During the Qingming Festival, many people go back to visit the tomb, but there is a saying in many places that pregnant women can't visit the tomb, why on earth? Why can't pregnant women go back to their hometown to worship their ancestors?
Can't pregnant women go to the tomb sweeping on Tomb Sweeping Day?
It is not suitable for pregnant women to visit the tomb on Qingming Festival.
Pregnant women should not go to the Tomb Sweeping Day. During tomb sweeping, a large number of people are cleaning and kneeling, setting off firecrackers, burning incense and gold paper, which cause air and noise pollution. In addition, it is easy to get heatstroke and slip when it rains on a clear day. These consequences are unbearable to pregnant women. So it's better not to go to the tomb sweeping for pregnant women on Qingming Festival. They can worship their ancestors at home.
The danger of Tomb Sweeping on Tomb Sweeping Day for pregnant women
1. In terms of folk taboos, it is said that pregnant women go to the Tomb Sweeping Day and their children can see unclean things. Not only that, strictly speaking, when women come to the regular leave, it's better not to participate in such activities, especially not to participate in Tomb Sweeping activities after 3 p.m. This may not be true, but scientifically speaking, pregnant women are not suitable for grave sweeping.
2. Scientifically speaking: there are many people who go back to their hometown to worship ancestors or go to the mountains to visit tombs on the Qingming Festival. The cars are crowded, and the places to visit tombs are generally on the mountains. The roads are rough, and pregnant women are tired and prone to fall down. In addition, when they visit tombs, they need to set off firecrackers, burn incense and styrofoam, which will cause air and noise pollution. All of these will make pregnant women have the risk of miscarriage.
Why is Tomb Sweeping on Qingming Festival
Qingming Festival is a festival to sacrifice ancestors. The main project is tomb sweeping.
The origin of Qingming Festival, it is said, originated from the ceremony of "Tomb sacrifice" of ancient emperors and generals. Later, it was imitated by the public. On this day, ancestor worship and tomb sweeping became a fixed custom of the Chinese nation.
According to folklore, there are two sources of cold food tomb sweeping. First of all, Zhuge Liang was popular in governing Shu in the Three Kingdoms period, but after his death, the court did not build a temple for him, so the people worshiped on the field road during the cold food period. After that, the imperial court made improper arrangements for self-examination and formally attached sacrifices to Zhuge Liang in the ancestral temple (Liu Bei), but the custom of cold food and wild sacrifice has been formed, and evolved into the tomb of each person to visit the ancestors; another said that the custom of cold food and cold food Festival were formed in the spring and Autumn period at the same time, all because of the commemoration of the hermit jiezitui.
It is also believed that cold food and tomb sweeping originated from the custom of sacrificing Gao Qi to ancestors at the spring equinox. In the primitive society where people only recognize their mother and don't recognize their father, Gao Mu is their ancestor. To worship Gao is to worship ancestors. And the original Festival period of cold food festival is in the second half of February, which is consistent with the ancient time when worshipping Gao, so the Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty set cold food as the ancestor worship Festival. Later generations, cold food festival was reduced to the last three or two days, or directly combined with Qingming Festival, so cold food tomb sweeping became Qingming tomb sweeping.
The inheritance of Tomb Sweeping on Qingming Festival
Tomb sweeping in the Qing and Ming Dynasties is a custom related to funeral rites. According to the records, in ancient times, tombs were not built, that is to say, tombs were only built instead of tombs. Later, tomb and tomb, the custom of sacrifice and sweeping had a support. In the Qin and Han Dynasties, tomb sacrifice has become an indispensable ritual activity.
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 is bound to flourish.
Qingming Festival is a festival commemorating ancestors. The main memorial ceremony is tomb sweeping. Tomb sweeping is the concrete expression of being cautious and pursuing the distant, loving and filial. Based on the above significance, Qingming Festival has become an important festival for Chinese people.
Qingming Festival is at the turn of mid spring and late spring, 106 days after the winter solstice. Tomb Sweeping activities usually take place 10 days before or after the Qingming Festival. Some people of native origin have been doing grave sweeping for up to a month.