Traditional customs in Tomb-Sweeping Day
1, sweeping the grave
In the history of China, it has long been a custom to eat cold food, forbid fire and pay homage to ancestors. After the Tang Dynasty, the Cold Food Festival gradually declined, so it became a continuous festival tradition for Tomb-Sweeping Day to sweep graves to worship ancestors. Even in today's society, before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day, people still have the custom of going to graves to pay homage to their ancestors: uprooting weeds, placing offerings, burning incense and praying in front of graves, burning paper money and gold ingots, or simply offering a bunch of flowers to express their memory of their ancestors.
Step 2 go for an outing
At the time of Qingming, it is spring that returns to the earth. People took advantage of the opportunity of sweeping graves, and the whole family, old and young, enjoyed themselves in Shan Ye. After returning home, they broke some branches and put them on their heads, feeling very happy. During their stay in Tomb-Sweeping Day, some people go hiking in the suburbs to express their stagnant mood since the severe winter, and go to nature to enjoy and appreciate the vibrant spring scenery. This kind of outing is also called spring outing, which was called spring exploration and spring hunting in ancient times. It means stepping on the grass, playing in the country and watching the spring.
Tomb-Sweeping Day is a good time to go for an outing, so it has become an important part of Tomb-Sweeping Day customs. Ancient women could not go out casually on weekdays, and it was a rare opportunity for Tomb-Sweeping Day to visit the grave. Therefore, in Tomb-Sweeping Day, women have more fun than men, and there is a folk saying called "Women's Qingming Year".
Step 3 insert willow
It has existed since ancient times. The origin of the custom of inserting willow is related to the Cold Food Festival. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, fire was forbidden in every family during the Cold Food Festival. In the evening, the emperor will announce that he will reward his nearest minister with the fire of elm willow to show his gratitude. At that time, the new fire given by the emperor was sent by wicker, so everyone who got this favor was proud of it, and hung wicker branches to spread the fire at the door to show off others. Seeing this, people will follow suit, and people will plant willow branches at their doorsteps. Over time, the wind of inserting willows will become a common practice and spread for a long time.
Step 4 plant trees
Apart from spring ploughing and spring pipes, China has the custom of planting trees in Tomb-Sweeping Day since ancient times, so some people call Tomb-Sweeping Day "Arbor Day". Qingming comes, the temperature rises and the rainfall increases, which is a good time to plant trees. Therefore, there is an agricultural proverb that "planting trees is not as clear as Qingming"
Planting trees in Qingming Festival is also related to ancestor worship, because graves are mostly in the wild and often covered with weeds. Sometimes it takes a long time to worship ancestors and find graves. So someone planted evergreen pine and cypress on the grave, which would be more conspicuous. Later it was gradually imitated by people and became a custom.
Before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day, the spring was bright and the spring rain was falling, and the survival rate of planted seedlings was high and the growth was fast. China has the habit of planting trees in Qingming since ancient times. Some people even call Tomb-Sweeping Day Arbor Day, and the custom of planting trees has been passed down to this day. The 6th meeting of the 5th the NPC Standing Committee decided to designate March 12 as the Arbor Day in China.
5. Cuju
Cuju is the earliest football activity in the world, which originated in the Warring States Period. Cuju refers to an ancient rubber ball whose spherical surface is made of leather and filled with feathers. Cuju was a very popular game in ancient Tomb-Sweeping Day. By the Han Dynasty, cuju had become a very specialized sport. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, cuju technique was greatly improved and became a large-scale activity. In court, there are often hundreds of people involved. Gao Qiu in Water Margin is a master of cuju. It is because of his superb skills that he won the appreciation of Song Huizong and stepped onto the top step by step.
In our daily life, there are many customs related to Tomb-Sweeping Day. The key is to choose more memorable traditional activities, so as to better help us understand the relevant traditional culture of Tomb-Sweeping Day. ?