2023 Tomb-Sweeping Day Qi Folk Custom
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2023 Tomb-Sweeping Day Qi Folk Custom
1, swing
Swing is a long-standing Qingming custom. Swing, that is, lift the rope, move.
Swing has a long history. It was originally called Qian Qiu, but later it was changed to a swing to avoid some taboos. At that time, swings were mostly 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 courage, which is deeply loved by people, especially children.
2. Tug of War
Tug of war was first called "pulling hook" and "strong hook", and it was called "tug of war" in Tang Dynasty. It was invented at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, prevailed in the military and later spread among the people. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, a large tug-of-war was held in Tomb-Sweeping Day. Since then, tug-of-war has become a Qingming custom.
3. Cuju
Cuju originally refers to an ancient rubber ball, the spherical surface is made of leather, and the ball is stuffed with wool. Cuju has become synonymous with cuju because its influence is gradually widespread. This is a popular game in ancient Tomb-Sweeping Day. According to legend, it was invented by the Yellow Emperor with the original purpose of training warriors.
Step 4 go for an outing
Hiking is also called spring outing. It was called Tanchun and Xunchun in ancient times. Wan Li is clear in March, and spring returns to the earth. Nature presents a vibrant scene everywhere, which is a good opportunity for an outing. Our people have kept the habit of walking in Tomb-Sweeping Day for a long time.
plant trees
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.
Therefore, China has the habit of planting trees in Qingming since ancient times. Some people even call Tomb-Sweeping Day Arbor Day. The custom of planting trees has been passed down to this day. 1979, the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) stipulated that March 12 every year was the Arbor Day in China. This is of great significance to mobilize people of all ethnic groups in China to actively carry out activities to green the motherland.
Step 6 fly a kite
Flying kites is the most popular activity in Tomb-Sweeping Day. During Tomb-Sweeping Day, people not only fly kites during the day, but also fly kites at night. At night, a string of colorful lanterns, like twinkling stars, is hung under the kite or on the wind-stabilizing stay, which is called "magic lamp". Someone used to put kites in the blue sky, then cut the strings and let the breeze send them to the ends of the earth. It is said that this can eliminate diseases and disasters and bring good luck to yourself.
Step 7 sweep the grave
Tomb-Sweeping Day has been a day for people to worship their ancestors and sweep graves since ancient times. As China people, they pay more attention to the pursuit of "offering sacrifices with ceremony". The poem Qingming written by Gao Gou-jian in Song Dynasty said: "There are many tombs in the north and south hills, but Tomb-Sweeping Day is different. Paper ashes fly into white butterflies, and blood and tears are dyed into red azaleas. The fox sleeps on the grave of the sun, and before the children laugh at the lights at night, there is wine to drink in life, and a drop does not reach Jiuquan. "
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. The poem Qingming written by Du Mu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, said: "There are many rains during the Qingming period, and pedestrians on the road want to break their souls. Ask local people where to buy wine? The shepherd boy pointed to Xinghua Village. " Write about the special atmosphere in Tomb-Sweeping Day. Grave-sweeping is the earliest custom in Tomb-Sweeping Day, which continues to this day and is gradually simplified with the progress of society. On the day of grave-sweeping, the descendants first pruned the graves of their ancestors and the weeds around them, and then provided food, flowers and so on.
Step 8 insert willow trees
It is said that the custom of inserting willows is also to commemorate Shennong, the ancestor of farming, who taught the people to cultivate crops. In some places, people put willow branches under the eaves to forecast the weather. There is an old saying that "the willow branches are green and the rain is raining;" The saying that there is another village. During the period of Huang Chao, it was stipulated that "Qingming lasts for a period, and Liu Dai is the number". After the failure of the uprising, the custom of wearing willow was gradually eliminated, and only willow was popular. Willow has a strong vitality, as the saying goes: "If you plant flowers with your heart, you will plant willows without your heart. "Wicker lives when it is inserted in the soil, where it is inserted, where it is inserted every year, and the shade is everywhere.
Tomb-Sweeping Day has beautiful spring breeze and trees. People go hiking, sweeping graves and going to graves on this day.
