About the origin of Qingming Festival: When Duke Wen of Jin was in exile, his attendant, Jie Zi Pui, cut a piece of meat from his thigh to help him out of his misery. Later, Duke Wen of Jin designated the day after the Cold Food Festival as the Qingming Festival in his honor.

The festival is said to have originated in the state of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period, in honor of Jie Zi Pui, a vassal of the Duke of Jin. The Duke of Jin, Chong Er, went into exile for 19 years, and Jie Zi Pui escorted and followed him, making a great achievement, and Chong Er returned to his country and assumed the throne as the Duke of Jin, the Duke of Wen. Jie Zi Pui carried his mother on his back and hid in Mian Mountain. Duke Wen of Jin went to look for him, but could not find him. So he set fire to the mountain, trying to force Jie Zi Tui out.

Unexpectedly, Jie Zi Tui instead hugged a big tree with his mother and preferred to burn to death rather than come out of the mountain. Duke Wen of Jin sadly ordered to change the name of Mianshan Mountain to Jieshan (i.e., Jieshan Mountain in Jiexiu County, Shanxi Province), and ordered that the day Jie Zi Tui was burned to death be designated as the Qingming Festival, and then every year after that, every time to prohibit fires and eat cold food, to show that they are memorializing the memory of the meaning.