On the occasion of Qingming Festival
Overseas online Q&A site in Quora
Many foreign netizens are curious
Why do Chinese value the Qingming Festival so much?
What traditions and customs are there during the Tomb Chang Festival?
"Cautiously pursue the far away, and the people's morality returns to the thick"
Remembrance is to move forward better
【What is Qingming Festival?】 Why was it established? 】
Qingming Festival is one of the important traditional festivals in China, a festival that carefully pursues the distant future and sacrifices ancestors. It originates from the ancestral beliefs of the ancient times and the customs of spring festivals, and is a fusion of spring festivals such as the Cold Food Festival and the Shangwei Festival in ancient times.
The Hundred Questions of the Age says: "All things grow at this time, all are clean and clear. Therefore, it is called qingming. "The Chinese Qingming Festival is both a festival and a festival, generally around April 5 in the solar calendar, when the sun reaches 15° ecliptic longitude.
In ancient times, it is said that the Cold Food Festival was established to commemorate the Spring and Autumn Period of the Jin Dynasty, and it was also a festival for families to sweep tombs, walk on green and picnics; and the Shangwei Festival was a good day for young women to remove and bathe. When they merge into one, intended to reminisce about the past, the Qingming Festival is also given a richer meaning - new life and hope.
【Chinese ancestral worship tradition dates back to when? 】
Sacrifice was an ancient "great affair of the nation." In the three major sacrificial systems for gods, earth, and human ghosts (ancestors), ancestor sacrifice has become the top priority. Some scholars believe that the primitive ancestor sacrifice should appear in the matriarchal clan social period, developed from ancestor worship, and is the worship of human beings for their own reproductive and reproductive ability.
As early as the Zhou Dynasty, ancestor sacrifice became a major social activity at that time, running through the traditional five rites of "auspicious ceremony, fierce ceremony, guest ceremony, military ceremony, and Jiali". To a certain extent, this reflects the Zhou Dynasty's emphasis on ancestor sacrifice and the frequency of ancestor sacrifice activities.
Although the ancestor sacrifices of the Zhou Dynasty had strong hierarchical limitations, the process of ancestor worship also demonstrated the humanistic characteristics of heavy filial piety and reverence, and played an active role in strengthening order, family harmony, and integration of human morality, which had a far-reaching impact on Chinese history.
"Cautiously pursue the far away, and the people's morality will return to the thick." The ancients paid homage to their ancestors, "born, done with courtesy, died, buried with courtesy, and sacrificed with courtesy", and worshipped ancestors, gradually becoming the basis for restricting and measuring daily moral norms, and everyone was accustomed to it.
【What are the customs of the Qingming Festival?】 How to greet politely? 】
A series of traditional customs of the Qingming Festival, such as banning fire and cold food, repairing tombs, and stepping on green willows, all pinned on the people's mourning of their deceased relatives and their reverence for the ancestors. The Tang Dynasty poet Han Hong wrote in "Cold Food": "Spring City is everywhere flying flowers, cold food east wind royal willow slope." ”
In the Jiangnan region of China, the traditional food of qingtuan can be used as both a Qingming festival and a traditional snack common in spring. Nowadays, qingtuan is generally wrapped in bean paste, lotus paste, meat floss and other fillings, and the taste is fragrant and sweet, which is deeply loved by the people.
During the Qing and Ming Dynasties, folk generally greeted each other with "well-being" to express their respect for the deceased.
[Why "burn paper money" to worship ancestors? How long has this tradition continued in China? 】
"There are many cemeteries in the north and south of the mountain, and the Qingming Festival sweeps away all kinds of things." From the Song Dynasty poet Gao Yi's "Qingming Day to Wine", it is about the day of Qingming, and the north mountains of Nanshan are all crowds of people busy with grave sacrifices, and the burned paper ash is like white butterflies flying around. Scholars generally believe that the custom of "burning paper money" originated during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and mainly pinned on the mourning of the deceased by the living.
With the change of life concepts and ways, various green sacrifice methods have gradually replaced traditional festivals such as "burning paper money". The writer Bing Xin once said: "Although the Qingming tomb sweep does not incinerate paper money, it can also train children to pay a respectful and silent salute to their ancestors." ”
In China, green sacrifices and civilized sacrifices have become popular. Green offerings such as placing flowers and silk flowers and planting green cypresses are increasingly accepted. "Cloud sacrifices" such as family memorial meetings, online memorial halls, and live broadcasts of valet sacrifices have become the choice of many people.
【What is the significance of Qingming Festival?】 Why do Chinese attach importance to ancestor worship? 】
The small is the home, sacrificing relatives; the big is the country, remembering the sages. In essence, this is a spiritual concept of respecting the ancestors and pursuing the distant with caution, which contains the philosophical speculation that "although there are sorrows and joys, life is still full of infinite hopes".
The act of ancestor worship with tomb sacrifice as the main form is a ritual expression of traditional Chinese ethics, reflecting the gratitude and remembrance of future generations to their ancestors. In the interweaving of reminiscing about the past and welcoming the new life, the Chinese people not only respect nature, but also have a cheerful view; they respect tradition and actively embrace the changes of the times.
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Producers: Wei Tiemin, Li Yunlu, Yang Dingmiao
Reporter/Designer: Ma Xinran, Zhang Yuqi
Editor: Yang Xiaojing
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