What is the origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day?

Qingming small holiday has just passed. I don't know how you spend it. As one of the traditional 24 solar terms in China, Qingming has a very long history as other folk customs. However, regarding the origin of Qingming, no one can tell the exact reason. Generally speaking, there are four explanations about the origin of Qingming.

First of all, there is no doubt that Qingming comes from solar terms. The ancients divided the zodiac into twelve times a week, and every time the sun went to a place, there was a specific solar term. "Mandarin" has a cloud, which * * * year? Eight winds? , Qingming belongs to? Crying wind? Everything cries in unison. Therefore, the novels and essays of later generations all think that Qingming is a kind of solar terms. Because in this season, the environmental characteristics such as temperature and rainfall in a large area are similar.

Second, Tomb-Sweeping Day has changed from a solar festival to a festival. On this point, Liang Daizong, a famous scholar in the Southern Dynasties, mentioned it in his Chronicle of Jingchu Years? Last winter festival, there was strong wind and rain on the150th day, which was called "cold food without fire for three days". ? Two days after the cold food in Tomb-Sweeping Day, with the development of time, folk customs are gradually changing, and Qingming has gradually replaced the cold food. Today, among the 24 solar terms in China, only Qingming has become a recognized festival.

Third, the reason for Qingming is meson push. Mesons were born in the Spring and Autumn Period. He was very talented and retired from the mountains after helping to recover lost ground from Kim. Jin Wengong cherishes the talent of intermediary and wants to continue to let him work for the State of Jin. However, Jin Wengong sent people to visit famous mountains and rivers, and repeated visits failed to make Jiexiu go out again. In the end, the king of Jin ordered the fire and closed the mountain, pushing the meson out of the mountain. The meson refused to push, so he was buried in the fire. Jin Wengong regretted his sin and renamed Mianshan, where Jiexiu lived in seclusion, as Jiexiu Mountain, informing people all over the country that on the day Jiexiu died, all people were not allowed to eat fireworks, but only cold food. This is another way of saying that Tomb-Sweeping Day is also called Cold Food Festival, and it is also one of the sources of Qingming.

Fourthly, some historians think that Tomb-Sweeping Day and Cold Food Festival are two completely different folk customs, but their dates are very close. Slowly, people confuse Tomb-Sweeping Day with the Cold Food Festival and mistakenly think that Qingming is a cold food. As early as the Zhou Dynasty, China had the custom of burning a fire in Tomb-Sweeping Day, and in the Tang Dynasty, there was also an example of the emperor burning a fire for ministers, which was called Yang Shunzhi by the people. In modern times, China people have designated Tomb-Sweeping Day as Arbor Day, which is the origin of China people sweeping graves, farming and planting trees in Tomb-Sweeping Day. Judging from the unearthed cultural relics, Qingming can be traced back to ancient times. Since Dayu's flood control, people have used Qingming to celebrate the removal of floods.

Heaven and earth are clean and bright, and the government is bright. Generally speaking, there are different opinions about Tomb-Sweeping Day, and it is precisely because of the unique characteristics of various regions in the country that Tomb-Sweeping Day can be inherited on the vast land of China.

References:

Years in Jingchu and Mandarin