The Qingming Festival is an ancient festival of the Chinese nation. It is not only a solemn festival for sweeping tombs and worshiping ancestors, but also a joyful festival for people to get close to nature, go outing and enjoy the fun of spring. Douzhiyi (or the sun's yellow longitude reaches 15°) is the Qingming solar term, and the festival time is around April 5 in the Gregorian calendar. During this season, the vitality is strong and the yin energy declines. All things "let go of the old and adopt the new", and the earth presents the image of spring and bright scenery. It is a good time for youth tours in the countryside and tomb-clearing ceremonies. The Qingming ancestor worship festival is very long. There are two versions: 10 days before and 8 days after, and 10 days before and 10 days after. These nearly 20 days are all within the Qingming ancestor worship festival.

The origin and legend of Qingming Festival

Many traditional festivals are related to ancient legends, and the same is true for Qingming Festival. The origin of this festival can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period. According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period of the Jin Dynasty, Duke Wen of Jin was persecuted and therefore wandered abroad. The loyal minister Jie Zitui was always by his side and suffered a lot. Once Jin Wengong fainted from hunger, Jie Zitui cut off the meat from his thigh to make soup for his lord, which saved his life. Later, Duke Wen of Jin returned to the court and rewarded many people who had helped him, except for Jie Zitui.

Jie Zitui did not take it seriously, but he lived in seclusion in the mountains with his old mother. After he left, Duke Wen of Jin felt ashamed of his loyalty when he thought about the past, so he led his men to look for Jie Zitui, but his search was fruitless. Jin Wengong thought that the other party was resentful of himself, so he set fire to the mountain in order to force Jie Zi out. Unexpectedly, the other party was upright and would rather be burned to death than come out. After his death, he left a blood letter: "I will cut my flesh to serve you with all my heart, and I hope my lord will always be clear and clear." This made Duke Wen of Jin regret it. In order to commemorate him, he designated the day of setting fire to the mountain as the "Cold Food Festival" and ordered that this time every year People can only eat vegetarian food to commemorate Jie Zitui. This day later gradually evolved into Qingming Festival, a day for people to remember their loyal martyrs and ancestors.

Customs of Qingming Festival

1. Sweeping tombs and worshiping ancestors

As one of the traditional sacrificial festivals, the most important form of Qingming Festival is to worship ancestors and sweep the tombs of ancestors. Throughout the ages, we Chinese have had the habit of sweeping tombs during the Tomb Sweeping Day. Travelers in foreign countries always rush back to their hometowns before the Tomb Sweeping Day to sweep the tombs of their ancestors and offer sacrifices. When worshiping and sweeping the tomb, the weeds are usually removed from the tomb, some new soil is added, and then offerings are placed, incense is burned, some paper money is burned, or some paper strips are hung on the branches, and a simple sacrificial ceremony is performed, such as Kowtow, bow, etc., tell the ancestors and ancestors about the big and small things that happened in the family in the past year, and how they were properly handled later, so that the ancestors do not have to worry about them, etc., to express their care and remembrance of the ancestors.

Depending on the location, ancestor worship during the Qingming Festival is generally divided into two types: tomb worship and ancestral hall worship. Ancient emperors generally built their own ancestral temples, also called Taimiao. Most wealthy families also built ancestral halls for their ancestors, where they could offer sacrifices. However, most common people still focused on tomb sacrifices, so Qingming sacrifices are generally called tomb sweeping.

2. Burning baggage

Qingming ancestor worship should be held in person at the cemetery, but some families are unable to go to the cemetery to worship due to some objective reasons, so a method of adapting measures to local conditions has arisen The best way is to burn the baggage. This was the main form of worshiping ancestors during the Qingming Festival in ancient Beijing. If you really couldn't go to the cemetery, you could place a memorial in the ancestral hall or the main room of your home, or "burn the burdens" outside the yard, in front of your home, on the roadside, or by the river. Most of the burdens were also inside. Some paper money, ghost coins, gold and silver foil ingots, etc.

3. Worship the "City God"

During the Ming, Qing and Republic of China periods, there were seven or eight City God temples in old Beijing. "Everyone goes to the Chenghuang Temple to burn incense and worship during the Qingming Festival, praying for good weather, safe travels, etc.