Origin and Origin
The Legend of Jie Zhi Tui
Legend has it that during the Spring and Autumn Period, the Prince of Jin, Chong Er, went into exile to escape persecution, and on the way to exile, in an uninhabited place, he was so tired and hungry that he couldn't stand up any more. The ministers searched for half a day and could not find anything to eat, when everyone was very anxious, the ministers jiezi push to a secluded place, cut off a piece of meat from his own thigh, and boiled a bowl of broth for the duke to drink, and Chong Er gradually regained his spirit, and when Chong Er realized that the meat was cut off from his own leg by jiezi push, he shed a tear.
Nineteen years later, Chong Er became the king of the country, the historical Duke Wen of Jin. He rewarded all the ministers who had accompanied him into exile, but forgot about Jie Zi push. Many people were angry with Jie Zi Tui and urged him to face the king to ask for rewards, but Jie Zi Tui despised those who competed for rewards. He packed his clothes and quietly went to Mianshan Mountain to live in seclusion.
When Duke Wen of Jin heard of this, he was so ashamed of himself that he personally went to ask Jie Zi Tui to leave his home and go to Mianshan Mountain. The Mianshan Mountain is high and dangerous, and the trees are dense, it is not easy to find two people, some people have a plan to burn the Mianshan Mountain from three sides, forcing out Jie Zi push. The fire burned all over the Mianshan Mountain, but did not see the figure of the meson push, after the fire went out, people realized that the back of his mother's meson push has been sitting under an old willow tree died. Jin Wendong see, mournful. When the coffin, from the hole in the tree found a bloody book, written on it: "cut meat to serve the king's heart, but I hope that the Lord is always clear." To commemorate Jie Zi Tui, Duke Wen of Jin ordered that this day be designated as the Cold Food Festival.
The next year, the Duke of Jin climbed a mountain to pay homage to Jie Zi Tui and found that the old willow tree had risen from the dead. He gave the old willow tree the name "Qingming Willow", and announced to the world that the day after the Cold Food Festival would be designated as the Qingming Festival.
Chingming and Qingming Festival
The name of the Qingming Festival is related to the characteristics of the weather at this time. In the Western Han Dynasty, "Huainanzi - Tianwenxun" said, "Fifteen days after the vernal equinox, when the bucket points to B, the wind of Qingming arrives." "Qingming wind" means fresh and clean wind. The "Hundred Questions on the Time of the Year" says, "Everything grows at this time, all clean and clear. Therefore, it is called Qingming." Although the festival of Qingming was only formed in the Tang Dynasty, the Qingming Festival as a sign of the time has long been recognized by the ancients, the Han Dynasty has been clearly recorded.
The twenty-four solar terms are the climatic patterns summarized by ancient Chinese astronomers and people in their lives and production practices, reflecting more appropriately the changes in temperature, physical conditions, rainfall and other aspects of the year, and providing indispensable guidance for people to arrange farming, sericulture, and other activities according to the time of the year. To the Qingming, warming temperatures, rainfall increased, is the spring plowing and planting of a good time. So Qingming is an important festival for ancient agricultural production. Farmers' proverbs said, "Before and after Qingming, planting melons and beans" and "Planting trees and forests is not more important than Qingming", which is exactly what they said. Cui Shi (崔寔) of the Eastern Han Dynasty recorded in "Four People's Monthly Orders": "At the Qingming Festival, we order silkworm concubines to rule the silkworm room ------", which means that we start to prepare for raising silkworms at this time. The "Qingming Festival" is still a festival, not a holiday.
The Qingming Festival in the time and weather characteristics for the formation of the Qingming Festival provides important conditions, the festival is seen as one of the sources of the Qingming Festival.