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.
टॉम्ब स्वीपिंग डे की शुरुआत कैसे होती है?
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.
शीत संक्रांति के लगभग एक सौ पांच दिन बाद, टॉम्ब स्वीपिंग डे से लगभग पहले या बाद में कोल्ड फूड फेस्टिवल सही दिन था। क्योंकि दोनों दिन एक जैसे थे, इसलिए उन्होंने कोल्ड फूड फेस्टिवल के साथ मनाया जाने वाला टॉम्ब स्वीपिंग डे लगाया। समय के साथ, दोनों त्योहार धीरे-धीरे विलीन हो गए। अब, कोल्ड फूड फेस्टिवल शायद ही कभी एक अलग त्योहार के रूप में मनाया जाता है, लेकिन यह किंगमिंग फेस्टिवल के दौरान पका हुआ खाना नहीं खाने की परंपरा में रहता है।
मकबरा सफाई दिवस की परंपराएं क्या हैं?
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.
वसंत की सैर। टॉम्ब स्वीपिंग डे के साथ वसंत आ रहा है। प्रकृति में सब कुछ एक नया रूप लेता है, जैसे पेड़ हरे हो जाते हैं, फूल खिलते हैं, और सूरज चमकता है - यह बाहर जाने और जीवंत वसंत दृश्य का आनंद लेने का एक अच्छा समय है। इस प्रथा का पता तांग राजवंश (618 - 907) से लगाया जा सकता है और बाद में आज तक प्रत्येक राजवंश द्वारा इसका पालन किया जा सकता है।
पतंग-उड़ान। किंग मिंग महोत्सव पर पतंग-उड़ाना भी एक लोकप्रिय गतिविधि है। प्राचीन लोगों का मानना था कि यदि कोई व्यक्ति बीमार है तो उसकी बीमारी लिखी जा सकती है या लुढ़की हुई पतंग पर खींची जा सकती है, तो पतंग को ऊंचाई पर उड़ने दें और तार को काट दें, ताकि पतंग के साथ रोग और आपदा एक साथ उड़ जाए। लोग शाम को भी पतंग उड़ाते हैं - रंगीन लालटेन को अक्सर पतंगों से जोड़ा जाता है ताकि वे आकाश में यात्रा करते समय टिमटिमाती रहें।
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.
