It is said that the origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day began with the "grave-sweeping" ceremony of ancient emperors and generals. Later, people followed suit, and it became a fixed custom of the Chinese nation to worship ancestors and sweep graves on this day. Originally, the Cold Food Festival and Tomb-Sweeping Day were two different festivals. In the Tang Dynasty, the day of sweeping graves was designated as the Cold Food Festival. One hundred and five days after beginning of winter, the solstice was called cold food. In the past, fire was forbidden and cold food was eaten, so it was also called "Cold Food Festival" and "No Smoking Festival". According to folklore, cold food is to commemorate the burning of mesons in Mianshan during the Spring and Autumn Period, and Jin Wengong ordered the fire to be banned. Jiezitui is from Shanxi, so the custom of cold food is first popular in Shanxi. In the old days, cold food cut off fire, and the next day there was a ceremony to drill wood for fire in the palace, and the people also begged each other for fire with wicker.
Fifteen days after the vernal equinox is Qingming, a good day for an outing. Tomb-Sweeping Day is also a day to visit graves and worship ancestors, which is also called "Ghost Festival" and "Ghost Festival" among the people, and "Three Ghosts Festival" together with July 15th and October 1st, and there is also a ceremony for the city god to patrol the city.
Cold Food Festival and Qingming Festival were originally two festivals, but most people in Shandong combined them into one. Generally called Tomb-Sweeping Day, a few areas are called Cold Food Festival, but the festival is in Tomb-Sweeping Day. Kenli has been called "Great Cold Food", "Second Cold Food" and "Third Cold Food" since the first three days in Tomb-Sweeping Day, and the fourth day is Qingming, during which people sweep graves and go hiking. Juancheng takes the day before Tomb-Sweeping Day as the Cold Food Festival, and also calls Tomb-Sweeping Day the Ghost Gate Festival.
The custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors and sweeping graves in front of graves originated very early in China. As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, people attached great importance to tombs. Mencius and Qi People in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and the Warring States Period also mentioned a person who was laughed at by Qi people. He often went to the tomb of Dongguo to beg for offerings from the tomb, which showed that sweeping graves was very popular during the Warring States period. When I arrived in Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, I designated cold food sweeping the grave as one of the "five rituals". Therefore, whenever Tomb-Sweeping Day comes, "the fields and roads are crowded with scholars and women, and the servants and beggars of soap merchants get their parents' graves." (Liu Zongyuan's Book with Xu Jingzhao) Grave sweeping has become an important social custom.