I tell you about the “Past life and present life”of Qingming festival

我告诉你有关清明节的“前世今生”

In folklore, the Hanshi festival was set up by Duke Wen of Jin in memory of his loyal subject Jie Zitui. Thanked to the Loyal Minister Jie Zitui, who stayed with him and carefully protected him, Duke Wen of Jin was able to get through the difficult time when he was in exile and suffered so much. But in his later glory, Duke Wen of Jin Forgot his loyalty! When he tried to set fire to the mountain to find the reclusive Jie Zitui, he ended up killing Jie Zitui. So, in honor of Jie Zitui, Duke Wen of Jin ordered the whole country to ban smoking and eating cold food on this day, and to designate the day as “Cold food festival”and the day after as “Qingming Festival”.

在民间传说中，寒食节是晋文公为了纪念忠臣介子推而设立的。

在流亡途中，当晋文公颠沛流离、受尽苦难时，幸亏忠臣介子推对他不离不弃，精心护驾，他才能度过这段艰难的岁月。但后来辉煌之时，晋文公忘记了介子推得忠心耿耿！当他试图放火烧山，找到隐居的介子推时，最后反而导致介子推命丧黄泉。所以，为了纪念介子推，晋文公下令：全国要在这天禁烟火、吃冷食，并把这天定为“寒食节”，把后一天定为“清明节”。

But,The origin of Hanshi Festival is not to commemorate Jie Zitui oh! In fact, it follows the ancient customs of our country to change the old fire, very early in the history of it!

但是：寒食节的起源并非是纪念介子推哦！它其实沿袭了我国上古的改火旧习，很早就出现在历史中啦！

In ancient times, in the area of Central Plain in the north of our country, because march was the time of changing the fire (changing the fire: Because in ancient times it was necessary to drill wood to make fire, people used different wood in the four seasons, people will be banned from lighting fire and eating cold food. This is the earliest origin of the cold food festival. During the Han Dynasty, people called the Cold Food Festival “No Smoking Festival”, because people could not make their own fire for cooking. They had to wait until evening to light a candle in the palace, only after the flame has been passed on to your relatives and ministers can you continue to live this day.

上古时期，在我国北方中原一带，因为三月正值改火的时节（改火：因为古代需要钻木取火，人们要在四季换用不同的木材，便称为‘改火‘，也称为改木。），新木材没有送到的时候，人们就要禁止生火、吃冷食，这便是寒食节的最早起源~

汉代时，人们把寒食节称为“禁烟节”，因为百姓们不可以自己生火做饭，需要等到晚上宫中点燃烛火，将火种传到贵戚重臣家中之后，才可以继续这天的生活。

“Zhou Li”also clearly recorded the situation at that time: Because of the mid-spring dry climate, easy to cause fire, people need to carry out sacrificial activities, the last year passed down the fire extinguished, is “Fire Ban”; Then the “Fire drill”(Zu n Su q something Hu) was used as a starting point for the New Year. However, according to “Houhanshu”records, the time span of the cold food festival is very long, the longest time can even last 1-3 months! The fire-ban system does not take into account the specific conditions of each locality and seriously affects the lives of the people: Because fire can not be lit, the people can only eat cold food and drink raw water, and the young people can barely survive, but the old, the weak, the women and children are seriously injured, and even die as a result! Everyone is miserable about the “Ban fire cold food”, but no one dares to challenge this custom. Fortunately, Zhou Ju, the newly appointed governor of Bingzhou, came forward -- he was the first person in history to publicly advocate the abolition of the “Cold food day and fire ban”!

《周礼》也明确记录了当时的情况：由于仲春气候干燥，易引起火灾，百姓需要进行祭祀活动，把上一年传下来的火种熄灭，是“禁火”；然后“钻燧取火”（zuān suì qǔ huǒ，原始的取火法），作为新一年生活的起点。

