trees is not as good as Qingming". It can be seen that this solar term is closely related to agricultural production.
However, Qingming, as a festival, is different from pure solar terms. Solar terms are symbols of phenological changes and seasonal order in China, while festivals contain certain customs and activities, which have certain commemorative significance. Tomb-Sweeping Day is a traditional festival in China, and it is also the most important festival to worship ancestors and sweep graves. Grave-sweeping is commonly known as going to the grave and offering sacrifices to the dead. Most Han people and some ethnic minorities visit graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day. According to the old custom, when sweeping graves, people should bring food, wine, fruit, paper money and other items to the cemetery, offer food to the graves of their loved ones, then burn the paper money, cultivate new soil for the graves, break some green branches and insert them in front of the graves, then kowtow and worship, and finally go home after eating and drinking. The poem Qingming written by Du Mu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, said: "There are many rains during the Qingming period, and pedestrians on the road want to break their souls. Ask local people where to buy wine? The shepherd boy pointed to Xinghua Village. " Write about the special atmosphere in Tomb-Sweeping Day. To this day, the custom of worshipping ancestors and mourning the dead relatives in Tomb-Sweeping Day is still very popular. Tomb-Sweeping Day is an important traditional folk festival in China, and it is also one of the eight important festivals (Shangyuan, Qingming, Long Summer, Dragon Boat Festival, Central Plains, Mid-Autumn Festival, Winter Solstice and New Year's Eve). Generally speaking, it is on April 5 in the solar calendar, but its festival is very long. There are two kinds of sayings: eight days before the tenth day and ten days after the tenth day. These twenty days belong to Tomb-Sweeping Day.
It is said that the origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day began with the "grave-sweeping" ceremony of ancient emperors and generals. Later, people followed suit, and it became a fixed custom of the Chinese nation to worship ancestors and sweep graves on this day.
To talk about Tomb-Sweeping Day, we should start with a very famous ancient festival-Cold Food Festival.
Cold food festival, also known as cooked food festival, no smoking festival and cold food festival. Its date is from the winter solstice 105, that is to say, it is only one or two days away from Qingming. The main custom of this festival is to ban fire, cook without fire, and only eat prepared cooked food and cold food, hence the name.
According to legend, the Cold Food Festival originated in the State of Jin in the Spring and Autumn Period to commemorate the courtiers of Duke Xiang of Jin. Zhong Er, the son of the State of Jin, went into exile 19 years. He was followed by guards and made great contributions. Zhong Er returned to the throne, that is, Jin Wengong. Jiezitui carried his mother and hid in Mianshan. Jin Wengong went to look for it, but he couldn't find it. Therefore, he let Yamakaji leave, trying to bridge the gap. I didn't expect meson tui and his mother to hold a big tree, preferring to burn to death rather than go out of the mountain. Sadly, Jin Wengong ordered that Mianshan be renamed Jieshan (namely Jieshan in Jiexiu County, Shanxi Province) and that the day when mesons were burned to death be designated as Cold Food Festival. It is forbidden to make a fire and eat cold rice every year at the Cold Food Festival to show the meaning of remembering.
In fact, the real origin of the Cold Food Festival originated from the ancient system of drilling wood for new fire. Because of different seasons, the ancients used different trees to drill fires, which is the custom of making fires in different seasons. And every time you change the fire, you have to change it with a new one. People are forbidden to make a fire until a new one comes. This was a great event at that time. "Zhou Li Autumn Lawsuit Xuanjiashi": "In the middle of spring, it is forbidden to repair the fire with Muduo." It can be seen that he was walking in the street shaking the wooden head and ordered the fire to be banned. This is the company's propagandist, that is, a small official who specializes in making fires. When the fire is banned, people prepare some cold food to eat, which gradually becomes a fixed custom. Later, it was linked with the legend of meson push and became the Cold Food Festival, which lasted for one month. After all, it is unhealthy, so the date is shortened from seven days to three days and gradually changed to one day. After the Tang Dynasty, it was integrated into Tomb-Sweeping Day.
The customs of the Cold Food Festival include going to the grave, sightseeing, cockfighting, swinging, playing with carpets, pulling hooks (tug of war) and so on. The custom of going to the grave is very old. Where there is a grave, there must be a tomb sacrifice. Later, due to the integration with the custom of evoking souls in March, it was gradually decided to sacrifice on cold food. The book of the Tang Dynasty says: "In the twentieth year of Kaiyuan, cold food went to the tomb, and the book of rites was silent. According to modern legend, it is advisable to go to the tomb to worship the ceremony. " Song Yu's "Chicken Ribs" volume: "Cold food is buried, and there is no fragrance. Paper money hangs on the tree. People who go to the countryside climb mountains to watch sacrifices. Breaking in the air is called breaking money. However, due to the fate of Shi Jing, we set up wine (seal, rice) and took our family for a spring outing. "
"The Story of Jingchu Times": "(Cold food) fighting chickens, carving chickens and laying eggs, fighting chickens and laying eggs." It can be seen that there was a game of cockfighting and eggs in the Southern Dynasties. Cockfighting is more common today, and egg fighting is mostly a game in which children in rural areas collide with their eggs. In ancient times, most of the eggs used for collision and fighting were dyed and carved (1ou, carved), which was very beautiful. Draw eggs. The custom of carving eggs originated from the "carving eggs" recorded in Guanzi. Undoubtedly, it developed from the ancient witchcraft of eating eggs for fertility and became the custom of cold food. Today, people still have the custom of eating eggs on Qingming Day (such as the "son-in-law" mentioned earlier). Cold food attacks autumn dryness. According to the Collection of Arts and Literature, Shanrong in the north played on a swing at the Cold Food Festival. But I'm afraid this is just a legend. Liu Xiang's Bielu records that he swings in spring, not necessarily in cold food. Another blanket, Wang Jian's "Gong Ci": "Cold food palace people step on the carpet." Dramas like pulling hooks and hitting carpets are not necessarily produced by cold food.
Because Tomb-Sweeping Day was angry on the third day of cold food, later generations gradually moved the custom of cold food to Qingming with the passage of time. After the Song Dynasty, the custom of cold food sweeping graves moved to Qingming. Customs such as spring outing and swinging are only held in Tomb-Sweeping Day. Tomb-Sweeping Day rose from a simple agricultural solar term to an important festival, and the influence of the Cold Food Festival disappeared. However, the custom of cold food has been handed down in several ways and has been preserved in Tomb-Sweeping Day.