The origin of Qingming ancestor worship

Legend in Tomb-Sweeping Day During the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhong Er, the son of the Jin Dynasty, went into exile to escape persecution. On the way to exile, he was tired and hungry in a deserted place and couldn't stand up anymore. After looking for it for a long time, the minister couldn't find anything to eat. Everyone is anxious. Minister meson pushed him to a secluded place, cut a piece of meat from his thigh and cooked a bowl of broth for childe to drink. Zhong Er gradually recovered his spirit. Zhong Er shed tears when he found that the meat was cut off by mesons pushing his legs. Nineteen years later, Zhong Er became the monarch, that is, the historical Jin Wengong. After he ascended the throne, Wen Gong rewarded the heroes who accompanied him in exile at first, but forgot to push the meson. Many people complained about meson push and advised him to admire it. However, mesons despise those who strive for merit the most. He packed his bags and quietly went to Mianshan to live in seclusion. Hearing this, Jin Wengong was ashamed and personally took someone to ask Jiexiu, but Jiexiu had left home for Mianshan. Mianshan Mountain is high and dangerous, with dense trees. It's hard to find two people. Someone offered a plan to burn Mianshan from three sides and force a meson to push out. The fire burned all over Mianshan, but there was no trace of meson push. After the fire was put out, it was found that Jiezitui had sat under an old willow tree with his old mother on his back and died. Jin Wengong cried. When I was buried, I found a bloody book in a tree hole, which said, "May my master always have a clear-cut stand." To commemorate meson tui, Jin Wengong ordered that this day be designated as Cold Food Festival. The following year, Jin Wengong led the minister to climb a mountain to pay homage, and found that the old willow tree came back from the dead. He named the old willow "Qingming Willow" and told the world that the day after the Cold Food Festival was designated as Tomb-Sweeping Day. Qingming Poetry is Qingming Festival, which is a traditional folk festival in China and one of the 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar. It has a history of more than 2000 years. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, people learned to measure the shadow of the sun with standard watches and set four solar terms: vernal equinox, summer solstice, autumn equinox and winter solstice. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, it was established as 24 solar terms, including Tomb-Sweeping Day. The Qingming date is not fixed on which day, usually on April 4, 5 or 6 of the Gregorian calendar. Wu, a poet in the Song Dynasty, wrote in the article Meng Lianglu Volume II Tomb-Sweeping Day: "Qingming, the number of people in Beijing is from the winter solstice to the fifteenth day of the first month." Why is it called Qingming? "Zhouyi Zhouyue" says: "Spring and March are full of energy, shocking and stinging, and the vernal equinox is bright." You Zhu once quoted Kong as saying: "Qingming means that things are quiet and clean." Judging from the climate, Qingming is in spring, and everything is competing. This is a good season for spring ploughing and sowing. Therefore, the ancients used the poem "The breeze blows green willows, the drizzle moistens red flowers" to praise the beautiful scenery before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day. In ancient times, Tomb-Sweeping Day had many names, and the most common name was "Family Day". On this day, many areas in China have the custom of sweeping graves and remembering ancestors. For example, Yang Yunfu's poem "Ode to the Scenery" in the Yuan Dynasty wrote: "How can sorghum be provided for passers-by, and good flowers are left for travelers?" Gao Zhu's poem "Qingming" in the Song Dynasty wrote: "There are many graves in the north and south mountains, so don't fight for Qingming." From Xie Lingyun's poem "Going East" and "Returning to Tomb-Sweeping Day Rongli Shao" in the Southern Song Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty and even modern times, there are many poems praising Tomb-Sweeping Day, and only a few of them have been handed down by Du Fu, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty.