The Cold Food Festival is 105 days after the winter solstice in the lunar calendar and one or two days before the Qingming Festival. At the beginning of the festival, no fireworks were allowed and only cold food was eaten. In the development of later generations, customs such as sacrificial sweeps, outings, swings, Cuju, lead hooks, and cockfights were gradually added. The Cold Food Festival has lasted for more than two thousand years and was once known as the largest folk festival in China. It is the only traditional Chinese festival named after food customs.
The Cold Food Festival is also known as "One Hundred and Five", because the Cold Food Festival falls 105 days after the winter solstice. A poem "New Fire" by Su Che of the Song Dynasty: "Yesterday it was one hundred and fifty, and all the old men and women had cold food." Mei Yaochen of the Song Dynasty "Yi Yun and Li Sheren's Reflections on Cold Food During the Travel": "On the one hundred and fifth day, there was a strong wind and rain. The thin and wet spring suburban clothes are flowing diagonally. "[5] During the Cold Food Festival, stoves cannot be used for up to a month, and the royal family sends special personnel to supervise them. During the cold food period, only "cold utensils" can be eaten, that is, steamed buns, ring cakes (similar to burnt rings), zongzhuang (close to sugar ears) and the like. Cold food is too harmful to the body, so it was later reduced to 1 to 3 days.
Cold food and fire ban extinguished the fire retained in winter. At Qingming Festival, we have to drill wood again to make fire. A poem by Wei Zhuang, a poet of the Tang Dynasty: "The cold food flowers bloom on thousands of trees and snow, and the Qingming fire breaks out the smoke in thousands of houses."
The origin of cold food follows the ancient custom of changing fire, which is what the "Li" of Zhou calls " In the middle of spring, the fire was built with a wooden duo and was banned in the country." By the Tang Dynasty, it had become a national statutory holiday, and later merged with Qingming Festival. It is the earliest festival among Chinese traditional festivals. The Cold Food Festival dates back 2,640 years. During this period, various historical periods and holiday periods varied. It successively lasted five days, one hundred and fifteen days, one month, three days, two days, five days, seven days, and finally became one day. From Jiexiu and Taiyuan counties to all parts of the country and even overseas (for example, Gaochang State has designated March 9 as the Cold Food Festival since the Tang Dynasty).
From the respect for Jie Zitui’s loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, his dedication to retirement after success, his political ambition to be honest and upright, and his filial piety and morality, it has developed into gathering the hearts of the people, condensing the soul of the country, and embodying the ancestral culture of the Chinese nation. important festivals. And formed a series of cold food for health and longevity, such as glutinous rice and green rice.
During the Cold Food Festival, there are tomb sweeping, smoking ban, ancestor worship, cold food, willow planting, outing, Cuju, tree planting, swings, flower viewing, cockfighting, banquets, poetry chanting, etc. Many activities such as giving banquets, flower appreciation, cockfighting, carving chicken roosters, pulling hooks (tug of war), drilling wood to make fire, flying kites, fighting with grass, throwing pots (tile and stone tools) and many other activities greatly enriched the social life of ancient China.
Festival Customs
No Fire
The Cold Food Festival was also called the "No Smoking Festival" in ancient times. Every household was forbidden to light fires and all ate cold food. However, due to the persistence of the Chinese people in commemorating their ancestors, it was banned and revived repeatedly from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the royal family of the Tang Dynasty recognized and participated in it. The line "Let's try new tea with new fire" in Su Shi's "Looking to the South of the Yangtze River" refers to the poet's behavior of making tea after the cold meal. Shanxi folk custom of banning fire and cold food is mostly for one day, but only a few places are still used to ban fire for three days.
Ancestor Worship
Sweeping graves and worshiping ancestors during the Cold Food Festival were regarded as "wild sacrifices" from the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, it was compiled into "Volume 87 of the Kaiyuan Rites: The Prince and the Princes Worship the Sweeper (Cold Food Worship the Sweeper)" and became one of the auspicious rituals recognized and advocated by the government. Later, it evolved into the royal family offering sacrifices to mausoleums; officials offering sacrifices to Confucius Temples and sages; and common people visiting graves. At that time, the whole family or tribe would go to the ancestor's grave to offer sacrifices, add soil, and hang paper money. Then they would scatter Zi Tui Yan and Snake Pan Rabbit on the top of the grave, roll them down, pierce them with willow branches or knot needles, and place them high in the room. I am grateful to my ancestor Deze.
