Tomb Sweeping Day, also known as Qingming Festival, is one of the most important traditional festivals in China. It is around April 4th every calendar year. The term "Qingming" literally means "pure and bright", and marks the start of spring - from that date temperatures begin to rise and rainfall increases. However, it is not only a seasonal symbol; it is also a day of paying respect to the dead, a spring outing, and other activities.
Cum își are originea ziua de măturare a mormântului?
The Tomb Sweeping Day grew out of an ancient Chinese festival called Cold Food Festival, which was originally held to commemorate a loyal man living in the Spring and Autumn Period (770 - 476 BC), named Jie Zitui. Jie Zitui was a loyal follower of Duke Wen of Jin. Jie once even cut some flesh from his own thigh and cooked it for the duke to keep him from starving. In 636 BC, the duke came back to his position, and rewarded those who had helped him while he was in need, except Jie. Instead of asking for something, Jie chose to live in a remote mountain silently. Later on, the duke remember Jie and felt ashamed for forgetting him, so he went to find Jie, but Jie refused to see him. In order to force Jie out, the duke decided to set the mountain on fire, only to find that Jie and his mother died in the fire. Later, the duke decreed that the use of fire would be banned for several days to commemorate Jie's sacrifice, and people would only eat cold food.
However, it was in the year 732 AD that the Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty formally declared Qingming "ancestral worshipping day". The reason for this was not that people needed encouraging; it was exactly the opposite - wealthy citizens in China were reportedly holding too many extravagant and ostentatiously expensive ceremonies in honor of their ancestors. Xuanzong wanted to curb this practice, so he declared that such respects could be formally paid only once a year, on Qingming.
Festivalul Mâncării Rece a fost ziua potrivită la o sută cinci zile după solstițiul de iarnă, aproximativ înainte sau după Ziua Măturarii Mormintelor. Pentru că cele două zile au fost asemănătoare, așa că au pus Ziua Măturarii Mormântului sărbătorită cu Cold Food Festival. De-a lungul timpului, cele două festivaluri au fuzionat treptat. Acum, Festivalul Mâncării Rece este rar sărbătorit ca un festival separat, dar trăiește în tradiția de a nu mânca mâncare gătită în timpul Festivalului Qingming.
Care sunt tradițiile zilei de măturare a mormintelor?
Tomb-sweeping. Tomb sweeping is a way to show respect to one's ancestors. It is also the most important custom in the festival. People would spend some time cleaning the grave area – they uproot the weed, plant some new trees, wipe the tombstones and decorate it with fresh flowers. The dead one's favorite food and wine would also be taken for sacrifice, along with joss paper, the papercrafts or sheets of paper made into burnt offerings – these are all burned in the hope that the deceased are not lacking food and money.
ieșire de primăvară. Vine primăvara cu Ziua Măturarii Mormintelor. Totul în natură capătă o nouă înfățișare, pe măsură ce copacii devin verzi, florile înfloresc și soarele strălucește puternic - este un moment bun să ieși și să te bucuri de scena vibrantă de primăvară. Acest obicei poate fi urmărit până la dinastia Tang (618 - 907) și urmat de fiecare dinastie mai târziu până astăzi.
Zborul-zmeului. Zborul-zmeului este, de asemenea, o activitate populară la Festivalul Qing Ming. Anticii credeau că, dacă o persoană este bolnavă, atunci boala lui poate fi scrisă sau desenată pe zmeul rulat, apoi lăsați zmeul să zboare la mare altitudine și tăiați sfoara, astfel încât boala și dezastrul să zboare împreună cu zmeul. De asemenea, oamenii zboară cu zmeie seara - felinarele colorate sunt adesea atașate de zmee, astfel încât acestea să sclipească în timp ce călătoresc prin cer.
Eating Qingtuan. Qingtuan, or green rice ball, is widely consumed in China's Jiangnan area - the region south of the Yangtze River - on Tomb Sweeping Day. The seasonal delicacy is usually made from glutinous rice mixed with pounded mugwort - an edible wild herb thought to prevent toxic insect bites. It is often stuffed with some sort of filling such as sweet red bean paste.
