The Origin of Qingming Cold Food Festival

In the Zhou Dynasty, it is said that the ceremony of "offering sacrifices to the tomb" began with the ancient emperors and generals, and later people followed suit. Qingming is a very important solar term. Originally, the Cold Food Festival and Tomb-Sweeping Day were two different festivals. Because it is very close to the Cold Food Festival (the day when people ban fire to sweep graves), in the Tang Dynasty, the Cold Food Festival and Tomb-Sweeping Day became one, and the day of sweeping graves was designated as the Cold Food Festival.

Legend in Tomb-Sweeping Day: According to legend, in the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhong Er, the son of the State of Jin, fled abroad to escape persecution, tired and hungry, and could no longer stand up. I searched for it for a long time, but I couldn't find anything to eat. When everyone was extremely anxious, I pushed the minister to a secluded place, cut a piece of meat from my thigh and cooked a bowl of broth for my son to drink. Zhong Er gradually recovered his spirit.

Zhong Er shed tears when he found that the meat was cut by mesons pushing his legs. Nineteen years later, Zhong Er became the monarch, that is, the historical Jin Wengong. After he ascended the throne, Wen Gong rewarded the heroes who accompanied him in exile at first, but forgot to push the meson. However, meson packed his bags and quietly went to Mianshan with his mother.

When Jin Wengong heard about it, he personally invited Jin Entui, but Jin Entui had left home for Mianshan. Some people put forward the plan of burning Mianshan on three sides and forcing out mesons. The fire burned all over Mianshan, but there was no trace of meson push. After the fire was put out, it was found that meson tui was carrying his old mother dead. Jin Wengong cried.

Only a bloody book was left: "Sacrifice your body as much as you can, and hope your master will always be innocent." In order to commemorate meson push, Jin Wengong ordered that this day be designated as "Cold Food Festival". The following year, Jin Wengong led ministers to climb mountains to pay homage. He found that the old willow was dead and resurrected, so he gave it the title of "Qingming Willow" and told the world, so he named the day after the Cold Food Festival "Tomb-Sweeping Day".

The Festival Characteristics of Cold Food Festival

During the Cold Food Festival, there are visits to grave-sweeping, no smoking, ancestor worship, cold food, willow insertion, outing, cuju, tree planting, swinging, flower viewing, cockfighting, banquet feeding and poetry reading.

Many activities, such as banquets, flower viewing, cockfighting, chicken carving, pulling hooks (tug-of-war), drilling wood for fire, flying kites, shooting herbs, throwing pottery toys and so on. , greatly enriched the social life in ancient China.