What is Cold Clothes Festival?
Hanyi Festival is the first day of the tenth lunar month, also known as "October Dynasty", "Ancestor Festival" and "Ghost Festival". It is one of the four traditional festivals in China. 20 14 Cold Clothes Festival is 2014165438+122 October, the first day of the first lunar month.
The first day of the 10th lunar month is one of the three ghost festivals in China, but it is different from the Mid-Autumn Festival in Tomb-Sweeping Day. In addition to giving paper money to the deceased in the form of burning, because on the first day of the winter season, the living put on clothes to keep out the cold and think of the cold needs of the deceased, so the traditional cold clothes festival also sends cold clothes made of five-color paper to express the memory of the ancestors.
According to folklore, Meng Jiangnv was newly married, and her husband was taken to perform ballads and build the Great Wall of Wan Li. When autumn came and winter came, Meng Jiangnv went through all the hardships to send her husband warm clothes. Who knows that her husband died at the construction site and was buried under the city wall. Heart-broken, Meng Jiangnv wailed at the sky, touched the sky, cried down the Great Wall, found her husband's body, put on her clothes again, and buried it with the cotton-padded clothes she brought. This produced the "Cold Clothes Festival".
The first day of October is also the first day of winter, and then the climate is getting colder. People are afraid that their ancestors' souls in the underworld are short of clothes and clothes. Therefore, in addition to food, incense sticks, paper money and other general offerings, there is also an indispensable offering-burial clothes. When offering sacrifices, people incinerate ghost clothes to their ancestors, which is called "sending cold clothes". Therefore, the first day of October is also called "Clothing Burning Festival".
Later, the custom of "burning cold clothes" changed in some places. Instead of burning cold clothes, people burned a lot of ghost paper in a paper bag with the names of the recipients and senders and their corresponding names written on it. This is called "baggage". There is a name of cold clothes, but there is no reality of cold clothes. People think that the underworld, like the dead, can buy many things with money.
What cold clothes should I send on the first day of October?
People often pay homage to their ancestors on this day. In addition to the common offerings, they will also be given "warm clothes". So what should we pay attention to on this day of ancestor worship?
1, warm clothes, family sacrifices and tomb sacrifices are all acceptable. Family sacrifices can be made at home or at a nearby intersection, but it is necessary to pay attention to the dry weather and beware of fire. Generally speaking, it is best to bring a tomb sacrifice to the deceased this year. It is best to choose the tomb sacrifice before noon. At this time, Yin Qi is heavier and should be avoided properly, especially for the elderly, children and the infirm.
2. Worship and send cold clothes, the first thing you need is incense sticks, wax paper candles, fruit offerings, offerings, drinks, clothes made of paper, cloth, and houses and cabinets made in the store.
This is a good opportunity to inherit the filial piety of the Chinese nation. You can take this opportunity to educate your children, publicize the family inheritance and ancestors' stories, and let your filial piety set a good example for future generations. A family that respects filial piety can become a harmonious family.
Everyone should be grateful and cherish the memory when paying homage to the cold clothes. Don't be sad, because this time is the time when Yin qi is flourishing. Your sadness is easy to attract evil spirits, so you have to be careful. On the contrary, you should be happy and let the ancestors of the underworld feel that your life is very happy. This harmonious atmosphere is the best.
5. Steps to send warm clothes: If you go to the cemetery, you should first clean up the gravestone and the dust, weeds and unclean things nearby, then choose a place to draw a big circle, put tributes, light incense sticks, burn paper money and warm clothes, pray while burning, and report the happy and good things at home so that the ancestors can enjoy peace there. Burn the cold clothes, bow, silently mourn for your ancestors, put out the incense, and go home together (don't forget to burn some outside the circle when burning, and give it to nearby ghosts, hoping they can live in peace with your ancestors).
Precautions and taboos
Everything given to the dead, such as clothes and money, must be burned. Only when it is burned cleanly can these earthly papers become silks and satins, clothes and clothes for houses, and gold, silver and copper coins in the underworld. As long as a thing is not burned, all the previous efforts will be in vain, and the dead will not use it. So 1 October1day, be sure to burn cold clothes, and be especially careful. Although this kind of action seems funny, it also reflects the grief and reverence of the living for the deceased and belongs to a spiritual sustenance.
When people send warm clothes, they also pay attention to burning some five-color paper at the crossroads to symbolize cloth and silk. The original intention is to help orphans who have no ancestors to worship, so as not to be robbed of winter supplies for their loved ones.
Burn cold clothes, some places in front of the grave of the deceased, and pay attention to sweeping the grave before the sun rises. Some places are used to burning sacrifices in front of the door. In many places in Yanbei and Pingyao counties of Jinzhong, at night, women will burst into tears outside the door. In the old days, there was a poem in Linxian County: "Sticking paper and cutting clothes, burning ash in the morning." Is Taiwan Province fruit useful to keep out the cold in spring? But the sad voice is sweet! "It not only describes the scene of sending cold clothes, but also questions its legendary effect.
There is also a tradition in China that the younger generation needs to mourn for three years after the death of their families, and they need to wear mourning clothes during these three years, and put on their usual clothes on October 1st of that year after the expiration of filial piety. Many people in China choose to be buried together, and the general burial ceremony is also held on 10/day.
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