Which of the 24 solar terms is a festival?
Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the outing festival, is one of the traditional festivals in China, and it is also the most important festival to worship ancestors and sweep graves around April 5 in the solar calendar.
According to the old custom, when sweeping graves, people should bring food, wine, fruit, paper money and other items to the cemetery, offer food to the graves of their loved ones, then burn the paper money, cultivate new soil for the graves, break some green branches and insert them in front of the graves, then kowtow and worship, and finally go home after eating and drinking.
Extended data:
In Zhejiang, Qingming Festival is commonly known as sweeping Qingming Festival, or "offering graves" to worship Tai Gong. Customs vary from place to place. Some places offer sacrifices to sweep graves on Qingming Festival, and some places must sweep graves on Qingming Festival. Generally speaking, local people worship Tai Gong a few days earlier, first to worship Tai Gong and then to worship their ancestors. When sweeping Tomb-Sweeping Day, we should first "add soil" or "add soil" to the ancestral grave, that is, take soil with a dustpan and add it to the top of the ancestral grave.
Sacrifices are set, candles are lit first, then incense is lit, incense is distributed according to the number of people, the high priest prays, and then everyone bows down together. After the sacrifice, children can share Tomb-Sweeping Day. Finally, pack up the sacrifices and leave. All the graves have been visited, and all the sacrifices are made in the same procedure.
The customs of Tomb-Sweeping Day are different in all parts of Jiangsu Province. Taizhou people hold a boat race in Tomb-Sweeping Day, which is called "supporting the boat". Zhenjiang people use seven willow leaves to make tea, which is said to improve eyesight. On the day when Fang Maoshan in Wujin County took Qingming as the incarnation of the dragon mother, the villagers rushed to pray for blessings.
Xuzhou people sweep graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day, and Tomb-Sweeping Day is also called "Mausoleum" (the pronunciation of Mausoleum is "Lin", which means Mausoleum). Tomb-Sweeping Day is coming, Xuzhou people will worship their ancestors with their families, not later than the day of Tomb-Sweeping Day.
When Tomb-Sweeping Day went to the grave, he not only listed wine, set dishes, burned incense and made paper to worship his ancestors, but also added soil to the ancestral grave. Tomb-Sweeping Day in Xuzhou not only eats steamed vegetables and dumplings, but also inserts willows, goes to graves to worship ancestors, hides bones, sweeps "gold and silver ashes" and goes for an outing in the spring.