Among the traditional festivals, only Qingming is a folk festival with solar terms and festivals, and was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage in 2006.

"Almanac" contains: "Fifteen days after the vernal equinox, Dou Zhi Ding, for Qingming, when everything is clean and clear, when the cover is clear and clear, everything is visible, so it is named. "Qingming Festival is one of the 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar, at the turn of mid-spring and late spring, that is, 108 days after the winter solstice.

In the concept of the ancients, 108 is a large number representing perfection, auspiciousness, longevity, and profundity, and it has a deep meaning to put Qingming on the 108th day after the winter solstice. The name of Qingming is not only due to the clean and clear growth of all things at this time, but also because the sun in this period is also a fresh sun, and the yang energy that flows between heaven and earth in this period is also a fresh yang energy.

Qingming as a festival, which is different from the pure solar terms. The solar terms are a sign of the changes in Chinese phenology and the order of the seasons, while the festivals contain certain customs and activities and a certain commemorative significance.

1. Sweep the grave

The origin of the Qingming Festival, it is said that it began in the ancient emperors and generals of the "tomb sacrifice" ceremony, and later the folk also followed suit, on this day to worship the ancestors and sweep the tomb, the successive dynasties have become a fixed custom of the Chinese nation. The Qingming Festival began in the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years.

According to folklore experts, the Qingming Festival originated from the Cold Food Festival, which has been more than 2,500 years ago. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Jin Wengong thanked Jie Zi for pushing "cutting shares and eating the king", and when he was rewarded for his meritorious deeds, he lived in seclusion in Mianshan with his mother, and did not want to show up even if the monarch was forced by fire. In order to commemorate this loyal and righteous man, Jin Wengong set this day as the Cold Food Festival, the whole country banned fire, and every family had cold food, so there was Qingming.

In addition to paying attention to the ban on fire and tomb sweeping, the Qingming Festival also has a series of customs and sports activities such as walking, swinging, juju, playing polo, and planting willows. According to legend, this is because the Qingming Festival should be cold food and fire ban, in order to prevent cold food and cold food from hurting the body, so everyone comes to participate in some sports activities to exercise. Therefore, this festival has both the sad tears of life and death of the new grave, and the laughter of going out to play, which is a festival with rich characteristics.

2. Swinging

This is an ancient Chinese custom of the Qingming Festival. Swing, that is, pulling the leather rope and moving. Its history is very ancient, the earliest called Qianqiu, and later changed to a swing in order to avoid taboos. In ancient times, the swings were mostly made of tree branches and then tied with ribbons. Later, it gradually developed into a swing with two ropes plus pedals. Playing on the swing not only improves health, but also cultivates bravery, and is still loved by people, especially children.

3. Keju

Ju is a type of leather ball made of leather and tightly stuffed with wool inside. Keju is to kick the ball with your feet. This is a kind of game that people loved during the Qingming Festival in ancient times. According to legend, it was invented by the Yellow Emperor and was originally intended to train samurai.

Fourth, go green

It is also called a spring outing. In ancient times, it was called exploring spring, looking for spring, etc. In March, when spring returns to the earth, the natural world presents a vibrant scene everywhere, which is a good time for outings. For a long time, the Chinese people have maintained the habit of going out to the green and clear.

5. Kite flying

During the Qingming season, it is not only released during the day, but also at night. At night, a string of small colorful lanterns is hung under the kite or on the wind-steady pull line, like a twinkling star, which is called "magic lantern". In the past, some people would cut the strings of their kites and let the breeze send them to the ends of the earth, which was said to ward off diseases and bring good luck to themselves.

Sixth, willow cutting

The custom of planting willows is also to commemorate the agricultural ancestor Shennong, who "taught the people to grow crops". In some places, people put willow branches under the eaves to predict the weather.

