Chinese Traditional Festivals in My Heart Activity Plan

The Qingming Festival was also called the March Festival in ancient times. It falls between April 4th and 6th every year 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.

Qingming Festival is one of the important traditional folk festivals in China. In 2006, it was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists.

The traditional Chinese Qingming Festival began around the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years. Later, because the days of Qingming and Hanshi were close, and Hanshi was a day when folk people banned fire and visited graves, gradually, Coldshi 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.

In March and April, when the spring is bright and the flowers are red and the willows are green, one of the most important festivals in Chinese traditional customs is the Qingming Festival. Qingming Festival is now the folk tomb-sweeping festival. According to the Lord's Day, it is around April 5th, and according to the lunar calendar, it is in the first half of March. The ancients divided the year into twenty-four solar terms, and used this annual calendar to sow and harvest. Qingming is one of the twenty-four solar terms, which falls fifteen days after the spring equinox. According to the "Hundred Questions of the Year": "All things growing at this time are clean and bright. Therefore, it is called Qingming." Therefore, "Qingming" was originally the name of the solar term. Later, the customs of cold food, fire ban and tomb sweeping were added to form the Qingming Festival.

Originally, the Cold Food Festival and the Qingming Festival were two different festivals. In the Tang Dynasty, the day of worshiping and sweeping tombs was designated as the Cold Food Festival. The correct day of the Cold Food Festival is one hundred and five days after the winter solstice, around the time of Qingming, so Qingming and Cold Food are combined into one!

The custom of worshiping ancestors and sweeping their tombs originated very early in China. As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, great importance was attached to tombs. During the Warring States Period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Mencius's Qi Ren chapter also mentioned a ridiculed Qi man who often went to the Dongguo tomb to beg for food and sacrifices for the tomb. This shows that the custom of tomb sweeping was very popular during the Warring States period. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, an edict was issued to stipulate cold food and grave sweeping as one of the "Five Rituals" at that time. Therefore, whenever the Qingming Festival came, "the fields and roads were full of ladies and gentlemen, servants and beggars, all of whom visited the tombs of their parents." (Liu Zongyuan) "Book with Xu Jingzhao") grave sweeping has become an important social custom.

In the cold winter, it is necessary to ban fire and eat cold food. I am afraid that some old, weak, women and children will not be able to bear the cold, and in order to prevent cold food and cold meals from harming the body, I plan to go outing, picnic, and swing. Outdoor activities such as football, polo, willow planting, tug-of-war, and cockfighting allow everyone to come out and bask in the sun, stretch their muscles and bones, and increase their resistance. Therefore, in addition to paying homage to ancestors and sweeping their tombs, the Qingming Festival also includes various outdoor fitness activities. This festival, in addition to the sadness of pursuing the end, also incorporates the atmosphere of joy and spring appreciation; there are sad and sad tears of life and death, but also a fresh atmosphere everywhere. A bright and vivid scene. It is really a very unique and special festival.

Qingming is one of the twenty-four solar terms in my country. 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 Tianwen Xun" says: "Fifteen days after the vernal equinox, when Dou Zhiyi Yi comes, the Qingming wind will arrive." According to "Hundred Questions of the Years": "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, fruits, paper money and other items to the cemetery, offer the food in front of the tomb of their loved ones, 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. Tomb sweeping is one of the earliest customs of Qingming Festival. This custom continues to this day and has been gradually simplified with the progress of society. On the day of tomb-sweeping, descendants first trim and clean the ancestor's tomb and the surrounding weeds, and then offer food, flowers, etc.

As cremation of remains becomes more and more common, the custom of visiting ancestors at the place where ashes are placed is gradually replacing the custom of sweeping tombs.

Singaporean Chinese also set up sacred tablets for the deceased in temples, and temples have therefore become places where ancestors are worshiped during the Qingming Festival.

On the day of Qingming Festival, some people also worship their ancestors at home.

