Holiday customs:
Tomb-Sweeping Day's customs are rich and interesting. In addition to paying attention to the prohibition of fire to sweep graves, there are also a series of customs and sports activities such as hiking, swinging, sweeping graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day, playing cuju, playing polo and inserting willows. Therefore, this festival is a unique festival, which has both sad and sour tears for sweeping graves and laughter for an outing.
Grave sweeping:
Grave-sweeping is very popular in Tomb-Sweeping Day. In fact, sweeping graves is the content of Tomb-Sweeping Day's Cold Food Festival the day before. It is said that cold food originated in Jin Wengong to mourn Jiexiu. During the twenty years of Emperor Xuanzong's reign, he ordered the world to "eat cold food in the ground". Because cold food is associated with Qingming, it gradually spread to sweeping graves in Qingming. During the Qingming period, sweeping graves became more popular. In ancient times, children often flew kites when sweeping graves.
Swing:
This is the custom of ancient Tomb-Sweeping Day in China. Swing, that is, lift the rope, move. It has a very long history. It was originally called Qian Qiu, but later it was changed into a swing to avoid taboos. In ancient times, swings were made of branches and tied with ribbons. Later, it gradually developed into two ropes, a pedal swing. Playing swing can not only improve health, but also cultivate courage, which is deeply loved by people, especially children.
Cuju:
Bow is a rubber ball, the skin of which is made of leather, and the ball is stuffed with wool. Cuju is kicking the ball with your feet. This is a popular game in ancient Tomb-Sweeping Day. According to legend, it was invented by the Yellow Emperor with the original purpose of training warriors.
Go for an outing:
Also called spring outing. It was called Tanchun and Xunchun in ancient times. March is clear, spring returns to the earth, and nature is full of vitality everywhere, which is a good time to go for an outing. People in our country have always maintained the habit of going for an outing in Qingming.
Planting trees:
Before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day, the spring is bright, the spring is bright, and the spring rain is falling. The planted seedlings have high survival rate and fast growth. Therefore, China has the habit of planting trees in Qingming since ancient times. Some people even call Tomb-Sweeping Day Arbor Day. The custom of planting trees has been passed down to this day. 1979, the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) stipulated March 12 every year as China's Arbor Day.