What is the Cold Food Festival? Where did the Cold Food Festival come from in history?

Speaking of Cold Food Festival, many people may not know when it is. As one of China's traditional festivals, it is one or two days before Qingming Festival. So what kind of festival is this and what are its historical origins? The editor will now show you about it. March is the beautiful month of spring. We all know that the climate in spring is warm and moderate, all things begin to sprout, and the climate is changeable, with sudden changes from warm to cold. Shuimoxiansheng.com lists for you the festivals and solar terms in March of the lunar calendar in 2020!

Introduction to Cold Food Festival:

The Cold Food Festival is also known as the "No Smoking Festival", "Cold Festival" and "105 Festival". It is held one hundred and five days after the winter solstice in the lunar calendar and one or two days before Tomb-Sweeping Day. At the beginning of the festival, fireworks are prohibited and only cold food is eaten.
——Customs: tomb sweeping, outing, swings, kicking football, hook pulling, cockfighting, etc.
The Cold Food Festival has lasted for more than two thousand years and was once known as the largest festival among the people. Cold Food Festival is the only traditional festival of the Han nationality that is named after a food custom. Later, because Cold Food Festival and Qingming Festival were close to each other, people combined Cold Food Festival and Qingming Festival and celebrated only Qingming Festival.
The Cold Food Festival is usually the 105th day after the winter solstice. It is close to the date of Qingming Festival. Before the calendar reform by Johann Adam Schall von Bell in the early Qing Dynasty, Qingming Festival was set two days after Cold Food Festival; after Schall von Bell's reform, Qingming Festival was set one day before Cold Food Festival.
The modern method of determining the 24 solar terms follows Tang's, so the Cold Food Festival is on the day after Qingming Festival. After the founding of New China, many regions equated Cold Food Festival with Qingming Festival and celebrated them on the same day.
However, in most areas of Shanxi, the Cold Food Festival is celebrated the day before Qingming Festival; a few places such as Yushe County celebrate the Cold Food Festival two days before Qingming Festival; Yanqu County also celebrates the day before Qingming Festival as Cold Food Festival, and the two days before as Minor Cold Food Festival.
"Zitui said he wanted to avoid the world, so he was burned to death in a mountain fire. The whole world celebrated the Cold Food Festival, and he will be remembered for thousands of years as one man." The poem "Cold Food" by Lu Xiang, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, refers to the story of "Zitui was burned to death in Mianshan", which is the origin of the Cold Food Festival. According to legend, this custom originated from commemorating Jie Zitui of the State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period (surname Jie, given name Tui, also known as Jie Zhitui, where Zhi is a function word and Zi is a respectful title). At that time, Jie Zitui and Duke Wen of Jin, Chong'er, were exiled to various countries. Jie Zitui cut off the flesh of his thigh to feed Duke Wen. After Duke Wen restored the country, Zitui did not seek fame or fortune, and retired to Mianshan with his mother. Duke Wen burned the mountain to look for him, but Zitui refused to come out and died hugging a tree with his mother. Duke Wen buried his body in Mianshan, built a shrine and a temple, and ordered that no fire be used and cold food be eaten on the day of Yu Zhitui's cremation to express his grief. This custom later became popular. In the past, China’s spring festivals were celebrated on the Cold Food Festival, until it was later changed to the Qingming Festival. However, South Korea still retains the tradition of holding spring sacrifices on the Cold Food Festival.

History of Cold Food Festival:

】The origin of the Cold Food Festival in ancient times should be the fire worship of ancient humans. The life of the ancients could not be separated from fire, but fire often caused great disasters to mankind, so the ancients believed that fire had a spirit and they had to worship fire. The fire that each family worships must be extinguished once a year. Then relighting a new fire is called changing the fire. When changing the fire, a grand ceremony of ancestor worship is held, during which symbols of the grain god Ji are burned, which is called human sacrifice. This custom was passed down and later became the Fire Ban Festival.
The Fire Ban Festival in the Spring and Autumn Period was later transformed into the Cold Food Festival to commemorate Jie Zitui, a famous minister and righteous man of the Jin State in the Spring and Autumn Period. Legend has it that when Duke Wen of Jin was in exile, Jie Zitui cut off his own flesh to feed him. After Duke Wen of Jin returned to his country and became king, he forgot Jie Zitui when he was enfeoffing his ministers. Jie Zitui was unwilling to boast about his achievements and seek favor, so he lived in seclusion in Mianshan with his old mother. Later, Duke Wen of Jin went to Mianshan in person to 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 in an attempt to force Jie Zitui to reveal himself. However, Jie Zitui was burned to death under a tree while holding his mother. In order to commemorate this loyal and righteous man, people did not light a fire to cook on the day of Jie Zitui's death. Instead, they ate cold food, which was called the Cold Food Festival.
During the Wei, Jin and Han dynasties , people in Shanxi banned fire for a month to commemorate the event. During the Three Kingdoms period, Emperor Cao Cao of Wei ordered the abolition of this custom. There are such words in "The Secret Fa Order", "I heard that Taiyuan, Shangdang and Yanmen all ban fire and eat cold food 150 days after the winter solstice. It is said to be for Zitui", "The order prohibits people from eating cold food. Those who violate the order will be sentenced to half a year in prison for the head of the family, 100 days in prison for the chief clerk, and one month's salary will be deprived of the chief". After the Three Kingdoms were unified by the Jin Dynasty, because the name was the same as the "Jin" of the Jin State in the Spring and Autumn Period, people paid special attention to the history of the Jin area, and the custom of banning fire and celebrating the cold food festival in memory of Jie Zitui was restored. However, the time was shortened to three days. At the same time, the idea of ​​commemorating Jie Zitui on Cold Food Festival was spread to all parts of the country, so Cold Food Festival became a national festival, and banning fire and eating cold food on Cold Food Festival became a common custom of the Han nationality.