可是，据《后汉书》记载，寒食节的时间跨度很长，最久的时候甚至能持续1-3个月！禁火制度没有顾及各地的具体情况，严重影响民众生活：

因为不能生火，百姓们只能吃冷食、喝生水，年轻人还勉强能熬过去，但老弱妇孺却大伤身体，严重时甚至因此丧命！大家对“禁火寒食”苦不堪言，但没有人敢挑战这个习俗。

还好当时新上任的并州刺史周举站了出来——他是历史上第一个公开主张废除“寒食节禁火”的人！

He personally went to the people’s homes, advised them to make a fire for cooking, and lit a fire with his own hands, and warned them that although Jie Zitui’s spirit of loyalty and Filial Piety was commendable, the people should take better care of their health in order to develop production and make their lives better. Therefore, “The public confused slightly solution, the custom quite reforms”, the measure has obtained the very good effect! Moreover, under his influence, Cao Cao, Shi Le, Emperor Xiaowen and others also took measures to break the vulgar custom of “Prohibiting fire and cold food”

他亲自来到百姓家中，劝导大家生火做饭，亲自动手添柴点火，并告诫众人：虽然介子推的忠孝精神可嘉，但民众更应保重身体，才能发展生产，让生活更美好。

于是，“众惑稍解，风俗颇革”，举措取得了很不错的效果！并且，在他的影响下，曹操、石勒、孝文帝等也在后来相继采取破除“禁火寒食”陋俗的措施。

He personally went to the people’s homes, advised them to make a fire for cooking, and lit a fire with his own hands, and warned them that although Jie Zitui’s spirit of loyalty and Filial Piety was commendable, the people should take better care of their health in order to develop production and make their lives better. Therefore, “The public confused slightly solution, the custom quite reforms”, the measure has obtained the very good effect! Moreover, under his influence, Cao Cao, Shi Le, Emperor Xiaowen and others also took measures to break the vulgar custom of “Prohibiting fire and cold food”

上巳节是古代举行“祓除畔浴（fú chú pàn yù）”活动中最重要的节日。在这天，人们会去水边沐浴，称为“祓禊（fú chú）”，后来又增加了祭祀宴饮、曲水流觞、郊外游春等内容，来祈福消灾。

晋代陆机曾写到“迟迟暮春日，天气柔且嘉。元吉隆初巳，濯秽游黄河”，唐代诗人王维也有这样的诗句“少年分日作遨游，不用清明兼上巳”，描述了人们在上巳节祓禊、踏青的场景。不过，到了宋代，上巳节逐渐没有了文献记载。

Shangsi festival is the most important festival of the ancient “F úch úp àn y ù”. On this day, people would go to the Waterside to bathe, which was called “Fuxi chú”, and later added such contents as sacrificial banquet, flowing wine and spring outing to pray for good fortune and eliminate disasters. In the Jin Dynasty, Lu Ji wrote, “Late in the spring, when the weather was soft and pleasant, the early days of Gyirong County were sullied and the Yellow River was sullied.”, wang Wei, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem like this: “Young people travel in Fuxi without having to attend both

Qingming and Shangsi”. However, up to the Song Dynasty, the Shangsi festival gradually no literature.

虽然寒食节和上巳节逐渐不再被人们提起，但它们都对中华民族产生了深远的影响，它们的良俗得到了保存和多样化发展：

“禁火寒食”，变成了今天的护林防火；而“寒食插柳”成为了今天的植树造林；“蹴鞠”发展成今天全民喜爱的足球；而在饮食方面，大家也发挥智慧，创造了多样的风味小吃、凉菜美食，大大丰富了中华民族的饮食习俗。

Although the cold food festival and the Shangsi Festival are no longer mentioned by people, but they have had a far-reaching impact on the Chinese nation, their good customs have been preserved and diversified development: “No fire cold food”, has become today’s forest fire protection; And “Cold food inserted willow”has become today’s Afforestation; “Cuju”has developed into today’s soccer, which is loved by all the people; and in the Diet, everyone has also exerted their wisdom and created a variety of delicious snacks and cold dishes, greatly enriched the Chinese nation’s eating customs。现如今，除了中国，世界上还有一些国家和地区也过清明节，比如越南、韩国、马来西亚、新加坡等。清明节，是中华民族最隆重盛大的祭祖大节，它凝聚了民族精神，抒发了人们尊祖敬宗、继志述事的道德情怀。追忆祖先，缅怀先贤，民族文化的传承也是无尽的精神宝藏!

Today, apart from China, other countries and regions in the world also celebrate the Qingming Festival, such as Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and so on. Qingming Festival, is the most solemn and grand festival of ancestor worship of the Chinese nation, it condenses the national spirit, express people’s respect for the ancestors, following the moral feelings of narrative. In memory of the ancestors, in memory of the ancestors, the inheritance of national culture is also an endless spiritual treasure .