Origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day: According to Records of the Historian, during the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhong Er, the son of the State of Jin, was persecuted and fled everywhere. A hunger unbearable, life retainer meson push to find food, meson push can't bear to see the owner getting thinner day by day, just dig a piece of meat in his thigh and cook it for Zhong Er to eat, so meson push also suffered from leg disease.

Zhong Er was very grateful after knowing this, and vowed not to forget the loyalty of meson tui. A few years later, Zhong Er returned to the throne and became the overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period, Jin Wengong. In those days, all the ministers who fled with Zhong Er were raised, but meson tui was not one of them. He fled to the mountains behind his mother's back.

Jin Wengong was very guilty when he remembered it, and wanted to re-enable the veteran who had been through trouble with himself, but meson's decision to retire was made. Jin Wengong ordered the mountain to be burned, thinking that this would force mesons to push out and be an official. The fire burned for three days and nights, and meson sat under a willow tree until he was burned to death. Jin Wengong regretted it very much, and ordered the whole country not to burn fire on this day every year, and the food could only be eaten raw. This is the origin of the first day of the Cold Food Festival in Tomb-Sweeping Day.

The Cold Food Festival is the day before Tomb-Sweeping Day. The ancients often extended the activities of the Cold Food Festival to Qingming. Over time, people combined cold food with Qingming. Now, Tomb-Sweeping Day has replaced the Cold Food Festival, and the custom of worshipping mesons has become the custom of sweeping graves at Qingming Festival.

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Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the outing festival, is at the turn of mid-spring and late spring. Tomb-Sweeping Day is a traditional festival in China, and it is also one of the most important sacrificial festivals, and it is a day to sweep graves and worship ancestors. Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese nation, began in the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years.

Through historical development and evolution, Qingming Festival has extremely rich connotations, and different customs have been developed in various places, and sweeping graves to worship ancestors and outing are the basic themes. Tomb-Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival are also called the four traditional festivals in China. On May 20, 2006, Tomb-Sweeping Day declared by the Ministry of Culture of China was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list with the approval of the State Council.

Tomb-Sweeping Day is one of the important "Eight Festivals of the Year" in China. Generally, it is around April 5th of Gregorian calendar, and the festival is very long. There are two sayings: 8 days before 10 and 8 days after 10, which belong to Tomb-Sweeping Day in recent 20 days. Tomb-Sweeping Day originally refers to the 15th day after the vernal equinox. 1935, the Republic of China * * * clearly designated April 5th as a national holiday in Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the national grave-sweeping festival.

Legends and stories of Tomb-Sweeping Day. (100 words)

Farming Festival was the earliest in Tomb-Sweeping Day. At that time, there was another festival, Cold Food Festival, to commemorate Jin Wengong and the sage Jiezitui in the Spring and Autumn Period. At that time, there was civil strife in the court, and the half-brother of the Prince of Jin wanted to get rid of him and win the position of emperor. In order to avoid being killed, he finally escaped from the palace and wandered around, taking the most loyal courtiers, mesons and others with him.

On a certain day, in the mountains, the Prince and Jietui and others got lost, and there was a degree of fasting. Jietui cut off his thigh meat without hesitation to cook soup for everyone to relieve hunger. The Prince and other courtiers were very moved. This matter has always been in the heart of the Prince of Jin. 19 years later, he returned to the state of Jin and became the king of a country. His name is Jin Wengong. At that time, many courtiers who helped Jin Wengong went to the palace to admire them, but no mesons came.

At that time, meson tui didn't want to go, even more unexpectedly, meson tui quietly returned to his hometown with his old mother and lived in seclusion in the mountains. Jin Wengong was very uncomfortable, so he went to the mountains to invite mesons to push. But meson push doesn't want to go back to be rewarded. Finally, Jin Wengong thought of a way to push the meson out with Yamakaji. As a result, the fire was so great that the meson pushed his old mother to death accidentally.

