What is Qingming Festival? Are there any stories or legends about its origin?

What is Qingming Festival? Are there any stories or legends about its origin?
Introduction: Qingming Festival is one of the 24 festivals in our country and it is also a traditional folk cultural festival. So what exactly is Qingming Festival? Are there any stories or legends about its origin? Let’s follow the editor to find out. Mr. Shui Mo will tell you how beautiful every day in the third month of the lunar calendar is, and how touching every day in March is, because the drizzle in March brings you poetic longing.

What is Qingming Festival?

Qingming Festival, also known as the outing festival, is held at the turn of mid-spring and late spring, which is the 108th day after the winter solstice. It is a traditional Chinese festival and one of the most important festivals for worshipping ancestors. It is a day for worshipping ancestors and sweeping tombs. The traditional Qingming Festival of the Chinese nation began around the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years.
Qingming was originally just the name of a solar term. It became a festival to commemorate ancestors and was related to the Cold Food Festival. Duke Wen of Jin designated the day after Cold Food Festival as Qingming Festival. In most areas of Shanxi, the Cold Food Festival is celebrated the day before Qingming Festival; in Yushe County and other places, the Cold Food Festival is celebrated 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.
Qingming Festival is one of China's important "Eight Annual Festivals". It is usually around April 5th of the Gregorian calendar. The festival period is very long. There are two sayings: 8 days before and 10 days after the 10th day of the 10th day, and 10 days before and 10 days after the 10th day of the 10th day. These nearly 20 days are all Qingming Festival. Qingming Festival originally refers to the fifteenth day after the spring equinox. In 1935, the government of the Republic of China designated April 5 as a national holiday Qingming Festival, also known as the National Tomb-Sweeping Festival.

The origin story of Qingming Festival

1. According to legend, at the end of the Qin Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, and the Overlord of Western Chu, Xiang Yu, fought several rounds and finally won the world. When he returned to his hometown in glory, he wanted to pay homage to his parents' graves, but due to years of war, the graves were overgrown with weeds, the tombstones were tilted, some were broken, and some were cracked, making it impossible to recognize the words on the tombstones.
Liu Bang was very sad. Although his subordinates helped him search all the tombstones, they still couldn't find his parents' grave until dusk. Finally, Liu Bang took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, tore it into many small pieces, held it tightly in his hand, and then prayed to God, "My parents are in heaven. The wind is blowing so hard now. I will throw these small pieces of paper into the air. If the pieces of paper fall in a place where the wind cannot blow them away, that is the grave of my parents."
After saying that, Liu Bang threw the pieces of paper into the air, and sure enough, a piece of paper fell on a grave. No matter how hard the wind blew, it could not move. Liu Bang ran over and took a closer look at the blurry tombstone, and sure enough, he saw his parents' names engraved on it. Liu Bang was extremely happy and immediately asked someone to renovate his parents' tomb. From then on, he would visit his parents' graves to pay homage every Qingming Festival. Later, ordinary people, like Liu Bang, would go to their ancestors' tombs to worship on Qingming Festival every year, and would press a few pieces of paper on the tombs with small lumps of earth to indicate that the tombs had been visited by someone.
2. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Prince Chong'er of Jin fled abroad to escape persecution. On his way, he came to an uninhabited place, he was so tired and hungry that he could no longer stand up. The attendants searched for a long time but could not find anything to eat. Just when everyone was extremely anxious, the attendant Jie Zitui went to a secluded place, cut a piece of meat from his own thigh, cooked a bowl of broth, and gradually regained his spirit. When Chong'er found out that the meat was cut from Jie Zitui's own leg, he shed tears.
Nineteen years later, Chong'er became the king, known as Duke Wen of Jin in history. After ascending the throne, Duke Wen generously rewarded the meritorious officials who had accompanied him in exile, but he forgot Jie Zitui. Many people felt sorry for Jie Zitui and advised him to ask the emperor for reward. However, Jie Zitui despised those who sought rewards the most. He packed his luggage and quietly went to live in seclusion in Mianshan.
When Duke Wen of Jin heard about it, he was so ashamed that he took people to invite Jie Zitui himself. However, Jie Zitui had already left for Mianshan. Mianshan is high and the roads are dangerous with dense trees, so it is not easy to find two people. Someone suggested burning Mianshan from three sides to force Jie Zitui out. The fire burned all over Mianshan, but there was no sign of Jie Zitui. After the fire was extinguished, people found that Jie Zitui, who was carrying his old mother on his back, had died sitting under an old willow tree. When Duke Wen of Jin saw this, he cried bitterly. When the body was being prepared for burial, a blood letter was found in a tree hole, which read: "I cut my flesh to serve you with all my heart, and I hope that you will always be clear-minded." To commemorate Jie Zitui, Duke Wen of Jin ordered that this day be designated as the Cold Food Festival.
The next year, Duke Wen of Jin led his ministers to the mountain to offer sacrifices and discovered that the old willow tree had come back to life. He named the old willow tree "Qingming Willow" and announced to the world that the day after Cold Food Festival should be designated as Qingming Festival.
Summary: Through the above article, we have a certain understanding of the definition of Qingming Festival, and we also know the legends about the origin of Qingming Festival. I hope that everyone will have a better understanding of Qingming Festival. I hope you will like the above article!

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