Qingming, Chinese Thanksgiving

Tomb-sweeping Festival, one of the most important traditional festivals in our country, does anyone know that it actually evolved from the Cold Food Festival after a thousand years of development. Seeking the roots and tracing the term Qingming was first seen in 'Huainanzi·Tenwen Xun': Ming Shufeng reached forty-five days, Qingming wind arrived. Ming Shufeng refers to the east wind at the vernal equinox, meaning that the Qingming wind arrives 45 days after the Ming Shufeng. Qingming here is still as solar terms. Qingming in the sense of festival originated from the ancient cold food festival. There are different opinions on the origin of the Hanshi Festival, including the Zhou Dynasty's ban on fire, the ancient fire-changing theory, and the Jie inference theory. According to legend, the story of Jie Zitui was in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, when Jin Xiangong's favorite Ji Mian Ji gave birth to his son Yi Qi. In order to make her son ascend to the throne, Zha Ji persecuted the prince Shen Sheng. Shen Sheng was forced to commit suicide, and his son Chong'er was also forced to flee. Because of his strong ear and ability, many wise men followed him, and Jie Zitui was one of them. On the way to escape, Jie cut off the meat from his thighs and offered it to the heavy ears who had not eaten meat for a long time. Chong Er was very moved and said that he would reward him again after ascending to the throne. Later, Chong'er became Jin Wengong, but he forgot about Jie Zitui. At this time, Jie Zitui and his mother lived in seclusion in their hometown of Mianshan. One day, Jin Wengong remembered Jiezitui under the reminder, and asked him to come out of the mountain. But the extremely chilling meson refused to agree to go out and be sealed. In order to force Jiezi out of the mountain, Jin Wengong ordered the burning of the mountain. Unexpectedly, Jiezitui and his mother were burned to death. Wen Gong regretted it. In order to mourn Jiezitui, Wengong ordered that Mianshan be changed to Jieshan, and for the next three days it is forbidden to light fire and cook, and only eat cold food. Therefore, prohibiting fire and eating cold food have become important customs of the cold food festival. In addition, inserting willows is also one of the customs of the Cold Food Festival. During the cold food festival, people fold off the willow branches that have just spit out new buds in the early spring and insert them under the eaves of the door to celebrate the festival, which is called cold food willow. After the mid-Tang Dynasty, Qingming and cold food were combined into one, and Qingming was the most important thing. Tomb sweeping, cold food, and inviting new fires became the themes of the Qingming Festival of the Tang Dynasty. Due to the bleakness of sweeping tombs and cold food during the Qingming Festival, people often organize more entertaining activities after the cold food sweeping, such as outings, flying kites, and swinging. The customs of Qingming Festival in my country have a vast territory, many ethnic groups and strong local characteristics, which have created a colorful customs of Qingming Festival. For example, the custom of Tomb-sweeping Festival in Shanxi Province is to go to the grave to express grief for the ancestors. Each area of u200bu200bthe Shang tomb has its own unique place. For example, in most places in the southwestern part of Shanxi, men and women have to be present when they go to the grave. Instead of burning incense and burning paper, they hang the money on the tomb; while in the northwest of the mountain, most of the tombs are men and they must be given to the ancestors. Burn the money and other things so that they can be transferred to the underworld. Nanjing people celebrate the Qingming Festival by inheriting the custom of lighting lamps from the Qinhuai River. Every lamp has a wish, which means letting hope fly and praying for the future. The local residents of Shenzhen will hold mountain worship activities on the Ching Ming Festival. Shanghai, Xi'an and other places visit temple fairs during the Ching Ming Festival. Temple fairs in Xi'an can be described as crowded and lively, with acrobatics, social fires, Qinqiang performances, and various delicacies, attracting many tourists to participate. The people of Hubei pay a heavy sacrifice to Qingming. There is a custom of hanging paper during the Qingming Festival in Wuhan. When hanging the paper, first use a hoe or sickle to clean up the weeds growing on the ancestor’s tomb. Then use small stones or bricks to press the tomb paper on the tomb to show that the tomb has heirs to avoid damage. In Mianyang, Xiantao, there is still a folk custom of boiled eggs with rice and vegetables on March 3rd. Every day, people pick a handful of ground rice and vegetables from the fields, wash them and put them in the pot, add appropriate amount of water, and add cinnamon, star anise, five-spice powder, soy sauce and other condiments, and fry them with eggs. After the eggs are cooked, they can be picked up and eaten. This is not only a delicious food, but also a health treatment. The tomb-sweeping custom of ancestor worship in Jingzhou during the Qingming Festival is also known as Qingming, where people cut stripes with colored paper of various colors, and then hung them on one end of a bamboo stick to make the Qingming Festival hang on the tombs of the ancestors. Cultural connotation Tomb-sweeping ceremonies, whether public or private, are a way of expressing filial piety and gratitude. The main content is tomb sweeping. The custom of sweeping tombs originated from the earliest ancestor worship. Ancestor worship is the religious manifestation of a social system with kinship as a bond. Throughout the history of the Qingming Festival, the purpose of sacrificial tomb sweeping in any period is to chase farther away and express filial piety. If things go on like this, filial piety has become the symbol of Ching Ming Festival. Coupled with the idea of u200bu200bfilial piety that Confucianism has always advocated, it has formed the cultural belief and national character of the Chinese nation that values u200bu200bfilial piety. Filial piety also means gratitude, thanks to the dedication of ancestors, so that future generations have a beautiful present. There is no Thanksgiving in China, but who can say that Ching Ming Festival is not a Chinese Thanksgiving Day? Almost the same ancestor worship and tomb sweeping every year is to deepen our imprint and promote and spread our excellent traditional festivals and customs, enhance cultural identity and national self-esteem, so that every descendant of Yan and Huang consciously integrates the bones and blood of the Chinese nation and uses his own patriotism. Prop up the future of Greater China.