qingming festival 清明節英語介紹
the qingming (pure brightness) festival is one of the 24 seasonal division points in china, falling on april 4-6 each year. after the festival, the temperature will rise up and rainfall increases. it is the high time for spring plowing and sowing. but the qingming festival is not only a seasonal point to guide farm work, it is more a festival of commemoration.
the qingming festival sees a combination of sadness and happiness.
this is the most important day of sacrifice. both the han and minority ethnic groups at this time offer sacrifices to their ancestors and sweep the tombs of the diseased. also, they will not cook on this day and only cold food is served.
the hanshi (cold food) festival was usually one day before the qingming festival. as our ancestors often extended the day to the qingmingm.diyifanwen.com, they were later combined.
on each qingming festival, all cemeteries are crowded with people who came to sweep tombs and offer sacrifices. traffic on the way to the cemeteries becomes extremely jammed. the customs have been greatly simplified today. after slightly sweeping the tombs, people offer food, flowers and favorites of the dead, then burn incense and paper money and bow before the memorial tablet.
in contrast to the sadness of the tomb sweepers, people also enjoy hope of spring on this day. the qingming festival is a time when the sun shines brightly, the trees and grass become green and nature is again lively. since ancient times, people have followed the custom of spring outings. at this time tourists are everywhere.
people love to fly kites during the qingming festival. kite flying is actually not limited to the qingming festival. its uniqueness lies in that people fly kites not during the day, but also at night. a string of little lanterns tied onto the kite or the thread look like shining stars, and therefore, are called "god's lanterns."
the qingming festival is also a time to plant trees, for the survival rate of saplings is high and trees grow fast later. in the past, the qingming festival was called "arbor day". but since 1979, "arbor day" was settled as march 12 according to the gregorian calendar.
清明節
清明是我國的二十四節氣之一。由於二十四節氣比較客觀地反映了一年四季氣溫、降雨、物候等方面的變化，所以古代勞動人民用它安排農事活動。但是，清明作為節日，與純粹的節氣又有所不同。節氣是我國物候變化、時令順序的標誌，而節日則包含著一定的風俗活動和某種紀念意義。因此，這個節日中既有祭掃新墳生別死離的悲酸淚，又有踏青遊玩的歡笑聲，是一個富有特色的節日。
清明節是我國傳統節日，也是最重要的祭祀節日，是祭祖和掃墓的日子。掃墓俗稱上墳，祭祀死者的一種活動。漢族和一些少數民族大多都是在清明節掃墓。由於清明與寒食的日子接近，而寒食是民間禁火掃墓的日子，漸漸的，寒食與清明就合二為一了，而寒食既成為清明的別稱，也變成為清明時節的一個習俗，清明之日不動煙火，只吃涼的食品。
按照舊的習俗，掃墓時，人們要攜帶酒食果品、紙錢等物品到墓地，將食物供祭在親人墓前，再將紙錢焚化，為墳墓培上新土，折幾枝嫩綠的新枝插在墳上，然後叩頭行禮祭拜，最後吃掉酒食回家。