It is the most famous poem of Qingming Festival. It tells two characteristics of Qingming Festival, one is drizzle, the other is to go to the grave to worship the ancestors. So what are the customs of Qingming Festival? What is the allusion of inserting willows? Let's have a look at it with interest.
The reason why willow should be planted in Qingming Festival
There are several legends of willow cutting in Qingming Festival, as follows:
Legend 1: the custom of planting willows and trees on Qingming Festival is said to commemorate Shennong who invented various agricultural production tools and tasted hundreds of herbs.
Legend 2: when Jin Wengong and qunchen were hiking to worship jiezitui, they found that the old willow tree that was burned in that year actually died and came back to life. At present, Duke Wen of Jin named the old willow "Qingming willow" and folded several willows on his head to commemorate it. All the officials followed suit. Wearing willows in the Qing and Ming Dynasties became a symbol to commemorate jiezitui.
Legend 3: it's said that willow branches have the function of exorcising evil spirits. So inserting willows and wearing willows are not only fashionable decoration, but also have the effect of praying for blessings and exorcising evil spirits. It may also be related to the custom of using willow branches to beg for new fire in the cold food festival in the past.
The traditional customs of Qingming Festival
1. Tomb Sweeping
In Chinese history, cold food, fire prohibition, ancestor worship, tomb sweeping and ancestor worship have become a continuous custom since then. Even in today's society, before and after the Qingming Festival, people still have the custom of going to the tomb to visit their ancestors: uprooting weeds, putting on offerings, offering incense and prayers in front of the tomb, burning paper money and gold ingots, or simply offering a bunch of flowers to express the memory of their ancestors.
2. Outing
Qingming season, spring back to the earth, the nature everywhere presents a lively scene, it is a good time for outing. Chinese people have been keeping the habit of Qingming outing for a long time. It is said that there was Qingming outing a long time ago. The internal meaning of Qingming outing is to comply with the seasonal solar terms. In March, the spring is full of vitality, and everything starts to sprout. People go out of the house and go to the wild, actively cater to the current atmosphere, so as to promote the circulation of Yang in their own bodies, which is very good for their health.
3. Cuju
Cuju, the predecessor of football, is made of leather and stuffed with wool. It is said that Cuju existed before the Shang Dynasty, and entered the civil society during the Warring States period. It became more used in the military to practice martial arts and juxtaposed in the military books in the Han Dynasty. Cuju was the most prosperous in Tang and Song dynasties. It often appeared the scene of "the ball never falls all the time", "the ball never leaves the foot, the foot never leaves the ball, the Chinese court watches it, and thousands of people look up to it". The picture of Cuju by Emperor Taizu of Song Dynasty depicts the scene at that time. In Du Fu's poem "Qingming", it is written that "ten years of Cuju will be far away, and the custom of swing is the same". It also shows the popularity of Cuju at that time.
4. Flying kites
Flying kites in Qingming is a popular custom. In ancient times, flying kites was not only a kind of entertainment, but also a kind of Witchcraft: they thought that flying kites could let off their own filth. So when many people fly kites on the Qingming Festival, they write all the diseases they know on the paper kite. When the kite flies high, they cut the kite line and let the paper kite fly with the wind. It means that their diseases and filth are taken away by the kite.
5. Swing
This is the custom of Qingming Festival in ancient China. Swing means to move by the leather rope. Its history is very old, the earliest name is Qianqiu. Later, in order to avoid taboos, it changed to swing. In ancient times, swings were made of tree branches and ribbons. Later, it gradually developed into a swing with two ropes and pedals. Swing can not only improve health, but also cultivate courage. It is loved by people, especially children.
6. Tug of war
In the early stage, it was called "hook" and "tug of war" in the Tang Dynasty. It was invented in the late spring and Autumn period, began to prevail in the military, and later spread among the people. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty held a large-scale tug of war on the Qingming Festival. Since then, tug of war has become part of the custom of the Qing and Ming Dynasties.
7. Cockfighting
In ancient times, the game of cockfighting was popular in Qingming, which started from Qingming and lasted until the summer solstice. The earliest record of cock fighting in China can be found in Zuo Zhuan. In the Tang Dynasty, cockfighting became popular, not only among the people, but also among the emperor. For example, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty liked cockfighting the most.
8. Tree planting
Before and after the Qingming Festival, when the spring sun is shining and the spring rain is sprinkling, the survival rate of planting seedlings is high and the growth is fast. Therefore, since ancient times, our country has the habit of planting trees in Qingming. Some people also call Qingming Day "tree planting day". The custom of planting trees has been handed down to this day.