Tug of war was very popular in the Tang Dynasty. According to Xie's "Five Miscellanies" Volume II, "There was a tug-of-war in the Qingming period in the Tang Dynasty, and its method was marijuana, with more than ten small ropes at each end. A few people hold it, and they hold it, and their strength wins. " Tang Zhongzong likes this program very much. "When Zhongzong was auspicious in the pear garden, he ordered the courtiers to do so. Seven prime ministers, two Xu, are East friends, and three-phase five generals are West friends. Servant shot Wei Juyuan and Tang. They are too old and weak to get up for a long time. They thought they were laughing. " In addition to tug-of-war, there is also a "rope-tying game" (gambling game). Xie said that people seldom played with it at that time, but swings were more popular, but they were limited to the north. As for southerners, they prefer puppet shows.
In the eighty-ninth chapter of Jin Ping Mei, "Widow Tomb-Sweeping Day went to the new grave and Mrs. yongfu temple met the deceased", the author mentioned the swing: "The lights are light and the scenery is harmonious ... I don't know who is in the yard opposite the water, and the swing hangs green smoke." This time, it not only recorded the sacrifices and travel modes that people carried when Tomb-Sweeping Day visited the grave, but also vividly described the scenery on the way to the grave: "Besides, one day, during Tomb-Sweeping Day in March, Wu Yueniang prepared incense sticks, money paper and three kinds of sacrifices, and carried two large boxes to the new graves outside the grave and in Ximen Qing." Their party "all went to the grave in sedan chairs" and "only saw it when they left the city gate".
In the eyes of Ming people, everything in Tomb-Sweeping Day was beautiful. "It was a beautiful day. The wind was a breeze, blowing eyes, flowers and fragrant dust. This warm weather is called "Xuan". It is cold, so it is very cold. Riding a horse is called BMW. The sedan chair is called a fragrant car. The road to travel is called Fang Jing. The dust flying underground is called incense dust. Flowers germinate and grass germinate, which is called spring letter. "
On such a vibrant day, we should not only express our thoughts and reverence for the deceased, but also live up to the charming spring scenery in front of us. This embodies the so-called "the dead rest in peace and the living work hard".
Incense sticks and money paper are burned for the dead, while the "three sacrifices" and "two boxes" are enjoyed by the living after the sacrifice. Volume 17 of Shenbang's Miscellaneous Notes on Ten Thousand Parts records the situation of Tomb-Sweeping Day, a Beijinger in the Ming Dynasty: "Tomb-Sweeping Day and Wang Min were dressed up and brought boxes of wine to sweep their first tombs, offering sacrifices and returning drunk." Every year is the day, men and women get together, and cars and horses are noisy.
Different from the land in the north, in some water towns in the south of the Yangtze River, people have to go to the grave by boat-I wonder if there has been any river congestion. Tomb-sweeping in Dream of Taoan by Zhang Dai (volume 1): Men and women who go to the grave are dressed in colorful clothes, riding beautifully decorated boats, beating gongs and drums, cheering and drinking along the way, just like Hangzhou people visiting the West Lake. Some people are drunk, some are "slightly drunk": "screaming on the shore, singing songs without words, or fighting with friends on the boat." Zhang Dai commented that this is "thick people and thin ghosts."
Only later, because of the shuddering, women were rarely seen among grave-sweepers in Tomb-Sweeping Day. It's just that "several descendants carry fish and money (paper money) back and forth." Not only women can't go, but men who go to the grave don't even take a boat. Beautiful festivals have also become bleak and desolate because of the mutiny.