Why is April 5th in the Gregorian calendar in Tomb-Sweeping Day?

Tomb-Sweeping Day falls on April 5th or 6th in the national calendar, because it falls on the 5th day after the mid-spring equinox in 24 solar terms, so it is not fixed on April 5th in the national calendar, nor is it determined by the lunar calendar. Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the National Tomb-Sweeping Day, was a national holiday designated by the government in 24 years of the Republic of China. China has a long history of offering sacrifices to ancestors. As early as ancient times, emperors and generals offered sacrifices to ancestral temples, and in the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius offered sacrifices to tombs, all of which were unique to nobles. After Qin and Han dynasties, the aristocratic system came to an end, and it was a custom for ordinary people to sacrifice their ancestral graves.

Generally speaking, Tomb-Sweeping Day's grave sweeping can be divided into two ceremonies:

(A) hanging paper

Also known as "pressing paper", rectangular yellow and white paper or red, yellow, blue, white and black paper is usually pressed on the grave with stones or bricks, which means that ancestors built houses. First, remove the overgrown weeds from the tomb, then fold the tomb paper into a corrugated shape one by one, and press pebbles on the tomb head and tombstone. Finally, prepare simple offerings to sacrifice the tomb and burn paper money.

(2) Cultivation of tombs

"Cultivating the Tomb" is a grand ceremony to sacrifice the tomb. Three or five animals, dishes, fruits, vegetables and clams (red turtle clams, hairy clams and grass clams) must be prepared as offerings. Sacrifices, such as leeks, eggs, squid, fragrant rice, taro and bamboo shoots, are usually placed in front of graves and on the back soil. Prepare all kinds of paper money, candles and firecrackers, as well as "children's lanterns", light children's lanterns in front of the tomb and take them home to symbolize the prosperity of children and grandchildren.

In Hakka custom, after the grave-sweeping ceremony, eggs are peeled and scattered on the tomb, symbolizing metabolism and sending out the old and welcoming the new, and children or money are distributed around it, which is called "sealing the tomb" to show that ancestors Deze will stay in the world forever.

Local customs:

Besides, there are many different customs in Tomb-Sweeping Day, such as eating eggs, carving eggshells, making spring rolls and flying kites.

Tomb-Sweeping Day's poetry teaching;

Du Mu in the Riverside Scene of Qingming Festival

During the Qingming Festival, there are many rains, and pedestrians on the road want to break their souls;

Excuse me, where is the restaurant? The shepherd boy pointed to Xinghua Village.