Every April 4th, the day before Qingming Festival.
The Cold Food Festival is also called the No-Smoking Festival and the Cold Festival. The date of the Cold Food Festival is one or two days before the Qingming Festival. The custom of the Cold Food Festival is that you are not allowed to light a fire to make food. You can only eat cold food and cooked food prepared in advance. Therefore, it is called "Cold Food Festival". Cold food is Refers to cold food. However, in the following thousands of years of historical development, customs such as outings, sacrificial sweeps, swings, and Cuju were gradually added.
The Forbidden Fire Festival was later transformed into the Cold Food Festival to commemorate Jie Zitui, a famous official and righteous man of the Jin Kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period. Legend has it that when Duke Wen of Jin was in exile, Jie Zitui once cut off his penis to satisfy his hunger. When Duke Wen of Jin returned to his country and became king, he forgot about Jie Zitui when he divided the ministers among them. Jie Zitui did not want to boast about his achievements and win favor, so he lived in seclusion in Mianshan with his old mother.
Later, Duke Wen of Jin personally went to Mianshan to respectfully invite Jie Zitui, but Jie Zitui did not want to be an official and hid in the mountains. Duke Wen of Jin's men set fire to the mountain with the intention of forcing Jie Zitui to reveal the truth. As a result, Jie Zitui was burned to death under a big tree while holding his mother in his arms. In order to commemorate this loyal minister and righteous man, people did not light a fire to cook on the day of Jie Zitui's death, but ate cold food, which is called the Cold Food Festival.