First, the origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day: It is said that Tomb-Sweeping Day began with the ceremony of "tomb sacrifice" by the ancient emperors and generals, and later the people followed suit, worshipping ancestors and sweeping graves on this day, which was followed by generations. In the later development, the two festivals and customs of cold food (no fire and cold food) and Shangsi (spring outing in the suburbs and spring bath) were merged, forming a traditional festival centered on ancestor worship and grave sweeping, which combined the customs of cold food with the customs and activities of Shangsi outing.
Second, the Qingming custom:
Grave-sweeping and ancestor worship: Grave-sweeping and ancestor worship is the center of Tomb-Sweeping Day custom, and Qingming Festival mainly sacrifices ancestors to express their filial piety and yearning for their ancestors. The common practice has two parts: one is to renovate the grave, that is, to remove weeds and cultivate new soil. The second is to burn paper money and offer sacrifices. All the graves that have been swept by the sacrifices have paper banners fluttering, which constitutes a unique landscape before and after the Qingming Festival.
Prohibition of fire and cold food: It is clearly recorded in "Zhou Li" that the climate in mid-spring is dry, not only the kindling preserved by human beings is easy to cause fire, but also the occurrence of spring thunder is easy to cause mountain fires. In this season, the ancients will put out all the kindling left over from the previous year, and then drill again and take out a new fire, which is called "changing the fire" During the fire ban and fire change, people must prepare enough cooked food to live with cold food. Nowadays, some places will ban fire for1~ 3 days. In some areas, Tomb-Sweeping Day sometimes has the custom of eating green balls (also known as Qingming fruit, Amy fruit, etc.). Of course, the types of cold food in each place are different.
Go for an outing: April is clear, and spring returns to the earth. Nature presents a vibrant scene everywhere, which is a good time for an outing. Take a walk in the suburbs and relax.
Swing: This is also a custom inherited from the ancient Cold Food Festival.
Inserting willow and planting trees: Before and after Qingming Festival, the spring sun shines and the spring rain flies, so the survival rate of planting seedlings is high and the growth is fast. Therefore, there is the habit of planting trees and inserting willows in Qingming.
Flying kites: Flying kites is also a favorite activity in Qingming Festival. It is said that it can eliminate diseases and disasters and bring good luck to yourself.