Qingming Festival is a traditional festival in our country. On this day, we will go to the grave to worship our ancestors. Later, the state incorporated Qingming Festival into the national statutory holidays, with three-day holidays. So what's the origin of Qingming Festival? What's the relationship between Qingming Festival and cold food festival? Let's have a look together with interested friends and editors.
Qingming Festival has been passed down since ancient times. When it comes to Qingming Festival, we have to mention cold food festival. Because Qingming Festival originated from cold food festival and was gradually replaced, so the custom of cold food festival gradually evolved into the culture of Qingming Festival. What's the difference between Qingming Festival and cold food Festival?
What is qingming festival called
Qingming Festival, also known as the Tomb Sweeping Festival, ghost festival and Ming Festival, is related to the sacrifice of ghosts and gods, together with the mid-term festival of July 15 and the next Yuan Festival of October 15. And it's more than 2500 years old. At the same time, Qingming Festival, also known as the outing Festival, according to the solar calendar, it is between April 4 and 6 every year, which is the time when the plants and trees are green in the bright spring, and it is also a good time for people to spring outing (ancient called outing), so the ancients have the custom of Qingming outing and carry out a series of sports activities. There are tomb visits, no smoking, ancestor worship, tree planting, swing, flower watching, cockfighting, banquet, cold food, willow planting, outing, Cuju, poetry chanting and so on.
The difference between Qingming Festival and cold food festival
Cold food festival
One hundred and five days after the winter solstice is called cold food. Once upon a time, fire and cold food were forbidden, so it is also called "cold day" and "no smoking day". According to the folklore, cold food is to commemorate the burning of jieziti in Mianshan mountain in the spring and Autumn period. The Emperor Wen of Jin ordered the fire to be banned. Jieziti is from Shanxi, so cold food is the first popular custom in Shanxi. In the old days, cold food cut off the fire. The next day, there was a ceremony of drilling wood to get new fire in the palace. People also often begged each other for new fire with wickers.
Qingming Festival
Fifteen days after the spring equinox is Qingming, which is a good day for outing. Qingming is also a day for sweeping graves and worshiping ancestors. It is also called "Ghost Festival" and "Ming Festival" among the people. It is also called "Sanming Festival" on July 15 and October 1. There is a ceremony for the City God to patrol.
Cold food and Qingming were originally two festivals, but most of Shandong folk put the two festivals together. It is generally called Qingming Festival. In a few areas, it is called cold food festival, but the festival is on Qingming Day. Kenli is called "big cold food", "two cold food" and "three cold food" since the first three days of the Qingming Festival. The fourth day is Qingming. People go to visit tombs and make outings in these four days. Juancheng takes the day before Qingming as cold food festival, also known as "ghost gate joint".
Originally two festivals with different meanings
Cold food festival, also known as "no smoking Festival", "cold Festival" and "hundred and five Festival", is one hundred and five days after the winter solstice of the lunar calendar and one or two days before the Qingming Festival. It is the beginning of the day when the festival, no fireworks, only eat cold food. Before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, "Qingming Festival" only refers to one of the 24 seasons that distinguish between seasonal alternation and agricultural operation. The main item of the cold food festival is that families are not allowed to smoke and eat cold food, and the time is in the cold winter season. Due to the close time and influence of Qingming Festival, the customs of sacrifice and sweeping, outing, swing, Cuju, lead hook, fighting eggs and so on have been gradually increased in the development of later generations. The cold food festival stretches for more than 2000 years before and after, which is known as the largest folk day of sacrifice.
Cold food festival is related to the ancients' understanding of nature. In China, the rebirth of new fire after cold food is a transitional ceremony of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, which reveals the information of season alternation, symbolizing the beginning of new season, new hope, new life and new cycle. Later, it had the meaning of "gratitude" and emphasized the memory and gratitude of "the past". Cold food, no fire, cold food, sacrifice to the tomb. During the Qingming Dynasty, take a new fire and go outing.
Qingming Festival is an important traditional folk festival in China. It is one of the eight important festivals: Shangyuan, Qingming, Lixia, Dragon Boat Festival, Zhongyuan, mid autumn, winter solstice and new year's Eve.
Cold food and Qingming in Tang Dynasty
Before the Tang Dynasty, cold food and Qingming were two successive festivals with different themes. The former was nostalgic and mournful, while the latter was seeking new things to protect their lives; the two had a close relationship. The purpose of fire prohibition is to produce fire, and the purpose of sacrifice is to protect life. This is the internal cultural connection between cold food and Qingming. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, the imperial court fixed the custom of folk tomb sweeping in the form of decrees in the cold food festival before the Qingming Festival. Because the cold food is closely related to the Qingming Festival in time, the cold food festival custom has long been related to the Qingming Dynasty, and the tomb sweeping has also been extended from cold food to the Qingming Dynasty. With the passage of time, as the main item of cold food festival - no smoking and cold food, it has been gradually weakened, and cold food festival has gradually been replaced by Qingming Festival.
The relationship between Qingming and cold food
One is the irrelevant stage.
Before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, "Qingming Festival" only refers to one of the 24 seasons that distinguish between seasonal alternation and agricultural operation. The main item of the cold food festival is that families are not allowed to smoke and eat cold food, and the time is in the cold winter season.
The second is the stage of mutual integration.
During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, the time of cold food festival was determined to be one hundred and five days after the winter solstice, only one or two days before the Qingming Festival, and the contents of "cold food on tomb, gradually becoming popular, appropriate to allow tomb, and the same worship ceremony" were added.
Third, the Qingming Festival gradually replaced the cold food festival.
