Tomb-Sweeping Day has a long history, which originated from the ancient Spring Festival. According to the research results of modern anthropology and archaeology, the two most primitive beliefs of human beings are the belief in heaven and earth and the belief in ancestors. The belief of "worshipping the heavens and offering sacrifices to ancestors" has continued since ancient times, and the custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors has become a fixed custom in Tomb-Sweeping Day.
In the historical development, Tomb-Sweeping Day has absorbed the custom of forbidding fire and cold during the Cold Food Festival. It is said that the Cold Food Festival was set up in the Spring and Autumn Period to commemorate Jiexiu, a loyal minister of the State of Jin. Although the Cold Food Festival is related to meson push in folklore, the origin of cold food is not to commemorate meson push, but to follow the old habit of changing fire in ancient times, that is, what Zhou Li called "using Muduo to repair fire in mid-spring and banning fire in middle school"
The Cold Food Festival is an ancient festival spread in the Central Plains. Historically, it has long been a custom to eat cold food and ban fire and pay homage to ancestors. Because of the cold in the north and the rising temperature in spring and March, it is time to change the fire, so people should ban the fire before the new fire comes. The Han Dynasty called the Cold Food Festival a no-smoking festival, because people were not allowed to light a fire on this day, and candles were lit in the palace at night, and the fire spread to the homes of dignitaries.
According to the Records of the Later Han Dynasty, the first Cold Food Festival lasted for a long time, the longest being 105 days and the shortest being 1 month. No fire is allowed in the Cold Food Festival, only raw food is allowed, which is bad for people's health.