Qingming Festival is an important day for ancestor worship and tomb sweeping. In recent years, Qingming Festival has also been designated as a national legal holiday. How much do you know about Qingming Festival? What taboos does Qingming Festival have? What should we pay attention to?
Can I go out on the night of Qingming Festival
It is said that every year's Qingming Festival and Ghost Festival (July 14 of the lunar calendar) are ghost days. In the evening, a group of ghosts will come out for a night tour, lest they may bump into each other. Girls themselves are Yin, and the evening is when the Yin is getting heavier, so of course, the night of Qingming Festival should not go out as much as possible. Although it's said that believe or not, but thousands of years down, said that no reason can not be spread for so long, you don't have to make fun of yourself in a year so two days. Be careful to sail for thousands of years!
Although the old man used superstitious reasons, he had certain scientific reasons. The Qingming season is just after winter, especially in the north. The temperature difference between morning and evening is very large. There is also a saying that spring covers autumn and freezing early. So the cold and overcast air in the evening are too heavy, which is not conducive to the adjustment of the body from winter to spring. It is better to go to bed early and get up early in this season, which is more conducive to the balance of yin and Yang of the human body.
Which are the three Ghost Festivals in China
1. Qingming Festival
Qingming to grave, at the same time, the custom of outing. In the past, Qingming Festival was also called cold food festival. It lasted for a hundred days. Cao Cao changed it to one day. Tang Dynasty changed it to three days before Qingming. All the fire had to be extinguished. After the cold food, new fire came out of the palace.
2. Zhongyuan Festival
Zhongyuan (July 15) was originally a day for people to worship their ancestors, and it was later designated as the underground palace Christmas. The underground palace was in charge of the gate of hell. On this day, the underground palace opened the gate of hell, and it was also the day when the hell opened. The deceased ancestors could come home for reunion. Therefore, it was the ghost festival. It was the most important one of the three major Ghost Festivals in China. There was a Daochang, which put steamed bread for the ghosts to eat. On this day, the ancestors would be sacrificed, graves would be visited, and lights would be lit for the dead to go home Road. The Taoist temple held a grand ceremony to pray for blessings and auspiciousness.
The Buddhist day is the day of the Yulan basin meeting, which is also about the transcendence of the dead. The original intention of Yulan is to liberate and hang upside down. It comes from the story of Mulian saving his mother.
3. Cold clothes Festival
Every year on the first day of October in the lunar calendar, it is called "October Dynasty", also known as "ancestor worship Festival". For the winter clothing festival. It's also called the festival of the dead. On this day, we pay special attention to offering sacrifices to those who died first. It's called sending cold clothes. With the spring Qingming Festival, the autumn Zhongyuan Festival, and known as the three major 'Ghost Festival' of the year. In order to avoid the cold and cold in the hell, on this day, people will burn five color paper, send them clothes to keep warm, and send warmth to the ghosts. On the first day of October, burning cold clothes is the memory of the past and the compassion of the living for the dead. At the same time, this day also marks the arrival of severe winter, so it is also a day for parents and lovers to send warm clothes to the people they care about.
The origin of the custom of Qingming Festival
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. Originally, cold food festival and Qingming Festival were two different festivals. In the Tang Dynasty, the day of worship and tomb sweeping was defined as cold food festival. The right day for cold food festival is 105 days after the winter solstice, about around the Qingming Festival. Because the two days are similar, Qingming and cold food are combined into one day.
The custom of ancestor worship and tomb sweeping in front of the tomb originated very early in China. As early as in the Western Zhou Dynasty, great importance was attached to tombs. In the Warring States period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, "Mencius middot; Qi people" also mentioned a ridiculed Qi people, who often went to Dongguo tomb with the offerings of begging and sacrificing the tomb. It can be seen that the custom of tomb sweeping was very popular in the Warring States period. When the Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty came, he ordered that cold food and tomb sweeping was one of the five rites at that time. Therefore, every time when the Qingming Festival came, the roads in the field were full of scholars and women, and all the servants and beggars in zaoli had their parents' tombs. (Liu Zongyuan and Xu jingzhaoshu) tomb sweeping became an important social custom.
According to the biography of Yan Yannian in Hanshu, Yan family would return to the East China Sea for Tomb Sweeping even if they were thousands of miles away from Beijing. Yan Yannian's actions are reasonable in terms of the development and strength of Chinese ancestor worship and consanguinity. Therefore, later generations put the tomb offerings that were not included in the norms of ancient times into the five Rites: 'the family of scholars and commoners should be allowed to go to the tomb and be incorporated into the five rites, which will always be the regular pattern. 'with the official approval, the trend of tomb sacrifice will surely be prosperous.
What are the taboos during the Qingming Festival
1. Is it forbidden to visit friends and relatives on Qingming Day
It is better not to visit relatives and friends on Qingming Day, but the next day. Because Qingming Festival is a special time of sacrifice, it's not good or lucky to visit relatives and friends at this time. Of course, you can also invite friends and relatives to eat out.
2. How about marriage in the Qing and Ming Dynasties
In the same way, marriage is a major event in life. It's better to avoid choosing to get married during the Qingming Festival. Of course, there are still many things to pay attention to when you get married. Please refer to Dr. Zheng's relevant articles.
3. Can I travel on Qingming Festival
The important activity of Qingming Festival is to go for a walk. When spring is warm and flowers are blooming, it's no fault to feel the beauty of nature. However, we need to pay special attention not to visit other people's mountains where there are a lot of sacrifices! Don't say unlucky words, let alone disrespectful words to the dead. We should be careful in the evening activities. Therefore, it can't be said that I'm sorry for my ancestors to take a vacation and travel on Qingming Festival.