Jin Wengong, who was very sorry, was very sad and decided to bury his mother under the willow tree, which was called "Jieshan". On the day of his death, people were not allowed to eat by fire, but only cold food, which was designated as "Cold Food Festival" to commemorate Jietui. From then on, someone will go to the grave to worship Jietui on time on this day.

So the Cold Food Festival was designated as grave-sweeping, and the Cold Food Festival and Tomb-Sweeping Day originally belonged to two festivals. By the time of the Tang Dynasty, the two festivals were very similar, so Tomb-Sweeping Day and Cold Food Festival were designated as the same day, and the custom of sweeping graves appeared in Tomb-Sweeping Day that day.

What are the stories about Tomb-Sweeping Day?

Legends, Stories and Related Customs in Tomb-Sweeping Day

I. Legendary stories (illustrative stories)

About the origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day: According to legend, at the end of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang, the Emperor Gaozu, and Xiang Yu, the overlord of the Western Chu State, finally won the world after several rounds of war.

When he returned to his hometown with honor, he wanted to worship his parents' graves, but because of years of war, the graves were covered with weeds, and the tombstones were staggered, some were broken and some were broken, and the words on the tombstones could not be recognized.

Liu Bang was very sad. Although his subordinates also helped him rummage through all the tombstones, his parents' graves were not found until dusk.

Finally, Liu Bang took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, tore it into many small pieces by hand, held it tightly in his hand, and prayed to God: "My parents are alive in heaven, and now the wind is blowing so hard, I will throw these small pieces of paper into the air. If the paper falls in one place and the wind can't move, it will be my parents' grave. "Say that finish Liu Bang threw the paper into the air, and sure enough, a piece of paper fell on a grave, no matter how the wind blows, Liu Bang ran over and took a closer look at the vague tombstone, and sure enough, he saw his parents' names engraved on it.

Liu Bang was so happy that he immediately asked someone to renovate his parents' graves, and since then, Tomb-Sweeping Day must visit his parents' graves every year.

Later, folk people, like Liu Bang, went to worship their ancestors' graves every year in Tomb-Sweeping Day, and pressed a few pieces of paper on the graves with small clods, indicating that the graves were visited.

Second, related customs

Tomb-Sweeping Day falls on April 5th or 6th in the national calendar, because it falls on the 15th day after the vernal equinox in the 24 solar terms, so it is not fixed on April 5th in the national calendar, nor is it determined by the lunar calendar. Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the National Tomb Sweeping Festival, was a national holiday designated by * * * in the 24th year of the Republic of China. China has a long history of offering sacrifices to ancestors. As early as ancient times, emperors and princes offered sacrifices to ancestral temples, and in the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius offered sacrifices to tombs, all of which were unique to nobles. After the Qin and Han Dynasties, when the aristocratic system came to an end, it was the custom for ordinary people to sacrifice to their ancestors' graves.

Generally, tomb sweeping at Qingming Festival can be divided into two ceremonies:

(1) Hanging paper is also called "pressing paper". Generally, rectangular yellow and white paper or red, yellow, blue, white and black five-color paper is pressed on the grave with stones or bricks to show that the descendants have worshipped the ancestral grave. (2) Cultivating graves is an activity to decorate ancestral graves and worship ancestors. Weeds on ancestral graves are cleared and trimmed once a year, and then some sacrificial rites, wine, vegetables, fruits and vegetables are prepared as offerings. Generally, sacrifices are placed in front of the grave and the back soil, including leeks, eggs, squid, sweet rice, taro, bamboo shoots and so on.

The story about Tomb-Sweeping Day.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the minister of the State of Jin, Jie Zitui, tried to protect Zhong Er, the eldest son of the State of Jin, from fleeing. In order to prevent Zhong Er from starving to death, he cut off his thigh meat and gave it to Zhong Er. Later, Zhong Er became the king of the State of Jin, and wanted to give meson an official position. Meson refused to be an official and retired to the mountains. In order to push the meson out, someone suggested that Yamakaji be released. As a result, it burned for many days, but the meson push still didn't come out. After the fire went out, the body of meson tui was found.

