Tomb-sweeping Day
Tomb-sweeping Day
Introduction to Tomb-Sweeping Festival
According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the concubine of Duke Xiang of Jin In order to let her son Xi Qi succeed to the throne, Li Ji set up a poisonous plot to kill the prince Shen Sheng, who was forced to commit suicide. Shen Sheng's younger brother Chong'er fled into exile in order to avoid the disaster. During his exile, Chong'er suffered a lot of humiliation. Most of the ministers who originally ran away with him went their separate ways one after another. There were only a few loyal people left who followed him. One of them is called Jie Zitui. Once, Chong'er fainted from hunger. In order to save Chong'er, Jie Zitui cut a piece of meat from his own leg, roasted it over fire and gave it to Chong'er to eat. Nineteen years later, Chong'er returned to his country and became the king. He was Duke Wen of Jin, one of the famous Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period.
After Jin Wen Gong came to power, he greatly rewarded those ministers who shared the same hardships with him, but he forgot about Jie Zitui. Someone cried out for Jie Zitui in front of Duke Wen of Jin. Duke Wen of Jin suddenly recalled the old events and felt guilty, so he immediately sent someone to invite Jie Zitui to go to court to receive a reward and an official title. However, after sending people several times, Jie Zitu could not come. Duke Wen of Jin had no choice but to invite him personally. However, when Duke Wen of Jin came to Jie Zitui's house, he saw that the door was closed. Jie Zitui didn't want to see him, so he hid in Mianshan (today's southeast of Jiexiu County, Shanxi) with his mother on his back. Duke Wen of Jin asked his imperial guards to search Mianshan Mountain, but they couldn't find it. So, someone came up with an idea and said that it would be better to set fire to the mountain, light fires on three sides and leave one side alone. When the fire breaks out, Jie Zitui will come out on his own. Duke Wen of Jin ordered a fire to be set on the mountain. Unexpectedly, the fire burned for three days and three nights. After the fire was extinguished, the meson was not pushed out after all. When he went up the mountain, he saw that Jie Zitui, mother and son, were already dead holding a large burnt willow tree. In order to commemorate Jie Zitui, Duke Wen of Jin ordered that Mianshan be changed to "Jieshan", an ancestral hall be built on the mountain, and the day when the mountain was set on fire was designated as the Cold Food Festival, and he informed the whole country that fireworks were forbidden and only cold food was eaten on this day every year.
The Qingming Festival was also called the March Festival in ancient times and has a history of more than 2,000 years. Qingming Festival falls around April 5th in the Gregorian calendar and is one of the twenty-four solar terms. Among the twenty-four solar terms, only Qingming is both a solar term and a festival. Since the twenty-four solar terms more objectively reflect changes in temperature, rainfall, phenology and other aspects throughout the year, working people in ancient times used them to arrange agricultural activities. "Huainanzi? Tianwenxun" says: "Fifteen days after the vernal equinox, when Dou Zhiyi B, the Qingming wind will arrive." According to "Hundred Questions of the Year": "Everything growing at this time is clean and bright. Therefore, it is called Qingming Festival. "When Qingming Festival comes, the temperature rises and the rainfall increases. It is a good time for spring plowing and spring planting. Therefore, there are farmers' proverbs such as "Before and after Qingming, order melons and plant beans" and "Afforestation is better than Qingming." It can be seen that this solar term is closely related to agricultural production.
However, Qingming, as a festival, is different from a pure solar term. Solar terms are symbols of phenological changes and seasonal sequences in my country, while festivals contain certain customary activities and commemorative significance.
Qingming Festival is a traditional festival in my country and the most important sacrificial festival. It is a day for worshiping ancestors and sweeping tombs. Tomb sweeping, commonly known as visiting graves, is an activity to pay homage to the deceased. Most of the Han people and some ethnic minorities visit tombs during the Qingming Festival.
According to the old custom, when sweeping the tomb, people should bring wine, food, fruit, paper money and other items to the cemetery, offer the food in front of the tomb of their relatives, then burn the paper money, build new soil on the tomb, and fold a few branches. New green branches are planted on the grave, then they kowtow and worship, and finally go home after eating wine and food. Du Mu, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem "Qingming": "It rains heavily during the Qingming Festival, and pedestrians on the road are dying. May I ask where the restaurant is? The shepherd boy points to Xinghua Village." It describes the special atmosphere of the Qingming Festival.
Qingming Festival, also called the Outing Festival, according to the Gregorian calendar, it falls between April 4th and 6th every year. It is the time when the spring scenery is bright and the grass is green, and it is also the time when people go out for spring outings. It is a good time for outing (called outing in ancient times), so the ancients had the custom of outing during Qingming Festival and carrying out a series of sports activities.
To this day, the custom of worshiping ancestors and mourning deceased relatives during the Qingming Festival is still very popular.
The origin of Qingming Festival
Related to Jie Zitui
my country’s traditional Qingming Festival probably began in the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years .