There is an ancient proverb that "the wicker is green, and the rain is misty; Wicker dry, sunny day". At the time of the Huangchao Uprising, it was stipulated that "during the Qingming period, Dai Liu was the number". After the failure of the uprising, the custom of Dai Liu was gradually eliminated, and only the willow insertion prevailed. Willow has a strong vitality, as the saying goes: "There is no intention to plant flowers and flowers, and there is no intention to plant willows and willows." ”

The legend of Qingming inserting willows and wearing willows: It turns out that the Chinese regard Qingming, July and half and October Shuo as the three major ghost festivals, which are the time when a hundred ghosts come out to seek it. In order to prevent the invasion and persecution of ghosts, people planted willows and wore willows. Willow has the function of warding off evil spirits in people's minds. Influenced by Buddhism, people believe that willows can be ghosts, and call it "ghost horror wood", and Guanyin uses willow branches to dip water to help sentient beings.

Jia Siyun of the Northern Wei Dynasty said in "Qi Min's Technique": "Take willow branches and put them on the house, and a hundred ghosts will not enter the house." "Qingming is a ghost festival, on the occasion of the willow sprout season, people naturally have to plant willows and wear willows to ward off evil spirits.

7. Shoot willows

Willow shooting is a game of practicing archery skills. According to the records of the Ming Dynasty, the pigeon was placed in the gourd, and then the gourd was hung high on the willow tree, the bow was bent to shoot the gourd, and the pigeon flew out, and the victory or defeat was determined by the height of the flying pigeon.

8. Cockfighting

In ancient times, cockfighting games were popular in Qingming, and cockfighting began during Qingming and ended with the summer solstice. The earliest record of cockfighting in China can be found in Zuo Chuan. In the Tang Dynasty, cockfighting became a common practice, not only folk cockfighting, but even the emperor also participated in cockfighting. For example, Tang Xuanzong liked cockfighting the most.

9. Eat eggs

The origin of eating eggs on the Qingming Festival is that in the pre-Qin era, some areas had the custom of banning fire, and many days of forbidden fire and cold food, and boiled eggs were the best food reserves to spend this period.

There are two kinds of eggs, one is "painted eggs" and the other is "carved eggs". The former is edible, and it is believed that if you eat this kind of egg, you won't have a headache for a year; The latter is for play only.

Explore the symbolic meaning of eating eggs on Qingming Festival, which also embodies people's awe and reverence for life and childbirth.

Eggs are a symbol of fertility and life in ancient Chinese culture. Legend has it that Pangu, who opened the world, was conceived in an egg, "the chaos of heaven and earth is like a chicken, and Pangu is born in it". The ancestor of Shang was born because he was pregnant when he saw the Xuanniao fall its eggs, and Jian Di swallowed them. According to folk customs, after a woman gives birth to a child, she gives good news to her neighbors and gives eggs.

Qingming is the day of worshipping ancestors and sweeping tombs, there is a folk saying, when sweeping the tomb, the boiled eggs are broken on the tombstone, and the eggshell is thrown on the grave, symbolizing "shelling", indicating the renewal of life, hoping that the descendants can get ahead.

Spring is the season of all things to conceive, and eggs "give birth to life" meaning, and eggs contain almost all the nutrients that the human body needs, coupled with the Qingming season, the wind and the sun are beautiful, the spring is full of joy, people have outings, boiled eggs are easy to carry the ideal food, these have prompted eggs to become the festival food of the Qingming Festival.

10. Tug-of-war

Tug-of-war, also known as hooking, began in the Tang Dynasty. There is a year of the Qingming Festival, Tang Zhongzong ordered the Manchu Dynasty civil and military three grades or more, even classmates, etc., gathered in the palace court, the team held a tug-of-war in batches, the rope used is to tie more than 1,000 small ropes at both ends of the hemp rope, hundreds of people are divided into two teams respectively at both ends of the grasp, the weak in the game is the loser, Zhongzong with the queen, concubines, princesses to watch the battle, a moment of shouting to shake the sky, the earth shakes the mountain, the table xiàn out of an unprecedented grand occasion. It is said that the tug-of-war was held during the Qingming Festival, which was the time of spring plowing and spring planting, which had the meaning of praying for a good harvest, and the emperors of the past dynasties naturally attached great importance to it.