On the Tomb-Sweeping Day, you can bow silently in front of the ancestor’s grave, ashes or the memorial tablet in a temple.

No matter what form of commemoration is used, the most basic ritual of Tomb-Sweeping Day is to remember the ancestors in front of the grave, the ashes placement place or the spiritual tablet. In order to make the ceremony of honoring ancestors more meaningful, we should let the younger generation of family members understand the past struggles of their ancestors.

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 Qingming Festival and tomb sweeping are related to funeral customs. According to records, in ancient times, there were "tombs without tombs", which meant that only grave pits were dug and no tombs were built, so the memorial sweeps were not recorded in the records. Later, the tombs were added to the tombs, and the custom of offering sacrifices and sweeping came to have support. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, tomb sacrifices had become an indispensable ritual activity.

The "Book of Han·Yan Yannian Biography" records that even if Yan is thousands of miles away from Beijing, he will "return to the East China Sea to sweep the cemetery" during Qingming. Judging from the development and strength of Chinese people's ancestor worship and kinship consciousness, Yan Yannian's actions are reasonable and reasonable. Therefore, later generations also included tomb sacrifices that were not standardized in ancient times into the Five Rites: "In the homes of scholars and common people, it is appropriate to visit the tomb, and it is included in the Five Rites, which will always be the norm." With official approval, the trend of tomb sacrifices will inevitably flourish. .

Qingming Festival is a festival to commemorate ancestors. The main commemorative ceremony is tomb-sweeping, which is a concrete manifestation of being cautious about the past, maintaining family ties, and practicing filial piety. Based on the above significance, Qingming Festival has become an important festival for the descendants of the Yan and Huang Dynasties.

The Qingming Festival falls at the turn of mid-spring and late spring, which is 106 days after the winter solstice. Tomb-sweeping activities usually take place 10 days before or 10 days after Qingming Festival. In some places, people's tomb-sweeping activities last for a month.

Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Festival, Ghost Festival, and Ming Festival, together with the Hungry Ghost Festival on July 15th and the Xiangyuan Festival on October 15th, are collectively called the Three Ming Festivals, and they are all related to worshiping ghosts and gods.

Tomb-Sweeping Day 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. In ancient my country, the Qingming Festival was divided into three periods: "The first period is when the tung trees begin to bloom; the second period is when the voles turn into quails; the third period is when the rainbow begins to appear." This means that at this time, first the white tung flowers bloom, and then the shade-loving voles disappear. After returning to the hole in the ground, a rainbow can be seen in the sky after the rain.

The origin of Qingming Festival is said to have begun with the ceremony of "grave sacrifices" for emperors, generals and prime ministers in ancient times. Later, the people also followed suit, worshiping ancestors and sweeping their tombs on this day, which has been followed through the generations and has become a fixed custom of the Chinese nation. .

To talk about Qingming Festival, we must start with a very famous festival in ancient times that is now lost - the Cold Food Festival.

Cold Food Festival, also known as Cooked Food Festival, No-Smoking Festival and Cold Festival. Its date is one hundred and five days before the winter solstice, which is only one or two days before Qingming. The main custom of this festival is the ban on fire. No fire is allowed for cooking. You can only eat prepared cooked food and cold food, hence the name.

It is said that the Cold Food Festival originated from the Jin State in the Spring and Autumn Period, and was to commemorate Jie Zitui, a minister of the Jin Dynasty's prince. The prince of Jin State, Chong'er, went into exile abroad for 19 years. Jiezitui escorted him and followed him, and made great achievements. Chong'er returned to the country and ascended the throne, that is, Duke Wen of Jin. Jie Zitui took his mother on his back and hid in Mianshan.

Duke Wen of Jin went to look for it, but couldn't find it. So he set fire to the mountain, trying to force out the conflict. Unexpectedly, Jie Zitui and his mother hugged a big tree, preferring to be burned to death rather than leave the mountain. Duke Wen of Jin sadly ordered that Mianshan be renamed Jieshan (that is, Jieshan in Jiexiu County, Shanxi), and he also ordered that the day when Jie Zitui was burned to death should be designated as the Cold Food Festival. From then on, every year, every Cold Food Festival would be banned. Make a fire and eat cold food to express your memory.

In fact, the real origin of the Cold Food Festival stems from the ancient practice of drilling wood and seeking new fires. The ancients used different trees to make fires due to different seasons, and had the custom of changing fires according to the seasons. And every time you change the fire, you have to get a new fire. People are prohibited from lighting fires until new fires arrive. This was a big deal at the time. "Zhou Li·Qiu Guan·Si Xuanshi" says: "In the middle spring, fire was banned in the country with a wooden dou." It can be seen that at that time, he was walking on the street shaking his wooden sword and ordered a ban on fire. This Si Xuan clan is a small official who specializes in making fire. During the ban on fire, people prepared some cold food for consumption, which gradually became a fixed custom. Later, it was connected with the legend of Jie Zitui and became the Cold Food Festival, which lasted for a month. After all, this is not good for health. Later, the date was shortened and gradually changed from seven or three days to one day. After the Tang Dynasty, it was integrated into the Qingming Festival.

Customs of the Cold Food Festival include visiting graves, outings, fighting cocks, swinging, playing blankets, and pulling hooks (tug of war), etc. Among them, the custom of visiting graves is very ancient. Where there is a tomb, there must be a tomb sacrifice. Later, because it was integrated with the custom of summoning the soul and reviving the spirit in March, it was gradually settled on cold food. "Tang Shu" records: "In the 20th year of Kaiyuan, there was an edict to go to the tomb with cold food. There is no text in the "Book of Rites". It has been passed down in modern times and has become a custom. It is appropriate to go to the tomb and worship and sweep the ceremony together." Songzhuang Jiyu's "Chicken Ribs Pian" Vol. Above: "Cold food is served on the tomb, and no incense is set up. Paper money is hung on the tomb tree. Those who go to the countryside climb mountains to watch the sacrifices. Split the silk in the air, which is called breaking the money. The people from all over the capital are worshiping each other, so they set up a wine book (zhuan) , meals), take the family on a spring outing. "

"Jingchu Years' Notes": "(Cold food) cockfighting, carving chicken eggs, cockfighting eggs." It can be seen that there was a combination of cockfighting and egg fighting in the Southern Dynasties. It’s a show. Cockfighting is common nowadays, and egg fighting is mostly a game played by country children by bumping eggs against each other. In ancient times, eggs used for collisions and fights were mostly dyed and carved (lou, carved) and were very exquisite. Painted eggs. The custom of carving eggs originated from the "carved eggs" recorded in "Guanzi". Undoubtedly, it developed from the ancient witchcraft of eating eggs for fertility, and became a cold food custom. Today, there is also a folk custom of eating eggs during Qingming Festival (such as the aforementioned "Zifu"). Cold food is used to play autumn dry. According to "Yi Wen Lei Ju", northern mountain soldiers play swings on cold food days. But this is probably just a legend. Liu Xiang's "Bielu" records that playing on the swing occurs in spring, not necessarily in cold weather. There is also rug beating, Wang Jian's "Gong Ci": "People in the Cold Food Palace are beating rugs." Dramas such as hook-drawing and rug beating are not necessarily held in Hanshi.

Since the Qingming solar term falls on the third day of Cold Food, later generations gradually moved the custom of Cold Food to Qingming as time went by. After the Song Dynasty, the custom of cold food and tomb sweeping was moved to the Qingming Dynasty. Customs such as youth outings and swing swings are only held during the Qingming Festival. The Qingming Festival has been elevated from a simple agricultural solar term to an important festival, and the influence of the Cold Food Festival has disappeared. However, some variations of the cold food custom have been passed down and preserved during the Qingming Festival.