Zhong Er regretted it. In order to commemorate meson tui, this day was designated as Cold Food Festival, which later evolved into today's Tomb-Sweeping Day.

According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was a prince who, in order to avoid the scourge, most of the courtiers who had fled with him went their separate ways during his exile. Only a few loyal people remained, following him.

One of them is called meson push. On one occasion, the prince fainted from hunger. In order to save the prince, Jiezitui cut a piece of meat from his leg, cooked it with fire and gave it to him to eat. Nineteen years later, the prince returned to China and became a monarch. It was later said that Jin Wengong.

After Jin Wengong came to power, he raised a lot of rewards for those courtiers who share the joys and sorrows with him, except for the meson push. Someone pleaded for mesons in front of Jin Wengong. Jin Wengong to think of the past, guilty, Jin Wengong personally to please. However, when Jin Wengong came to the meson pusher's house, he saw the door closed. Jiezitui didn't want to see him and hid in the mountains with his mother on his back. Jin Wengong asked his body-guard to search the mountain, but he couldn't find it.

So, someone had an idea, saying, it's better to set Yamakaji free, set fire on three sides, and leave one side, hoping that mesons will come out by themselves when the fire starts. Jin Wengong ordered Yamakaji to be promoted. Unexpectedly, the fire burned for three days and three nights. After the fire was extinguished, mesons were not pushed out after all. Looking up the mountain, the mother and the son were holding a charred willow tree and were dead.

On the day of Tomb-Sweeping Day in the second year, Jin Wengong led his ministers to the Jiemiao Temple at the foot of the mountain to pay homage to Jietui, and saw the burned willow on the burning forest slope die and come back to life. Jin Wengong thought that willow was transformed by mesons, so he gave it the title of Qingming willow. People in the state of Jin are required to hang willow branches on their homes, sweep graves and plant willows, and go hiking in the mountains.

Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the Walking Festival, is one of the traditional festivals in China and one of the most important sacrificial festivals at the turn of mid-spring and late spring, that is, the first 104 day after the winter solstice. It is a day to worship ancestors and sweep graves.

The traditional Tomb-Sweeping Day of Han nationality in China began in the Zhou Dynasty, with a history of more than 2,500 years. Influenced by the Han culture, 24 ethnic minorities in China, such as Manchu, Hezhe, Zhuang, Oroqen, Dong, Tujia, Miao, Yao, Li, Shui, Jing and Qiang, have also had the customs of Tomb-Sweeping Day. Although customs vary from place to place, sweeping graves to worship ancestors and outing are the basic themes.

Tomb-Sweeping Day originally refers to the 15th day after the vernal equinox. 1935, the Republic of China * * * clearly designated April 5th as a national holiday in Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the national grave-sweeping festival. On May 20th, 2006, with the approval of the State Council, Tomb-Sweeping Day was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.

Historical stories about Tomb-Sweeping Day.

Liu Bangji's parents:

At the end of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang finally defeated the overlord and won the world. When Liu Bang returned home dressed in gold, he wanted to go to his parents' graves to worship, but because of years of war, the graves were covered with weeds, and he could not find his parents' graves. Liu Bang was very sad. Although his subordinates also helped him rummage through all the tombstones, his parents' graves were not found until dusk.

Finally, Liu Bang took out the paper from his sleeve, tore it into many small pieces, held it tightly in his hand, and prayed to God, "My parents are alive in heaven, so I will throw these pieces of paper into the air. If the paper falls in one place and the wind can't blow, it is my parents' grave."

