Qingming Festival

 

Qingming Festival 清明节（qīng míng jié ）originated from Hanshi Day (Cold Food) )寒食节（hán shí jié ）, a memorial day for Jie Zitui, a historical character who died in 636 BC in the Spring and Autumn Period.

It is said that in the seventh century BC during the Spring and Autumn Period,Chong’er and his entourage of loyal officials and servants were forced to go into exile when the crown was in jeopardy.One day, Chong ‘er was too hungry to stand up and close to death. One of his most faithful followers, Jie Zitui, cut a slice of meat from his own leg and served it to his lord in order to save his life.After nineteen years later,Chong’er took the throne and became the ruler of the state,that is the famous Duke Wen of the state of Jin in China history.

So Chong’er decided to reward the officials who had followed him through his years of wandering,but forgot about Jie Zitui but later felt ashamed and sent people to look for him.Finally they found him. However Jie Zitui left them and went deep into the forest.Someone suggested Chong’er to set fire to force Jie Zitui out.Unfortunately Jie was found dead with his mother on his back leaning against a large willow tree.

Chong’er was deeply saddened by this tragedy.He ordered the day Jie died was Hanshi (Cold Food) Festival – the day that only cold food could be eaten. He also ordered that no fires were allowed to commemorate Jie Zitui. In addition,people started to visit Jie Zitui’s tomb and pay their honours to his memory.

Nowadays QingMing or Tomb Sweeping Day is a Chinese festival during which Chinese people to sweep the tombs 扫墓（sǎo mù ） of their ancestors.

People celebrates Qingming Day by eating cold food previously, but now the traditions evolve into sweeping the ancestors’ graves , offering food and drinks, and even presenting some accessories and other things to the dead.Other traditions are done by farmers who put a willow branch 柳树枝（liǔ shù zhī）on the main gates of their houses to drive away the evil spirit.

Despite the seemingly sad history of Qingming, Chinese worldwide generally welcome the celebration of the festival as it is also an occasion of family reunion and a popular festival in China.

The Qingming Festival is a time that the sun shines brightly, the trees and grass become green,nature is lively again and the weather turns nice。It is also the best plowing and growing time。

Key learning point

qīng míng jié shì zhōng guó de chuán tǒng jié rì zhī yī    yǒu qīng míng sǎo mù de chuán tǒng
清    明       节   是  中        国   的     传        统    节 日 之 一，有   清      明     扫    墓  的   传         统.
Qingming Festival is one of Chinese traditional festivals，it’s a traditional custom for the Chinese to sweep the graves of their ancestors。

nǐ zhī dào zhōng guó 2 0 1 4 nián de qīng míng jié shì nǎ yī tiān mɑ
你 知  道     中       国      2014   年     的   清     明      节 是  哪  一   天 吗？
A:Do you know when is Qing Ming 2014?

2 0 1 4 nián de qīng míng jié shì sì yuè wǔ rì     xīng qī liù
2014      年    的  清      明     节  是  四 月   五 日，星期六.
B:Qingming 2014 falls on Saturday, 5 April 2014.

 

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