Qingming originated from cold food, which is said to have originated from the Cold Food Festival in Jin Wengong in the Spring and Autumn Period. At that time, Jin Wengong and Jietui were exiled to other countries, and Jietui cut meat for Wen Gong to satisfy his hunger. After the restoration of Wen Gong, Zi Tui did not want to get rich, so he retired from Mianshan with his mother. In order to force him to be an official, Jin Wengong burned mountains and destroyed forests. Unexpectedly, meson push would rather hold a tree and set himself on fire than do it. Wen Gong was very sad and decided to give him Mianshan, calling it "Jieshan". He also stipulated that every time the street was burned, it was necessary to cease fire for three days, and no fireworks food was allowed, only cold food was allowed. This was the so-called Cold Food Festival. The Cold Food Festival, "One Hundred and Fifty Days of Last Winter Festival" (Jingchu Chronicle) was held one or two days before Tomb-Sweeping Day, and its main custom was to pay homage to the grave. After the Yuan Dynasty, people gradually combined cold food and Qingming as one festival. Now Tomb-Sweeping Day has replaced the Cold Food Festival, and the custom of worshipping Jietui has become the custom of sweeping graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day.
Others say that this festival originated in Tomb-Sweeping Day. After the vernal equinox, add 15 days, and the Qingming wind will come. At this time, everything grows clean and bright, which is called Qingming.
2. Shanwei people have been to Tomb-Sweeping Day.
Shanwei people have been to Tomb-Sweeping Day, which is similar to the customs and activities all over the country, even more similar to Chaoshan area, but still has a strong local color.
The custom of sweeping graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day is very popular in Hailufeng. Grave-sweeping is commonly called "handing paper" or "hanging paper", which is also called "hanging spring paper" to distinguish it from grave-sweeping from winter to day. There used to be a tomb sacrifice in Qin dynasty, but it was not in Qingming. In the Tang Dynasty, sweeping graves became popular, and Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty clearly stipulated that people should be allowed to sweep graves when eating cold food. In Song Dynasty, it was stipulated that cold food would go to Tomb-Sweeping Day to sweep graves for 3 days. Grave-sweeping in Tomb-Sweeping Day is carried out from three days before the festival to three days after the festival. Early or late sweeping is regarded as disrespect for the deceased. When people go to the cemetery, they should first pull out the weeds in front of and on the grave, fill in the grave and clean it up. Then refresh the tombstone words, except the ancestors' names are painted with green oil, and all the other words are painted with red oil. After the sacrificial ceremony, press a paper cymbal on the top of the monument and the top of the grave respectively. If it is a new grave built after Tomb-Sweeping Day last year, twelve banquet coins will be pressed at the top of the stone tablet, and if it is a leap month, thirteen will be pressed as expenses for the dead. Five or seven layers of paper cymbals should also be pressed in front of the grave. How wide the pressure is this year, how wide it will be next year, and it cannot be expanded or reduced. It is said that this is the scope of the deceased's "land rent". If it is a newly built grave last year, it will be called "new society" to sweep the grave this year. Will use red and white paper to press, and then use white paper every year. There must be boiled clams in the offerings for sweeping graves. After eating the clams, the clams were pressed into paper bowls, which meant to be reserved for ancestors to use as money. Hailufeng is a famous hometown of overseas Chinese. Many overseas Chinese also often have the habit of Tomb-Sweeping Day's returning to his hometown to visit graves, to show that he does not forget his ancestors and homeland. After liberation, grave-sweeping activities added new content, and the government advocated activities to commemorate heroes and heroes. During his stay in Tomb-Sweeping Day, government agencies, organizations and schools organized teams to visit the Martyrs Cemetery to cherish the memory of the martyrs' achievements, place their grief and inspire their aspirations.
3. Eat pancakes on Qingming Day
Eating pancakes on Qingming Festival is very popular in Hailufeng and Chaoshan, and almost every household is no exception. Peel pancakes. The stuffing consists of two parts. The skin is made of flour and water, stirred into a thick paste, and baked into a round cooked dough sheet in hot soil, as thin as paper. The fillings are salty and sweet. Salty stuffing with bean sprouts, leeks mixed with shredded eggs, shredded pork and shredded mushrooms; Sweet stuffing, with "sugar onion" as stuffing, has a unique flavor. Sugar onion, also known as onion sugar, is made of white sugar and maltose through special processing. White and crisp, scattered in the mouth.
It is said that people in Shanwei eat pancakes on Qingming Festival, which evolved from the custom of ancient cold food festival. o
There is also a folk legend in Shanwei: In the 14th year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1675), Zheng Jing, the son of Emperor Kangxi, led troops to besiege Zhangzhou City in southern Fujian, and Huang, commander of the Qing army, sent troops to fight back. After months of siege, countless residents in the city starved to death and the survivors were buried by straw mats. During the period of 65438+ 10 in the same year, the Qing army surrendered. In order to mourn the dead relatives and friends, Zhangzhou people made pancakes, wrapped them in straw mats and offered sacrifices to the dead. This custom has been handed down from generation to generation in southern Fujian.
4. Tomb-Sweeping Day today.
Grave-sweeping is the earliest custom in Tomb-Sweeping Day, which continues to this day and is gradually simplified with the progress of society and the promotion of the government. On the day of grave-sweeping, some descendants first pruned their ancestors' graves and surrounding weeds, and then offered food and flowers.
As the cremation of human remains is becoming more and more common, the custom of sweeping graves is gradually replaced by the way of offering sacrifices to ancestors with ashes. On that day in Tomb-Sweeping Day, some families also worshipped their ancestors at home. On this day in Tomb-Sweeping Day, you can bow silently in front of ancestors' graves, places where ashes are placed or temples.
No matter what form of memorial service is adopted, the most basic and common ceremony in Tomb-Sweeping Day is to go to the grave, where the ashes are placed or in front of the coffin to remember the ancestors. In order to make the ceremony of commemorating ancestors more meaningful, we should let the younger generation of family members know about the past struggle history of our ancestors.
This is a big festival in China, and it is a good time to connect with each other and recognize the religion. However, what I saw was completely different from what I heard, and there were many factors hidden in it. ...
Qingming eclipse pancakes, only enjoyed a delicious meal, which really put the cart before the horse.
There are also some families. Due to various reasons such as work and life, Tomb-Sweeping Day is only a concept of time, and there are even cases where "professional grave sweepers" are employed to deliver papers on their behalf.