9. Worship "Lord Huang Cheng"
In Tomb-Sweeping Day, there is a custom in old Beijing. On this day, people will go to the Chenghuang Temple to burn incense, bow down and ask for advice. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the Republic of China, there were seven or eight Chenghuang temples in old Beijing, and incense was the most prosperous at that time. The "Lord Huang Cheng" enshrined in the Town God Temple is the most popular god besides the Kitchen God and the God of Wealth. This "grandpa" is actually a "minister without care" of a city and a county. Every year on the Ghost Festival-when the Chenghuang Temple is open in Tomb-Sweeping Day, people pray for blessings and make wishes, pray for rain in times of drought (sunny days when it rains), go out to seek safety, recover from illness and pray for the dead, and so on. At that time, the temple was very lively inside and outside, and there were stage performances in the temple. It is said that in the early years of the Republic of China, there was also a journey of "Lord of the City". People carry rattan "castellans" around the city in sedan chairs, accompanied by various kinds of incense. After the "Lord of the City", they performed yangko, stilts and five tiger sticks. As we walked, the crowd passing through the market flooded in. There is a miscellaneous chant: "The temple is also divided into inner and outer cities, and it is also early autumn and early winter. Men and women burn incense and ask about life and death. " It is a custom for Tomb-Sweeping Day to worship the Lord.
The Significance of Tomb-Sweeping Day
Traditional festivals of Han nationality in China. Every year around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar. On this day, there are activities such as going to the grave to sweep the grave, inserting willows, going for an outing and having a spring outing.
Sweeping graves on Qingming Festival is called "respecting thinking about time" for ancestors. Its customs have a long history. In the Ming Dynasty's "A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Imperial Capital", it was written: "On the Qingming Festival in March, men and women went to the grave to pay their respects, and the gold ingot was hung on the back of the sedan chair, and the road was full of embarrassment. Worshipers, mourners, weeping, weeding, adding soil to graves, burning ingots several times, and buying graves with paper money. If you can't see the paper money, it will be a lonely grave. After crying, don't go back, go to the fragrant tree, choose the garden, and sit down and get drunk. " In fact, grave-sweeping existed before the Qin Dynasty, but not necessarily during the Qingming period, but after the Qin Dynasty. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that it became popular. And spread to this day.
Tomb-Sweeping Day's sweeping ceremony was supposed to be held in person, but because of the different economic conditions of each family, the way of sweeping was different. "Burning a bundle" is the main form of paying homage to ancestors. The so-called "baggage", also known as "parcel", refers to the postal parcel that Xiao sent from Shi Yang to the underworld. In the past, Nanzhi store sold the so-called "wrapped skin", that is, a big bag was pasted with white paper. There are two forms: one is a woodcut version with Sanskrit transliteration printed around it and a lotus tablet printed in the middle, which is used to write the name of the deceased in the area code, such as "the late Zhang Fujun old man who was afraid of Yunshan", which is both a parcel and a tablet. The other is plain foreskin, which does not print any patterns. Just put a blue sign in the middle and write down the name of the deceased. Also used as a master card. There are many kinds of money in the bag.
The meaning of Qingming qi
Qingming is one of the twenty-four solar terms of the lunar calendar, which is at the turn of mid-spring and late spring, that is, from winter to the future 108 days.
The traditional Tomb-Sweeping Day of the Han nationality in China began in the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years. The name of Tomb-Sweeping Day is related to the weather and climate characteristics at this time. The name "Tomb-Sweeping Day" also comes from the Tomb-Sweeping Day atmosphere in the twenty-four solar terms of the China lunar calendar. 105 The first day after winter is Qi Tomb-Sweeping Day. Tomb-Sweeping Day gas * * * has 15 days. As it is Tomb-Sweeping Day, the time is after the vernal equinox. At this time, winter has gone, spring is full, the weather is sunny, the fields are bright and clean, and the vitality of nature is everywhere. It is an appropriate word to call this period "Qingming".
Tomb-Sweeping Day's recommendation on qi, daily life and health preservation.
It is clearly stated in "The Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic of Su Wen" and "Four Qi Tunes the Spirit" that spring is the season when everything recovers. In order to adapt to the law of spring sun be the spirit, people should go to bed late and get up early, relax their bodies and let their hearts feel the breath of spring. This is the natural law of health preservation, and it will hurt the liver if it is violated. At this time, we should master the characteristics of the rise and fall of Qi in spring, and pay attention to protecting the yang in the body, so as to make it constantly abundant and gradually vigorous, so as to avoid any yang injury or obstruction.
rural activity
During the Qingming Festival, the temperature gets warmer, plants sprout, the weather is fine and everything is thriving. Dry farming in the north and early and middle rice in the south of the Yangtze River have entered a suitable season for mass sowing. People rolled up their sleeves and trouser legs one after another, and it was sunny to sow in the fields and sow early. North and south of the great river, inside and outside the Great Wall, there are busy scenes of spring ploughing everywhere.
However, before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day, cold air still invaded from time to time, even making the average daily temperature lower than 12℃ for more than three consecutive days, resulting in rotten seedlings of middle rice and dead seedlings of early rice. Therefore, rice planting and transplanting should avoid cold tail and warm head. In the northwest plateau, livestock are weak under the influence of severe winter and insufficient forage. At this time, it is necessary to guard against the harm of strong cooling weather to old, weak and young animals after spring.