With that, Liu Bang threw the paper into the air, and sure enough, a piece of paper fell on a grave, which could not be blown no matter how the wind blew. Liu Bang ran over and took a closer look at the vague tombstone, and sure enough, he saw his parents' names engraved on it. Later, folk people, like Liu Bang, went to worship their ancestors' graves every year in Tomb-Sweeping Day, and pressed a few pieces of paper on the graves with small clods, indicating that the graves were visited.

(5) Extended reading of stories about Qingming Festival.

Tomb-Sweeping Day is the Spring Festival of the Chinese nation, and the corresponding Spring Festival is the Autumn Festival of the Double Ninth Festival. Tomb-sweeping on Qingming Festival is a "tomb sacrifice" and a "respect for thinking of time" for ancestors. Its custom has a long history.

As a sacrifice, the Qingming Festival mainly worships ancestors, expressing the filial piety and yearning for ancestors. It is a traditional cultural festival that respects ancestors and pursues the future with caution. Tomb-Sweeping Day originally belonged to "Festival of Sacrificing Ancestors", which was named as "Ghost Festival" in the development and evolution of later generations. In ancient times, people worshipped their ancestors to express filial piety and gratitude, and did not call it Ghost Festival.

Before and after the Qingming Festival, there were differences in different places. Qingming Festival can be divided into tomb sacrifice and ancestral temple sacrifice according to the different places of sacrifice. Tomb sacrifice is the most common, and the characteristic of Qingming sacrifice is tomb sacrifice. Qingming sacrifice is called grave sweeping, mainly because of the way of tomb sacrifice. Another form is ancestral temple sacrifice, also known as temple sacrifice, which is a gathering of clans.

Some places are simply called "Qingming Festival" or "Eating Qingming Festival". After the ancestor worship ceremony, the patriarch presided over the important events in the Shang clan, admonished the clan's laws and regulations, and finally gathered for food and drink. It is an ancient tradition to share the blessings of ancestors and reunite clans in the form of eating and drinking together. The so-called "pro-clan brothers by eating and drinking".

A short story about Tomb-Sweeping Day.

Why didn't the Manchu people set off fireworks at the Cold Food Festival? It was to remember Mrs. Maugham who saved the ancestor Han Wang. People in Menghua City, Weishan Yi, Nei and Hui Autonomous County, Yunnan Province put willows in Tomb-Sweeping Day to thank Liuqing, a Menghua person who saved the people from being poisoned by officers and soldiers and was killed by fire. Tomb-Sweeping Day, a Yao woman in Jinping County, Yunnan Province, put flowers in her head to be grateful for the snake that fought against thieves, saved her master and died of heroic injuries.

Tomb-Sweeping Day in Suzhou and Changshu, Jiangsu, likes to eat fermented cakes before and after, which originated from Zhang Shicheng, the rebel leader in Jiangsu and Zhejiang at the end of Yuan Dynasty, to thank the old man who saved his mother with bread when he was in trouble. Farmers in Zhujiage, Tongxiang, Zhejiang Province, in the Qingming period, in addition to setting tables of food and wine in the hall to worship their ancestors, they should also set a table of food and wine in the corridor outside the hall and put 18 pairs of chopsticks to worship 18 "ancestors outside the hall".

It is to commemorate the 18 warriors of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom who brought benefits to Zhu Jiage.

Tomb-Sweeping Day Fusion Cold Food Festival

By the time of Tang Dynasty, both scholars and civilians regarded sweeping graves on the Cold Food Festival as a ritual festival to return to their roots and pursue the religion. Because Qingming Festival is very close to the Cold Food Festival, people often extended sweeping graves to Qingming Festival. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Tomb-Sweeping Day gradually rose from being attached to the Cold Food Festival to replacing it. Not only the ceremonies of going to graves and sweeping graves were held in Qingming Festival, but also the original customs and activities of Cold Food Festival, such as cold food, cuju and swinging, were all taken over by Tomb-Sweeping Day.

Stories and legends about Tomb-Sweeping Day