What are the customs in Tomb-Sweeping Day, Shanxi and Tomb-Sweeping Day, Shanxi?

Shanxi not only became the birthplace of Tomb-Sweeping Day because of the story of Mianshan meson push, but also became the most complete place to preserve the Qingming custom because of these historical origins. The Qingming custom in Shanxi is a vivid and distinctive three-dimensional picture. What are the customs in Tomb-Sweeping Day?

1, sacrifice to sweep the grave

Tomb-Sweeping Day goes to the grave, and most places in the south of Shanxi don't burn incense or paper, so there are things like money hanging in front of the grave. There was a saying that "the river on Qingming Festival is white". The reason is that the Cold Food Festival is used to banning fire, and Tomb-Sweeping Day is during the Cold Food Festival. Most places in northern Shanxi have to burn all the money and other things on the grounds that they will not be transferred to their ancestors unless they are burned. Datong and other places are used to going to the grave during the day and burning money at home at night. Generally speaking, women don't visit graves.

In Hequ and other places in northwest Shanxi, it is an old custom to bring wine and vegetables to the grave and then eat and drink in front of the grave, which means drinking and eating with ancestors. In Jinzhong Jiexiu and other places, when going to the grave, the offering is a cake shaped like a snake. When you get home, put the bread in the yard and dry it before eating. Old people pay attention to treating diseases, which stems from the reason that cold food is forbidden to burn.

This is Shanxi pasta with the theme of loyalty and filial piety. Swallows and other birds, animals, fruits, flowers, etc. Made of white flour, thumb-sized, it is very popular in many areas of Shanxi. Coloring after steaming, commonly known as "swallow", "pushing swallow" or "cold swallow", is one of the dough sculptures that Shanxi people must make in Qingming. Some are tied on jujube needles, and some are hung in the house or on the lintel with thread to express "nostalgia" for the sages or give gifts to each other. The children were very happy when they got the exquisite "cold swallow". In Lvliang, a folk nursery rhyme sings: "March is cold and food is clear, and swallows stand on needles."

3. Old people send hope buns to the younger generation In Linyi County, Jinnan, Shanxi Province, every time they go to Tomb-Sweeping Day, the old people begin to prepare "gifts" for the younger generation, steam out "hope buns" with carefully ground flour, and then give them to the younger generation on the same day in Tomb-Sweeping Day. "Hope steamed bread" is a kind of flower steamed bread. As the name implies, the elders expect their children and grandchildren to be filial before their death, and they can sacrifice after their death. In a well-paid family, the younger generation and elders will send "hope buns", including daughters-in-law who have never gone through the door, married daughters-in-law, married daughters-in-law, grandchildren and so on. In a family with many younger generations, the elders have to hand out more than a dozen "counting buns". "Hope steamed buns" are much bigger than ordinary steamed buns, each of which is as big as a steamed bun's grate, and there are many exquisite steamed buns, both male and female, with a small snake made of flour on it, and women's steamed buns without belts, with flower stands made of flour on them.

4. Swing In the old society, the custom of swinging was very common, which was called "swinging" by the people. Some places in Shanxi pay attention to the time of "swinging", which usually starts after the sun rises and must stop after sunset. The custom of swinging was very popular in southeastern Shanxi, northwestern Shanxi and northern Shanxi in 1930s and 1940s. The soldiers and civilians in Taihang and Lvliang anti-Japanese revolutionary base areas even used it as a means of physical exercise.

In addition, the custom of Qingming outing is very popular in Shanxi, especially in Jinzhong, Lingshi and Jiexiu. There are local customs such as "looking at flowers" and "visiting mother". While sweeping graves and hiking, people also use the custom of hiking to carry out various outdoor activities, such as picking herbs, inserting willows, wearing willows and other activities with Shanxi characteristics. Tomb-Sweeping Day, Pianguan County, has the folk custom of picking mugwort leaves before the sun rises and getting sick. In other places, people are used to putting cypress branches and willow branches on their heads when they come back from sweeping graves. During the Qingming period, willow branches were hung on cars, and women's heads and children's skirts were decorated with vitamins. People also take willow branches home and put them in eaves and doorways. Women and children mix the picked willow buds in noodles and spread cakes to eat.

This is all I know about the customs of Tomb-Sweeping Day. Friends, what are the customs in your hometown?