The Qingming Festival, also known as the Treading Green Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival and one of the most important sacrificial festivals at the intersection of mid-spring and late-spring, a day of ancestor worship and tomb-sweeping. The traditional Qingming Festival of the Chinese nation began around the Zhou Dynasty, more than 2,500 years ago.
The Almanac: "Fifteen days after the vernal equinox, the bucket refers to Ding, for the Qingming, when everything is clean and clear, cover when the gas is clear and bright, everything is obvious, so the name." Qingming, the temperature rises, it is a good time for spring plowing, so there is a "Qingming before and after, planting melon point beans," said.
Folk customs during the Qingming period:
1. Tomb-sweeping?Tomb-sweeping during the Ching Ming period is called "thinking of the time of honor" for ancestors. The custom has a long history. In the Ming Dynasty, "The Scenery of the Imperial Capital", it is written: "On Qingming Day in March, men and women sweep the graves, carrying Pusaetha scandens, and hanging kozo ingots on the backs of the palanquins and horses, all over the road with a great deal of charm. Those who worship, pour libations, cry, and weed the graves, burn kozo and put paper money on the graves. If there is no paper money, the grave will be left alone. Weeping, do not return, tend to the fragrant trees, choose the garden, sit in the list of all drunk." In fact, tomb-sweeping before the Qin Dynasty, but not necessarily on the occasion of Qingming, Qingming tomb-sweeping is after the Qin Dynasty. Only in the Tang Dynasty did it begin to flourish. "Qing Tongli" cloud: "year, cold food and frost festival, worship sweeping Xieng Khouang tombs, the period plain clothes at the tomb, with wine and food and scythes cut grass and trees of the device, Zhou calloused seal tree, cut off the thorns and grasses, it is known as sweeping the tomb." And passed down to this day.
2.Treading green for spring excursions, also known as "spring", generally refers to the early spring to the countryside to walk and play. During the Qingming Festival to the nature to enjoy and appreciate the spring scenery, hiking in the countryside, this trekking is also called spring tour. In ancient times, it was called exploring spring and searching for spring, the meaning of which is to step on the green grass, play in the countryside and enjoy the spring colors. Treading green this seasonal folk activities, in our country has a long history, its source is the ancient farming rituals to welcome spring customs. This kind of farming rituals to welcome spring custom has a profound influence on the later generations.
When the Qingming Festival was held, it was the time for spring to return to the earth, and people took advantage of the opportunity to have some fun in the mountains and countryside while sweeping the graves of old and young people. There are also deliberately during the Qingming Festival to the nature to appreciate and enjoy the vibrant spring scenery, hiking in the countryside, a lyrical in the harsh winter since the depression of the heart. Before and after the Qingming Festival is a good time to go trekking, so become an important part of the Qingming Festival customs.
3. Tree planting?Legend has it that at the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, the first Han emperor, didn't have the time to go back to his hometown to pay tribute to his ancestors because he was always away on wars, and he didn't have the chance to go back home to pay tribute to his ancestors until he became the emperor. But because he hadn't been back to his hometown for years, he didn't find his parents' graves. Later, with the help of his ministers, he found a broken tombstone in the weeds, so he ordered people to repair the grave and set up a monument, and planted pines and cypresses as a sign in front of the grave. It so happened that this day was the Qingming Festival, one of the twenty-four solar terms in the lunar calendar, so Liu Bang, on the advice of the Confucians, designated Qingming as a festival of ancestor worship. From then on, every Qingming Festival, Liu Bang would return to his hometown with honor and hold grand ancestor worship and tree planting activities. Later, this custom was spread to the folk, and people combined ancestor worship and tree planting in Qingming, and gradually formed a fixed folk custom. To the Tang Dynasty, Qingming willow has become a very popular folk custom. The so-called willow, originally refers to the behavior of people wearing willow branches, but in the process of ancestor worship, people tend to willow branches to the graveyard or the ground a plug, as the saying goes, "mindless willow shade", willow to the ground a plug, willow branches will come to life, and unintentionally play a role in planting trees.
There is another way to say it: before and after the Qingming Festival, the spring sun shines, the spring rain sprinkles, planting saplings with a high survival rate, fast growth. Therefore, since ancient times, our country has Qingming tree planting habit. Some people also call the Qingming Festival "Tree Planting Day". Tree-planting custom has been handed down to the present day. 1979, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress stipulated that every year on March 12 for China's Tree Planting Day. This is to mobilize the people of all nationalities to actively carry out activities to green the motherland, has a very important significance.
4. Dai willow planting willow ?Wearing willow, willow is the traditional custom of Qingming Festival, popular in all parts of the country, especially in the south for more. Nowadays, the custom of planting trees on Qingming Festival is also evolved from the custom of wearing willow and inserting willow on Qingming. On the day of the festival, people insert willow branches in front of doorways or eaves, some wear willow rings on their heads, and in some places, women wear willow hairpins on their heads and men wear willow on their bodies. According to legend, this custom was originally intended to honor Shennong, who "taught the people to gather crops". During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, people inserted willow branches on New Year's Day, believing that they could avoid ghosts. Later, this custom was transferred to the Cold Food Festival or the Qingming Festival. In addition, the willow also has the meaning of remembering the year and praying for life, there is a folk proverb: "wear a wheat, live a hundred; wear a flower, live a hundred and eight; insert a willow, live a hundred and nine."
There is another way to say that the Qingming willow, willow: the original Chinese people to the Qingming, July 30 and October Solstice for the three major ghosts, is the time of the ghosts out of the discussion. People in order to prevent the ghosts of the persecution of the persecution and inserted willow, wear willow. Willow in people's minds have the function of warding off evil spirits. Influenced by Buddhism, people believe that the willow can drive away ghosts, and called "ghosts horror wood", Guanyin to willow branches dipped in water to help all beings. Northern Wei JiaSiFu "qimin yaojutsu" said: "take willow branches on the household, a hundred ghosts do not enter the home." Qingming is a ghost festival, the value of this willow sprouting season, people have naturally inserted willow wear willow to avoid evil.
5. Swinging?Swinging is an ancient Chinese Ching Ming Festival custom, boughs for the frame, tied to the ribbon, after the two ropes with the pedal swing not only can improve health, but also cultivate the spirit of bravery, so far, especially for the people and children love.
"Swing" in the Han Dynasty has begun to popularize the court, Wei Jin and North and South Dynasties, the folk also formed a "swing" custom. But it is officially related to the "cold food festival", "cold food" in the Tang Dynasty, before, was originally a small festival of the three Jin local. Li Shimin father and son after the establishment of the Tang dynasty, the hometown of the festival and "Qingming" festival together, to promote the whole country, swinging, and cuju, cockfighting, picnics and other activities, and was officially fixed as a festival of the reserved program.
Guzheng music "Fishing Boa