Qingming, this is the only one of the 24 solar terms that is both a solar term and a traditional festival. Now Qingming is still a legal holiday, and there is a tradition of sweeping tombs and worshipping ancestors during this festival, and it is particularly important.
Like my hometown, many people rarely go home, and they don't even go back to their rural hometowns during the Chinese New Year, but they will come back when they are far away from home during the Qingming Festival. It is also because the Qingming Festival is so important, so every year when the Qingming Festival arrives, it will attract much attention.
As for the Qingming Festival in 2024, some people say that it is "very different" from previous years, and they also say that this year's Qingming Festival tomb sweeping will be postponed, what is the reason for this? What's the saying? Let's find out and see if it makes sense.
This is estimated to be surprising to many people, because in most people's impressions, the Qingming Festival is on April 5. However, the Qingming Festival in 2024 is not on April 5, but on April 4, which is indeed rare for many years.
In fact, this is not surprising, because the Qingming Festival is not fixed on April 5, most years are like this, but some years will be brought forward to April 4, and some years will be postponed to April 6, but it is more rare.
It is worth mentioning that China's traditional festivals are basically calculated by the lunar calendar, such as the Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Dragon Boat Festival. However, the Qingming Festival is one of the many traditional festivals in our country, the only one that is not determined according to the lunar calendar (lunar calendar), it is a "genus" solar calendar, and its date basically falls on April 4 and 6 of the solar calendar.
This is because Qingming is a solar term, and the 24 solar terms all belong to the category of the solar calendar, because the current 24 solar terms are divided according to the position of the sun on the ecliptic (that is, the Earth's orbit around the sun).
The time it takes for the earth to circle the sun is called a "return year" or "solar year", and then the ancients regarded the vernal equinox as 0°, and every 15 degrees advanced was a solar term, and the rotation was divided into 24 solar terms. This is also the reason why the time of the 24 solar terms in the Gregorian calendar is basically fixed. So, why is the Qingming Festival in 2024 on April 4th?
This is because today's 24 solar terms are based on the vernal equinox, this solar term is 0 degrees of ecliptic longitude, and the sun is perpendicular to the equator at this moment, so that when the sun reaches 15 degrees of ecliptic longitude, it is the Qingming solar term, that is, the winter solstice of the previous year has passed 108 days after Qingming.
But if it is a leap year, that is, February is 29 days, so the year will be 366 days, which will cause the Qingming solar term to be advanced to April 4.
And because the tradition in my country is to worship the ancestors on April 5, some old people think that even if the solar term is advanced, it should be appropriate to worship the ancestors on April 5, so there is a postponement. Like many large families in the south, the Qingming Festival ancestor worship is agreed in advance, and then a large family goes together.
Another feature of the 2024 Qingming Festival is that it falls on the 26th day of the second month of the lunar calendar, which is earlier than the Qingming Festival in previous years.
In ancient times, the Qingming Festival was also known as the Qingqing Festival, the Xingqing Festival, the March Festival, the Ancestor Worship Festival, etc., and the festival was at the turn of mid-spring and late spring. It can be seen that it is basically in the third month of the lunar calendar. But this year, because the beginning of spring is advanced to before Chinese New Year's Eve, the later solar terms have been advanced, and Qingming has been advanced to February.
Regarding the Qingming Festival in February, there is also a saying among the folk that "the Qingming Festival in February is not in front, and the Qingming Festival in March is not in the back". The meaning conveyed by this sentence is that if the Qingming Festival falls in the second lunar month, then the tomb sweeping activity should be appropriately postponed; And if the Qingming Festival falls in the third lunar month, it should be appropriately advanced.
Therefore, for the Qingming Festival on the 26th day of the second lunar month in 2024, according to the traditional folk practice, the tomb sweeping activity should indeed be appropriately postponed.
In addition, there is another special feature of the Qingming Festival in 2024, that is, it happens to be the day of "nine stars and five yellows". Through the perpetual calendar, it can be seen that the day of the Qingming Festival in 2024 is the day of Wuchen month in the Ganzhi calendar, which is not only the day of "nine stars and five yellows", but also the day of "nine stars and five yellows" in the traditional Chinese calendar.
And it is also "Peng Zu Baiji", in the folk saying is "Wu is not subject to the ominous owner of the field, and does not eat dogs to make a monster**", and the tomb sweeping activity must need to break ground.
Therefore, in order to avoid these, it is not appropriate to sweep the tomb on this day, so there is a saying that it should be postponed, or advanced. They hope to remember their ancestors and pay their respects on a more auspicious and harmonious day.
In addition, many places do have the tradition that it is not appropriate to sweep the tomb on the day of the Qingming Festival, that is, the tomb sweeping is either in advance or postponed, and it is not appropriate to sweep the tomb on the day of the Qingming Festival.
However, we should also note that with the progress of society and cultural diversity, the specific form and timing of grave sweeping activities are also changing.
Some may choose to follow traditional customs, while others may arrange grave sweeping activities based on their actual situation and beliefs.
Moreover, in our country, there is also a widely circulated saying in the past, "early Qingming, late eleven", that is, it is better to sweep the tomb as early as possible during the Qingming Festival. In fact, the Qingming Festival ancestor festival period is very long, there used to be a "top ten after eight" saying, that is, in the Qingming Festival 10 days after the 8 days are all during the Qingming Festival period, we don't have to worry about the specific day, just arrange flexibly. **10,000 Fans Incentive Plan