With the passage of time, as the main item of cold food festival - no smoking and cold food, it has been gradually weakened, and cold food festival has gradually been replaced by Qingming Festival. By the Qing Dynasty, some popular items of cold food festival were no longer popular, and folk tomb sweeping, official altar and royal mausoleum were the main activities of the festival. In this period, although the name "cold food" appeared in some documents, local records and literary works from time to time, the title "Qingming" became the mainstream. The Qingming Festival originated from the cold food festival, which was only one or two days before the Qingming Festival, so it was naturally borrowed by the latter. The cultural basis of this borrowing is people's habitual psychology of festivals and festivals inherited and accumulated from generation to generation.
The origin and development of Qingming Festival
Qingming Festival is a traditional folk festival in China. It is one of the important eight festivals of the year (Shangyuan, Qingming, Lixia, Dragon Boat Festival, Zhongyuan, mid autumn, winter solstice and new year's Eve). Generally, it is around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar, with a very long period. There are two versions, namely, the first eight days of the 10th and the first ten days of the 10th, which are all Qingming Festival in the past 20 days. Qingming Festival originally refers to the 15th day after the spring equinox. In 1935, the government of the Republic of China designated April 5 as the national holiday Qingming Festival, also known as the national Tomb Sweeping Festival. [1]
To talk about Qingming Festival, we need to start from a festival - cold food festival.
Cold food festival, also known as hot food festival, non-smoking Festival and cold Festival, its date is 108 days away from the winter solstice, that is, it is only one or two days away from Qingming Festival. The main festival custom of this festival is no fire, no fire is allowed to cook food, only hot food, cold food, so it is named.
The origin of the Qingming Festival, it is said, began with the ceremony of "Tomb sacrifice" of the ancient emperors and generals. Later, the folk also followed suit. On this day, it became a fixed custom of the Chinese nation.
The name "Qingming Festival" also comes from the Qingming solar term in the 24 solar terms of the Chinese lunar calendar. The 108th day after the winter solstice is the Qingming solar term. The Qingming solar term lasts for 15 days. Qingming, as a solar term, is after the spring equinox. At this time, the winter has gone, the spring is full of vitality, the weather is clear, the four fields are clear, and the nature is full of vitality. To call this period "Qingming" is the most appropriate word.
When the earth reaches the zero degree of the Yellow longitude, it is set as the equinox, and then there is a solar term for every 15 degrees of operation, a total of 24 solar terms. Therefore, the date of solar term on the solar calendar is fixed. Because of leap year, there will be a difference of two days.
The lunar calendar is a yin-yang calendar that reflects the changes of phenology and guides the lunar time. It also combines the lunar calendar, that is, it takes 29.5 days of the lunar phase as the cycle (the time interval between one full moon and the next full moon).
Because the exact astronomical and mathematical knowledge is needed to calculate the exact time of the solar term in lunar calendar, the time of occurrence of each solar term in previous almanac is to be promulgated by the state (for example, the time of beginning spring is accurate to the hour, minute and second of month, month, day, year), and the rules of calculation are different in different times. The history of the Qing Dynasty manuscript & middot; Shi Xian Zhi uses a long space and many graphic formulas Explain the calculation method at that time. Generally speaking, the setting rule of the solar term in the lunar calendar is only to determine the first of the month as the solar term and the middle of the month as the medium. The interval between the two solar terms is the only basis for people to calculate. The solar term song is also the necessary knowledge for people to master the solar term rule. A slightly more complicated calculation is that it is customary for the winter solstice of the previous year (when the sun is at its lowest in the year) to pass 105 days, which means cold food and 106 days, which means Qingming. According to the Gregorian calendar, it is much simpler and can be fixed on April 5 or 4 (different from February or 29 in the same year). From an astronomical point of view, on April 5 or 6, when the sun (the sun is the sun's position on the ecliptic) reaches 15 degrees.
In the concept of the ancients, 108 represents the perfect, auspicious, long-standing and profound number. It has a deep meaning to put Qingming on the 108th day after the winter solstice. Qingming gets its name not only because the growth of all things at this time is clean and bright, but also because the sun in this period is also a fresh sun. The Yang flowing between heaven and earth in this period is also a fresh Yang.
It is said that after Dayu controlled the flood, people used the language of "Qingming" to celebrate that the flood had been eliminated and the world was peaceful. At this time, the spring flowers bloom, everything recovers, the sky is clear and the earth is clear, which is a good time for spring outing. As early as the Tang Dynasty, outing has begun, and successive generations have become a habit. In addition to enjoying the natural scenery of lakes and mountains and the beautiful scenery of spring, the outing also carries out various recreational activities to add interest to life.
Tomb sweeping is popular on the Qingming Festival. Actually, tomb sweeping is the content of the cold food festival the day before the Qingming Festival. It is said that cold food originated from the memorial of Duke Wen of Jin for jiezitui. In the 20th year of the founding of the Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, an imperial edict was issued to the world, "cold food goes to the tomb". Because cold food is connected with Qingming, it gradually became tomb sweeping. During the Qing Dynasty, tomb sweeping was more popular. In ancient times, children used to fly kites when they visited tombs. Some kites are equipped with bamboo flutes, which can make a sound when the wind blows, just like the sound of zither. It is said that the name of kites comes from this.
Qingming Festival was very common in the Northern Song Dynasty. Zhang Zeduan's picture of Qingming River depicts the figures on both sides of Bianliang (Kaifeng) Bianhe River in the reign of Emperor Huizong in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Since 2008, China has recognized Qingming Festival as a legal holiday, a day off. By 2009, it was changed to three days. It continues to this day.