The gale in Tomb-Sweeping Day heralds a year.
On that day in Tomb-Sweeping Day, the wind direction indicates the degree of drought. There is wind in Tomb-Sweeping Day, which can not only predict the rainfall, but also predict the future drought degree. Let's take a look at the agricultural proverbs left by our ancestors. Farming Proverb 1: When the northwest wind blows in Qingming Festival, there were many droughts and yellow winds that year. This agricultural proverb predicts the drought. If the northwest wind blows in Tomb-Sweeping Day on this day, it is expected to be dry and dusty. This proverb is especially suitable for the northern region. ?
Agricultural proverb 2: "The northwest wind is clear, and it will not be light when it is dry." The last proverb talks about the drought, which further implies the degree of drought. If the northwest wind blows in Qingming, the drought will not be light, but more serious. To sum up, we can predict the future drought and water shortage by the northwest wind blowing in Tomb-Sweeping Day on this day. ?
Qingming is the fifth of the 24 solar terms and the beginning of the calendar. The time is around the first day of the third month of the lunar calendar (April 4-6 of the Gregorian calendar), also known as the "March Festival" or "Travel Festival".
Five traditional customs in Tomb-Sweeping Day:
1, ancestor worship and grave sweeping?
As the saying goes, "When it rains in March, every family goes to their ancestral graves." Tomb-Sweeping Day is a festival to commemorate ancestors, and ancestor worship and grave sweeping are the main activities in Tomb-Sweeping Day. Respecting the elderly is one of the fine traditions of the Chinese nation. Tomb-Sweeping Day's ancestor worship and grave sweeping are concrete manifestations of China people's cautious pursuit of the future and filial piety. ?
China people attach great importance to kinship. Tomb-Sweeping Day's ancestor worship and grave-sweeping is conducive to strengthening the blood relationship between families and clans, maintaining unity, enhancing the blood cohesion within families and clans, and achieving the purpose of mutual care. ?
2. Go for a spring outing?
March in the spring is a good day for spring flowers and sunny days. Therefore, during their stay in Tomb-Sweeping Day, people left their homes and went to the suburbs to enjoy the beautiful scenery of nature. In ancient China, spring outing was called "outing", so Tomb-Sweeping Day also had a nice name "outing festival".
The Qingming outing has spread to this day and has become a very common custom activity. Every time before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day, it is the peak of spring outing in China, and people go out and visit places of interest. In many places, hiking and sweeping graves go hand in hand, and it is the choice of many people to have some fun after sweeping graves.
3. insert a willow and wear a willow?
This is an important custom in Tomb-Sweeping Day, so Tomb-Sweeping Day is also known as the "Festival of inserting willows". People have different opinions about the origin of the custom of inserting willows and wearing willows in Tomb-Sweeping Day. Some people think that the custom of inserting willows is to commemorate the "Shennong" who taught the people to plant hundreds of grains. Some people think that the legendary meson was pushed to death under the willow tree, and the Qingming willow pushed the soul for the meson.
Some people think that the Huang Chao Uprising was named after Tomb-Sweeping Day and Liu Dai. Therefore, there is a folk saying that "Qingming didn't wear a willow, but died at the hand of Huang Chao", which may also come from this. Others believe that the ancients believed that ghosts were afraid of willows, and "taking willow branches as the house, hundreds of ghosts did not enter the house." Qingming is also one of the ghost festivals. When the willows turn green and sprout, people can put them in to ward off evil spirits. ?
4. Fly a kite?
Before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day, the spring breeze is slow, which is a good time to fly kites. In ancient China, kites were also called "paper kites" and "wind kites", and flying kites in Tomb-Sweeping Day was a popular custom.
In ancient times, people thought that flying kites could take away bad luck, so many people wrote down all the disasters they knew when flying kites in Tomb-Sweeping Day. When the kite flies high, they cut the kite string and let it float away with the wind, which symbolizes that their illness and bad luck are taken away by the kite.
Step 5 swing
Swing is a custom in ancient Tomb-Sweeping Day, China. Swing, that is, lift the rope, move. It has a very long history, originally called Qian Qiu, and later changed to swing. In ancient times, swings were made of branches and tied with ribbons. Later, it gradually developed into two ropes, a pedal swing. Swing can not only improve health, but also cultivate brave spirit, which is deeply loved by people, especially children.