Folk culture of Qingming Festival清明节民俗文化

Dean

The Qingming Festival, or the Festival of Pure Brightness, is an occasion for paying respects to the dead and offering sacrifices(祭奠)to ancestors(祖先). Over the thousands of years, a folk culture has been formed for the special day, which marks the height of spring.

Outings are popular around the Qingming Festival, when flowers are blooming to adorn(装点)mother nature. And in the wake of the freezing winter months, people will shed their cumbersome(笨重的)overcoats for outdoors games, the oldest of which is Cu Ju. This ancient form of sports, known as the predecessor(原有足球)of today's football, goes back to the Spring and Autumn Period more than two thousand years ago. By the Song Dynasty in the 10th century, the sport had become so popular that princes and commoners alike were fascinated(着迷)by it.

In the Qing Dynasty, Cu Ju suffered a decline and became an exhibition sport as the prevailing(流行的)philosophy stressing moderation(适度)discouraged competitiveness. In recent years, however, it has seen a revival, especial in North China.

In the country's southern regions, a time-honored folk tradition of the Qingming Festival is about work. For the three or four days preceding(前面)the day, farmers will be busy as bee, picking the watery buds of Longjing tea leaves, which, after baking, will sell for more than one thousand Yuan, or 130 dollars, per kilo. Over the centuries, tea leaves picked before the Qingming Festival, has been an exclusive(独特)luxury only available to the uppercrust(上层人物).

Dean

杜牧: 清明

清明时节雨纷纷，
路上行人欲断魂。
借问酒家何处有，
牧童遥指杏花村。

Du Mu: Tomb-Sweeping Day

Tomb-Sweeping Day, and the rain spatters down.
On the road, travellers are too mournful to bear.
Where’s a tavern, I cry, and a lad points the way
To a village far off in the apricot trees.