1. Origin: Qingming Festival is the most solemn ancestor worship festival of the Chinese nation. It is a traditional cultural festival that honors ancestors, pays homage to the past, and promotes filial piety. The Qingming Festival has a long history, originating from the spring festival activities in ancient times. The two festivals of spring and autumn have existed since ancient times. Qingming has both natural and cultural connotations. It is both a natural solar term and a traditional festival. Tomb-Sweeping Day is a traditional major spring festival. Sweeping graves, offering sacrifices, and remembering ancestors are fine traditions left by the Chinese nation for thousands of years. It is not only conducive to promoting filial piety and family affection, awakening family unity and common memory, but also promoting family members and even national cohesion and identity.
2. Legend:
It is said that during the Spring and Autumn Period, Chong'er, the prince of Jin Dynasty, went into exile abroad to escape persecution. During his exile, he was tired and hungry in an uninhabited place and could no longer do anything. stand up. The ministers searched for a long time but could not find anything to eat. When everyone was extremely anxious, the minister Jie Zitui went to a secluded place, cut off a piece of meat from his own thigh, and cooked a bowl of broth for the prince to drink. , Chong'er gradually recovered his energy. When Chong'er found that the meat was cut off by Jie Zitui's own leg, he shed tears.
Nineteen years later, Chong'er became the king, which was the Duke Wen of Jin in history. After he ascended the throne, Duke Wen paid heavy rewards to the officials who accompanied him in exile, but he forgot about Jie Zitui. Many people complained about Jie Zitui and advised him to ask for rewards from the emperor. However, Jie Zitui despised those who strive for merit and reward. He packed his bags and quietly went to Mianshan with his mother to live in seclusion.
After hearing this, Duke Wen of Jin was so ashamed that he took people to invite Jie Zitui himself. However, Jie Zitui had already left home and gone to Mianshan. Mianshan Mountain has high mountains, dangerous roads and dense trees. It is not easy to find two people. Someone came up with a plan to burn Mianshan Mountain from three sides to force Jie Zitui out. The fire burned all over Mianshan, but Jie Zitui was nowhere to be seen. After the fire died, people found that Jie Zitui, who was carrying his old mother on his back, had died sitting under an old willow tree.
When Duke Wen of Jin saw this, he cried. During the burial, a blood book was found in the hole of the tree, which read: "I will cut my flesh to show my loyalty to the king, and I hope that my lord will always be clear and bright." In order to commemorate Jie Zitui, Duke Wen of Jin ordered this day to be designated as the "Cold Food Festival". The next year, Duke Wen of Jin led his ministers to climb a mountain to pay homage and found that the old willow tree had come back to life. He named the old willow tree "Qingming Willow" and told the world, so he designated the day after the Cold Food Festival as "Qingming Festival".