Winter clothes, as the name suggests, are clothes that protect against the cold weather. Sending winter clothes is to send warm clothes to deceased relatives. The so-called "sending" is actually a sacrifice to the dead. Therefore, sending winter clothes is a folk custom of sacrificing the dead, and the ancient time is from the end of the ninth month of the lunar calendar to the first day of October. Later, it evolved to be held on the first day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar, and the first day of the first month of October is also called the Winter Clothes Festival.
This folk custom has a long history, dating back to ancient times, when people worship their ancestors on this day and send them winter clothes to express their thoughts and love for their deceased loved ones.
According to the "Tokyo Menghualu" written by Meng Yuanlao of the Northern Song Dynasty, it is recorded that the custom of sending winter clothes to Bianjing, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty at that time: "Inside and outside the city, in late September, that is, to buy clothes, boots, shoes, mats, hats, and satin, for the first day of October." This custom in the Qing Dynasty in Beijing was also recorded in the Qing Dynasty Pan Rongma's "Records of Victory in the Years of Emperor Jing" in the Qing Dynasty: "October ......Citizens worship their ancestors and sweep their tombs, such as Zhongyuanyi. ”
The "New Day of October" mentioned in both books is the first day of October. It can be seen from these historical materials that sending winter clothes is not really sending clothes, but like burning paper money, making paper clothes, paper shoes, paper hats, etc. On the day of the Winter Clothes Festival, people will either go to the cemetery to pay respects, or sacrifice at home, and send paper money, incense, candles, wine and other items to their deceased relatives to show respect and remembrance.
On this day, in addition to sending winter clothes, there are other customs in some places, such as burning paper money, releasing river lanterns, etc., which have gradually evolved into some folk beliefs and become an important part of traditional folk culture.
In China's traditional folk culture, sending winter clothes is regarded as a manifestation of filial piety to the ancestors of descendants, and it is also a form of folk inheritance and promotion of filial piety culture.
In history, there are many theories about the custom of sending winter clothes, and the historiography generally believes that it began in the Zhou Dynasty. For example, "The Book of Songs, Wind and July" has "Flowing fire in July, giving clothes in September." ". Mao Heng of the Han Dynasty believed when explaining this poem: "The frost begins to fall in September, and the woman is successful, and she can give winter clothes." The "bestowal clothes" in the poem is to give winter clothes.
With the development and changes of society, the traditional custom of giving winter clothes has been constantly evolving and developing in ancient times. There are some places that merge the Winter Clothes Festival with the Midyear Festival, and only the Midyear Festival is celebrated, but the Winter Clothes Festival, the custom of the Winter Clothes Festival is placed in the Midyear Festival. For example, this is the case in some places in the Yangtze River basin, where the time to send winter clothes is the Midyear Festival.
In other places, only the Winter Clothes Festival is celebrated, but the Midyear Festival, the customs of the Midyear Festival are put on the Winter Clothes Festival. This is the case in some parts of the Yellow River Basin, for example.
The evolution of sending winter clothes, just like the evolution of the Qingming Festival, in the evolution of traditional festivals, the original Shangzheng Festival, the Cold Food Festival, and the Qingming Festival are all separate festivals, and after the Song Dynasty, the three festivals are one, only the Qingming Festival, and the other two festivals have been canceled in many places, or retain their names, and there is no actual content of the festival.
Nowadays, giving winter clothes is not only a folk belief and custom, but also regarded by more and more people as a way to express their thoughts and love for their deceased loved ones.
On this day, people go to cemeteries, temples and other places to pay their respects, and send flowers, incense and candles to their deceased loved ones as a sign of remembrance and respect. At the same time, some people choose to worship at home or in public places to express their thoughts and respect for their deceased loved ones.
Sending winter clothes is not only a folk custom to sacrifice the dead, but also a form of inheriting and promoting filial piety culture. In today's society, with the acceleration of the aging society and the change of family structure, more and more people have begun to pay attention to the importance of family and kinship.
In this context, the traditional custom of sending winter clothes has also been valued and inherited by more and more people. Through the form of sending winter clothes, people can express their thoughts and respect for their deceased relatives, and can also inherit and carry forward the culture of filial piety, so as to promote the harmony and stability of the family and society.
In short, giving winter clothes is one of the folk customs of sacrificing the dead, and it is an important part of traditional Chinese culture. Through the form of sending winter clothes, people can express their thoughts and respect for their deceased relatives, and can also inherit and carry forward the culture of filial piety, so as to promote the harmony and stability of the family and society. Therefore, we should attach importance to the inheritance and development of this traditional custom, so that more people can understand and participate in it, and jointly carry forward the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation.