China Naming Network - Auspicious day query - About the origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day.

About the origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day.

Tomb-Sweeping Day has a history of more than 2,500 years. In ancient times, it was also called Youth Day, March Day, Ancestor Day, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Arbor Day and Ghost Day.

It is also known as the three famous "Ghost Festivals" in China, together with the Mid-Autumn Festival on July 15 and the Cold Clothes Festival on July 10/Sunday. Tomb-Sweeping Day is one of the 24 solar terms around April 5th in the Gregorian calendar. Among the 24 solar terms, Qingming is the only solar term that is both a solar term and a festival.

At first, Qingming was just the name of a solar term. During the Qingming Festival, most parts of China return to the earth in spring, with sunny weather, warmer climate and recovery of everything. It is the best season for spring ploughing and planting. Farmers are busy everywhere in the fields. There is a saying among the people that "Qingming and Grain Rain are connected, and there is no need to delay immersion."

How did this solar term that urges spring ploughing become a festival to commemorate ancestors? It should be said that this is related to the Cold Food Festival two days ago (or one day).

The legendary "Cold Food Festival" originated in Jiexiu, Shanxi. Jiexiu's origin is to commemorate Jiexiu's "cutting stocks to feed his hunger" and finally died in Yamakaji, so Mianshan is also called "Jieshan".

Since about the Tang Dynasty, people have been sweeping graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day, accompanied by recreational activities. As Tomb-Sweeping Day is going to the suburbs, while paying homage to his ancestors, it is also a way to adjust his mood to visit gardening and metallurgy in the bright spring.

Therefore, Tomb-Sweeping Day is also called Youth Day. Children who are playful by nature are often not satisfied with having an outing in Tomb-Sweeping Day only once, just like the poem "When a teenager goes on a trip, he doesn't have to be both Tomb-Sweeping Day and thinking" written by Wang Wei, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty.