Burning Seven refers to a sacrifice day every seven days from the date of the death of the deceased, which is called the first seven days, the last seven days, the third seven days, the fourth seven days, the fifth seven days, the sixth seven days and the last seven days, totaling 49 days.

According to folklore, people have three souls and seven spirits. After their death, they lost one soul a year, one spirit for seven days, and seven full spirits in three years, so they have to go through the "seven periods" and the third anniversary. There is another folk saying. It is said that after the death of the deceased, King Yan will interrogated the deceased every seven days for 49 days, so the "Seven Periods" were also called "Seven Disasters".

At seven o'clock, mourners should hang white lanterns at the gate to show filial piety. The first seven people set up a memorial at home, burning incense and lighting candles for wine and food as a souvenir, and the remaining six or seven people went to the cemetery to spend paper money. Generally, the first, third, fifth and other single seven sacrifices are grand, and relatives and friends are there, and the dutiful son wants to cry without tears; Two, four, six and other double sevens, relatives and friends don't come.

The dutiful son only burns paper and doesn't cry, which is called "empty seven", especially "March 7th Festival" and "last seven". On these two July 7 days, relatives and friends will burn paper on the grave to pay homage, and the dutiful son will cry. The last seven days are also called the last seven days. Most mourners should recite the scriptures, and relatives and friends should also send money, incense, paper, wax and gold and silver barrels to pay their respects.

"Burning Seven" is called "rushing seven" or "committing seven" if it meets the seventh, seventeenth and twenty-seventh days of the summer calendar. It is considered that the deceased "has disasters on every seventh day, but it is difficult to rush seven". In Yaoxian County in Guanzhong and Danfeng County in southern Shaanxi, besides the taboo period, it is also taboo to meet with "Burning Seven" on the eighth, eighteenth and 28th of each month. As the saying goes, "Every seven meets eight, copper hammer and iron hairpin; Burn seven and nine, and King Yan will will buy you a drink. "

It is believed that Rebecca will torture the dead on the day when the burning seven meets seven and eight. In this case, he should pay homage one day earlier or one day later. Some rural areas in Guanzhong. In case of "rushing", the dutiful son will insert a paper umbrella at the top of the tomb of the deceased to help the deceased avoid disaster. In Yanchang County, northern Shaanxi Province, on the first afternoon of Tanabata, many white flags will be cut, and children and daughters-in-law will insert them into graves along the way from their homes, inviting the deceased to go home to pay homage to avoid disaster and robbery.

The white flag is intended to lead the way. It is said that if the deceased can't go home in time, he can hide under the white flag. There is also a bad habit of "evil spirits" in rural areas around the country, which is extremely superstitious about ghosts and gods. It is said that ghosts still stay at home after death. "Out of the evil spirit" means that at some time on July 749, King Yan will sent ghosts to fetch their souls and go to the underworld; There is also a saying that the ghost of the deceased will go home to quit at some time. The date and hour of "evil spirits" were determined by Yin and Yang teachers according to the time of birth and death of the deceased. This custom has been abandoned since the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC).