Cold Clothes Festival丨The heat is high in July, and clothes are given out in September. Please put on more clothes when the weather is cold!

The first day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar is the traditional Chinese festival of offering sacrifices to the dead, the "Han Yi Festival". It is one of the three major "ghost festivals" in China, along with Qingming Festival and Zhongyuan Festival. Because it coincides with the first day of the cold winter season, people send winter clothes made of five-colored paper to pay tribute to the dead and express their thoughts.

Different customs, different origins

Legend has it that the Cold Clothes Festival originated from a tragic love story. According to legend, on the first day of October in the Qin Dynasty, Meng Jiangnu came to visit her husband who was building the Great Wall with cotton clothes, but she received the sad news that her husband had passed away. She was so grief-stricken that she cried at the foot of the Great Wall, causing the wall to collapse, revealing piles of bones. Afterwards, Meng Jiangnu burned her winter clothes one by one to express her grief.

In order to commemorate Meng Jiangnu's steadfastness and remembrance of her deceased relatives, later generations formed the custom of sending winter clothes to the deceased.

The custom of sending winter clothes can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty. The Book of Songs, Binfeng, July, records: "The fire is flowing in July, and clothes are given in September." The "July and September" here refer to the autumn of the lunar calendar. In the ninth month of the lunar calendar, we can clearly feel the approaching cold, and women begin to sew warm clothes. Therefore, September is also called the "Clothes Giving Month" and the Cold Clothes Festival. At this time, the connotation of "cold clothes" is more about the needs of practical life.

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By the Tang and Song dynasties, burning winter clothes to honor the deceased on the first day of October had become a custom. The Song Dynasty's " Dongjing Menghualu " says: "In the second half of September, people sell funeral clothes , boots , straw hats , and clothing , and burn them on the first day of October ." This shows that burning winter clothes to send warmth to deceased ancestors on the first day of October had become a custom at the time, and the sale of paper winter clothes had already become highly commercialized.

It is also said that the custom of the Cold Clothes Festival originated from the story of Zhu Yuanzhang giving clothes.

According to legend, Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor in Nanjing in the early Ming Dynasty. In order to show that he was in compliance with the will of heaven, he held a morning court on the first day of October, performed the "clothing-granting" ceremony, and made a hot soup with freshly harvested red beans and glutinous rice for his ministers to taste.

A Nanjing folk proverb says: "In the tenth month, wear a cotton-padded jacket and eat bean soup to keep out the cold. " Hence, the "Cold Clothes Festival" came into being. While people put on more clothes to keep out the cold, they also send winter clothes to their children who are guarding the border, doing business, or studying in other places to show their concern and care.

Passed down to this day, the Cold Clothes Festival is not only a traditional sacrificial festival, but also a day to convey China's traditional "filial piety" and remember ancestors.

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Filial piety and gratitude to parents, advocating civilized sacrifice

In some cities, the winter clothes burning is usually done at a crossroads. A circle is drawn on the ground with chalk, leaving a hole in the direction of the ancestral graves. Then the winter clothes and bundles are piled in the circle and burned to ensure that the winter clothes are delivered to the ancestors accurately. In some places, the winter clothes burning is done in front of the graves of the deceased, and it is important to visit the graves before the sun rises.

In fact, it is unknown whether the deceased can receive it, but the most important significance of this festival is to remind the living people to always respect their ancestors and have warmth towards their loved ones .

However, it is winter now, and traditional methods such as burning paper money to sweep graves can easily cause fires and safety accidents if we are not careful. Rational remembrance and civilized sweeping graves are not only the inheritance of traditional culture, but also the embodiment of changing customs and abiding by social morality.

We advocate:

1. Promote civilized and low-carbon ways of paying respects to the dead, such as offering flowers, planting trees, paying respects online, holding public memorial ceremonies, and paying respects at home;

2. Implement relevant regulations on forest fire prevention and prohibit bringing fire and fire sources into the mountains;

3. Observe the five prohibitions in the tomb-sweeping area (no open flames, no smoking, no lighting incense and candles, no burning paper money, and no setting off firecrackers) to prevent fires from occurring during tomb-sweeping.

4. Do not burn paper on the street during sacrifices. If you must burn paper, please use a deep iron bucket, keep it away from dry leaves and other combustible debris, burn it all in the bucket, and prepare water for firefighting.

On the Winter Clothes Festival, let us express our thoughts from afar. May you all be safe this winter.

Comprehensive sources: Xinhuanet, Beijing News, China Heritage, etc.