Since the days of Qingming and Hanshi are close, and Hanshi is a day when folk people prohibit fire and visit graves, gradually, cold food and Qingming became one, and Hanshi became not only another name for Qingming, but also a custom of Qingming. There will be no fireworks on that day, and only cold food will be eaten. Qingming is the only solar term among the twenty-four solar terms that has become a festival, and its origin is related to the story of Jie Zitui in Mianshan.
In the State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period, several sons of Duke Xian of Jin fought fiercely for the throne. Chong'er, the second son of Duke Xiang of Jin, went into exile abroad for nineteen years in order to avoid killing each other. Jie Zitui, a minister of the Jin State, admired Chong'er's character and sacrificed his life to accompany him. When Chong'er was in the most critical moment, he cut his body to serve the emperor. The monarch and his ministers often discuss strategies to save the country and govern the country together, and the relationship is harmonious. Chong'er once said that if he became a king in the future, he would definitely repay the kindness of Jie Gong. Later, with the help of Qin, Chong'er finally fought back to Jin and became the king of Jin. He was Duke Wen of Jin.
After Duke Wen of Jin returned to the country, he held a banquet for all the ministers and rewarded them for their merits, but he did not recommend any official position or reward to Jiezi who often made suggestions. Jie Zitui disdained being associated with the villains who flattered Duke Wen of Jin all day long, and was even more disappointed that Duke Wen of Jin did not implement Qingming politics after his restoration. So he took his mother to Mianshan and lived a secluded life.
Some people began to talk, saying that Duke Wen of Jin was ungrateful and did not need good ministers. Slowly, Duke Wen of Jin heard these comments. He seemed to feel that something was wrong with what he did, so he quickly sent someone to invite Jie Zitui. Then I learned that Jie Zitui had gone to Mianshan to live in seclusion. In order to let his ministers know that he was not an ungrateful and foolish king and to calm people's discussions, Duke Wen of Jin was eager to find Jie Zitui. He led his officials to Mianshan to look for Jie Zitui.
Mianshan Mountain has thousands of ravines, rugged cliffs, and rugged mountain roads. In addition, Jie Zitui deliberately avoided it, so Jie Zitui could not be found. Duke Wen of Jin was anxious, but there was nothing he could do. Jin Wengong's subordinates also had their own thoughts. Some hoped that Jie Zitui would come back and assist Jin Wen Gong in governing the world, while others were afraid that Jie Zitui would come back and take away his favor. One of his subordinates advised Duke Wen of Jin that Jie Zitui was a filial son. Your Majesty, you sent people to set Mianshan on fire. Jie Zitui was afraid of hurting his mother, so he would definitely come out to see you. The confused Duke Wen of Jin saw Jie Zizi's eagerness to push him, so he stupidly adopted the idea and ordered people to set fire to Mianshan Mountain. It was mid-spring, the wind was strong and dry, and fireworks engulfed the entire Mianshan Mountain. The fire burned for several days, but no trace of Jie Zitui was seen. After the fire was extinguished, people discovered that Jie Zitui would rather die than leave the mountain. He and his mother had been burned to death under a big willow tree on the top of the mountain. Duke Wen of Jin remembered Jie Zitui's loyalty and heartfelt words to him, and he couldn't help crying while holding on to the big willow tree that was burned to death. He asked people to bury Jie Zitui's mother and son on the mountain, and changed the name of Mianshan Mountain to Jieshan Mountain, "to remember my mistakes and to remind good people." At the same time, it was ordered that on the anniversary of Jie Zitui's death, that is, 105 days after the winter solstice, fireworks are prohibited nationwide, and only cold food is allowed. This is the Cold Food Festival to commemorate Jie Zitui.
On the day after the Cold Food Festival in the second year, Duke Wen of Jin went to Mianshan to pay homage to the big willow tree where Jie Zitui was martyred, and found that new willow branches had grown on the big willow tree that had been burned to death. He recalled that Jie Zitui hoped that he would implement Qingming politics after his return to the country. He was filled with emotion and ordered the willow tree to be named "Qingming Willow" and designate this day as "Qingming Festival". From then on, Duke Wen of Jin purified government affairs and developed production. The Jin State finally became strong and became one of the "Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period". As the country's influence increased, the customs of Cold Food Festival and Qingming Festival became popular in the north and south of the Yangtze River. Lu Xiang, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem: : "The four seas share cold food, and thousands of years are one person."
In fact, the custom of cold food originated from the ancient system of drilling wood for firewood. Qingming as a solar term has been established as far back as the Zhou Dynasty. Cold Food Festival and Tomb-Sweeping Festival were just strengthened by the rulers in the form of state orders and passed down. Since then, with the passage of time, the customs of Cold Food Festival have gradually been integrated into Qingming Festival. Tomb-Sweeping Day has become the only festival with humanistic history among the twenty-four solar terms. It has gradually become a custom for people to remember the deceased and worship ancestors on the occasion of Tomb-Sweeping Day.