The origin of the Cold Food Festival is 105 days after the winter solstice in the lunar calendar and one or two days before the Qingming Festival. On the first day of the festival, no fireworks are allowed and only cold food is eaten. In the development of later generations, customs such as sacrificial sweeps, outings, swings, Cuju, lead hooks, and cockfighting were gradually added. The Cold Food Festival lasted for more than two thousand years and was once known as the largest folk festival in China. The Cold Food Festival is the only traditional festival of the Han nationality that is named after food customs.
According to legend, Chong'er (Chong'er, the Prince of Jin Dynasty) traveled around various countries and experienced many hardships. Once, when he was starving and had no other choice, Jie Zhitui cut off the flesh from his own thigh and gave it to him to eat. Later, when Chong'er became king (Jin Wengong, one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period), he went to find Jie Zitui who was hiding in the mountains with his mother. When he couldn't find it, he ordered the mountain to be set on fire in an attempt to force Jie Zitui out, but in the end it was found that Jie Zitui and his mother were burned to death. Chong'er regretted it very much and stipulated that no fire should be made at this time of year and all cold food should be eaten, which was called the Cold Food Festival.
Activities of Cold Food Festival
Before Qingming Festival. There is a traditional festival with a long history called Cold Food Festival. Nowadays, few people know about the Cold Food Festival, or think that the Cold Food Festival is the ancient name of the Qingming Festival, and confuse them with the same thing, but in fact they are not. Qingming falls in the beginning of the third month of the lunar calendar, while the Cold Food Festival falls in the second month of the lunar calendar. There are two important activities in the Cold Food Festival, one is the fire ban, and the other is tomb sweeping.
Fire is prohibited during the Cold Food Festival
Fire is prohibited
According to the "Book of Rites of Zhou", the reason for prohibiting fire during the Cold Food Festival is to "bring out fire in March". According to the custom at that time, every February in February, people would put out the fire, and in March, new fire would be introduced from the palace to the people. The day when the new fire and the old fire alternated was the Cold Food Festival.
However, some astronomers pointed out that it was a huge historical misunderstanding that later generations understood internal fire and external fire as burning fire. The word "fire" here was originally the name of a star in astronomy, which is Refers to the big Mars, which is the Q star in Scorpio, whose middle name is Antares, also known as the business star. It is the main symbol star used to determine the seasons in ancient my country. The astronomical officials at that time were called Huozheng. The so-called "fire in March" actually refers to the appearance of the big Mars in the east in the evening of early March. The dragon raising its head in February, the fire in March and the fire in May are the same set of celestial phenomena in different directions in different seasons. Observing their position is very important in determining the seasons. Our country has always been founded on agriculture, and accurately determining the spring sowing season is particularly important for agricultural production. Therefore, officials specializing in fire management are required to inform people of fire bans and fire bans every year.
(1). When is the Cold Food Festival and what are the festival customs of the Cold Food Festival (2). Make sentences with the Cold Food Festival and use the Cold Food Festival in sentences (3). Appreciation of poems about the Cold Food Festival (4). Cold Food Cold Food Festival handwritten newspaper layout design border pattern: Cold Food Festival poems (5). Cold Food Festival handwritten newspaper layout design border pattern: Cold Food Festival folklore (6). Cold Food Festival handwritten newspaper layout design border pattern: Cold Food Value (7). Cold Food Festival handwritten newspaper layout design border pattern: Cold Food Overview (8). Cold Food Festival handwritten newspaper layout design border pattern: Cold Food Poems (9). Cold Food Festival handwritten newspaper layout design border pattern: Cold Food Festival Value (10). Cold Food Handwritten newspaper layout design border pattern for the Cold Food Festival: The significance of the Cold Food Festival
Tomb sweeping
Another activity during the Cold Food Festival is tomb sweeping. This activity includes adding soil to the tomb, trimming trees, and pruning. Weeding, cleaning tombs, worshiping ancestors, etc. Zi Juyi's "Cold Food Ambition Yin" describes people's desolate and sad feelings when sweeping tombs during the Cold Food Festival:
The crows and magpies' voices dim the trees, who will cry during the Cold Food Festival during the Qingming Festival.
The wind blows paper money flying in the wilderness, and the ancient tombs are covered with green spring grass.
Tangli flowers reflect the poplar trees, which is like life and death elsewhere.
The lonely spring cannot be heard, and people go back in the rain.
Nowadays, in Fuzhou area, while most people visit the graves of their ancestors during the Qingming Festival, some village and town residents are accustomed to choosing to sweep the tombs during the Double Ninth Festival. In Minqing County, located in the west of Fuzhou area, the traditional tomb-sweeping time for many people is around the Mid-Autumn Festival, and no memorial-sweeping activities are carried out during Qingming Festival. In Putian in the south, tomb-sweeping times are divided into Qingming Festival, Double Ninth Festival and Winter Solstice. Winter Solstice is the mainstream in most areas and urban areas. Tomb-sweeping areas during Qingming Festival are distributed along the coast and are only performed once. In Zhangzhou, southern Fujian, the tomb-sweeping season is on the third day of March, commonly known as the "March Festival", which is also the Shangsi Day in ancient times, which is relatively special. The custom of sweeping tombs at this time also spread to Taiwan, resulting in a time difference between people of Zhangquan descent.