Food
Cold food includes cold food porridge, cold food noodles, cold food pulp, green rice and glutinous rice, etc.; cold food offerings include noodle swallow, snake plate rabbit, date cake, fine barley, There are dozens of kinds of drinks including spring wine, new tea, clear spring sweet water, etc. Most of them have profound meanings, such as offering sacrifices to snakes and rabbits. There is a popular saying that "snake and rabbit will definitely make you rich", which means hoping that the people will be rich and the country will be strong; Zi Tuiyan, which is taken from the Jiexiu dialect "Nian Nian", does not forget to recommend and promote integrity... ….
Folks in southern Shanxi are accustomed to eating cold noodles, cold noodles, cold cakes, etc. In the northern Shanxi region, it is customary to use Chaoqi (that is, steaming cakes or white noodles, cutting them into cubes the size of dice, drying them in the sun and frying them yellow with soil) as a cold food day food. In some mountainous areas, the whole family eats fried noodles on this day (that is, fried whole grains, mixed with various dried fruits and preserved fruits, and ground into noodles).
It is customary to celebrate the Cold Food Festival by steaming cold swallows. They use flour to shape flying swallows, songbirds and animals, melons, fruits, flowers, etc., as big as a thumb, steam them, color them, and insert them into the jujube tree. Acupuncture is used to decorate interiors and is also given as a gift.
Inserting willows
Willows are a symbol of the Cold Food Festival, originally meant to commemorate Jie Zitui’s pursuit of political clarity. As early as the Southern and Northern Dynasties, "Jingchu Suishiji" records that "during the cold eclipse in the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers, every family breaks willows and inserts them in the door." It is also popular in Anhui, Suzhou and other places to wear mustard flowers and wheat leaves instead of willow branches. According to historical records from various places: "Insert willows in graves", "Put willow branches in households", "Insert willows in the eaves of bedrooms and stoves", "Also wear them on your head or tie your clothes", "Store bottles and offer them to Buddhas and gods". ”, “Every door is covered with willows”, so there is a saying among the people that “if you don’t wear willows during the Qingming Festival (cold food), a beautiful woman will have a white head”.
Outing
Also called outing in spring, it flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties. "What I Saw in Donggu" by Li Zhiyan of the Song Dynasty records: "I paid my respects and paid my respects, and then I took a leisurely tour with my brothers, wives, relatives and close friends, and returned home happily." The Ming Dynasty's "Emperor's Scenery" records the outing scene in Jingxiao as follows: "On the Qingming day of Sui (Hanshi), there were people outing, including carriages, riders, walkers, and tens of thousands of tourists." It can be described as a great success.
Swing
Swing was originally a recreational item for palace women during the ancient Cold Food Festival.
"Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy" written by Wang Renyu of the Five Dynasties records that "a swing was erected in Tianbao Palace during the Cold Food Festival, which made the concubines laugh and think it was a feast. The emperor called it a play of half-immortals, and the soldiers and people in the capital called it accordingly." Wen Yanbo, Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty The poem "The Cold Eclipse Sun Passes Over the Dragon Gate" is described in the poem as "willows hang green lines beside the bridge, and swings are lined with colorful ropes."
Cuqiu
It was popular in the Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty. Contains: "The game of kickball began in the Tang Dynasty. Two bamboos were planted, several feet high, and a net was placed on top. It was used as a goal to measure the ball. The ball work was divided between the left and right players, and the victory was won by the angle." Historical records: Tang Dezong, Xianzong, Mu Zong , Jingzong all liked to play cuqiu, "Yuangui of Prefecture" records: "On the Cold Food Festival in February of the twelfth year of Zhenyuan of Tang Dynasty, in the east pavilion of the Emperor's Qi Palace, I watched the military officials and their descendants play football, and also gave the prime ministers a banquet." There is also "Taizu Cuju Picture" in the Song Dynasty.
Poem chanting
During the Cold Food Festival, literati either miss their hometown or their relatives, or take advantage of the scenery to create feelings. They are especially emotional and inspired, and poetry flourishes, with many chanters. According to research, "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty" alone contains more than 300 poems by celebrities such as Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Shuo, Du Fu, Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan, etc., as well as more than 100 poems and songs from the Song, Jin and Yuan Dynasties, which has become a unique flower in the art of Chinese poetry.
Clean the intestines
Going to the wild to collect wild vegetables during the Cold Food Festival not only exercises the body, but also meets the needs of the human body, killing two birds with one stone. Finally, let’s talk about the issue of mental adjustment in spring health care. If a woman suffers from spring pain, she can go out to relax during the Cold Food Festival and enjoy the spring outing, which can prevent mental diseases. Although men are not affected by spring, in spring when liver qi is too strong and they are prone to mental disorder, remembering their ancestors and expressing their grief plays a role in overcoming sadness and anger. It is quite beneficial to the conditioning of the liver.
After five thousand years of cultural nourishment, Hanshi and Qingming have merged into one, becoming a festival to remember old friends and inspire new people