It is said that it began with the "tomb sacrifice" ceremony of ancient emperors and generals, and later people followed suit and became a fixed custom of the Chinese nation to worship ancestors and sweep graves on this day. Tomb-Sweeping Day began in the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years. Qingming Festival was originally just the name of a solar term, and it became a festival to commemorate ancestors, which was related to the Cold Food Festival, so Jin Wengong designated the day after the Cold Food Festival as Tomb-Sweeping Day.

The ancients celebrated Shangsi Festival and Cold Food Festival during the Qingming period. However, with the changes of history, both the Cold Food Festival and the Shangsi Festival have gradually withdrawn from the historical stage and become a past tense. Until then, Tomb-Sweeping Day gradually merged with these two festivals and became a major festival that included the significance and customs of these two festivals.

Brief introduction of Tomb-Sweeping Day

Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as outing festival, outing festival, March festival, ancestor worship festival, etc. It was celebrated 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.

Tomb-Sweeping Day's Cultural Tradition

Tomb-Sweeping Day worships his ancestors. According to the custom, people usually set out to visit graves in the morning in Tomb-Sweeping Day. When sweeping graves, people should bring wine, food, fruit, paper money and other items to the cemetery, offer food to the graves of their ancestors, then burn the paper money to cultivate new soil for the graves, or break some fresh branches and insert them in front of the graves, and then kowtow to worship. 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.

Tomb-Sweeping Day plays.

Spring outing Spring outing is not only a day to remember the dead, but also a day for people to enjoy their own time. In March, trees turn green, flowers bloom and the sun shines brightly, and everything in nature takes on a new look. This is a good time to go out and enjoy the natural beauty.

Fly a kite. Flying kites is a favorite activity for many people during the Qingming holiday. Kites fly not only during the day, but also at night. Small lanterns are tied to kites or kite ropes. When kites fly in the sky, lanterns look like twinkling stars, adding unique scenery to the night sky.

The Significance of Tomb-Sweeping Day

Tomb-Sweeping Day is a season of prosperity and decline for Yin Qi. The earth presents the image of spring and tranquility, which is a good opportunity to go for a spring outing in the suburbs and offer sacrifices to graves. Tomb-Sweeping Day has rich cultural connotations in its historical development. Although the festival activities vary from place to place, grave sweeping, ancestor worship and outing are the same basic etiquette and custom themes. During Tomb-Sweeping Day, no matter where people are, they will return to their hometown to participate in ancestor worship activities and remember their ancestors. The culture of Qingming etiquette and custom fully embodies the humanistic spirit of the Chinese nation of respecting ancestors and cautiously pursuing the future.