清明節(jié)起源ORIGIN
qing ming is popularly associated with jie zi zhui, who lived in shanxi province in 600 b.c. legend has it that jie saved his starving lord's life by serving a piece of his own leg. when the lord succeeded in becoming the ruler of a small principality, he invited his faithful follower to join him. however, jie declined his invitation, preferring to lead a hermit's life with his mother in the mountains.
believing that he could force jie out by burning the mountain, the lord ordered his men to set the forest on fire. to his consternation, jie chose to remain where he was and was burnt to death. to commemorate jie, the lord ordered all fires in every home to be put out on the anniversary of jie's death. thus began the "cold food feast", a day when no food could be cooked since no fire could be lit.
the "cold food" festival occurs on the eve of qing ming and is often considered as part of the qing ming festival. as time passes, the qing ming festival replaced the "cold food" festival. whatever practice is observed，the basic observation of qing ming is to remember one's elders by making a special effort to visit their graves, ashes or ancestral tablets. to make the visit even more meaningful, some time should be spent to remind the younger members of the family of the lives and contributions of their ancestors, and the story of jie zi zhui who choose death over capitulation.
談到清明節(jié)，有點(diǎn)歷史知識(shí)的人，都會(huì)聯(lián)想到歷史人物介子椎。據(jù)歷史記載，在兩千多年以前的春秋時(shí)代，晉國(guó)公子重耳逃亡在外，生活艱苦，跟隨他的介子椎不惜從自己的腿上割下一塊肉讓他充饑。后來(lái)，重耳回到晉國(guó)，作了國(guó)君（即晉文公，春秋五霸之一），大事封賞所有跟隨他流亡在外的隨從，惟獨(dú)介子椎拒絕接受封賞，他帶了母親隱居綿山。
晉文公無(wú)計(jì)可施，只好放火燒山，他想，介子椎孝順母親，一定會(huì)帶著老母出來(lái)。誰(shuí)知這場(chǎng)大火卻把介子椎母子燒死了。為了紀(jì)念介子椎，晉文公下令每年的這一天，禁止生火，家家戶戶只能吃生冷的食物，這就是寒食節(jié)的來(lái)源。
寒食節(jié)是在清明節(jié)的前一天，古人常把寒食節(jié)的活動(dòng)延續(xù)到清明，久而久之，清明取代了寒食節(jié)。拜介子椎的習(xí)俗也變成了清明掃墓的習(xí)俗了。無(wú)論以何種形式紀(jì)念，為了使紀(jì)念祖先的儀式更有意義，我們應(yīng)該讓年輕一代的家庭成員了解先人過(guò)去的奮斗歷史，當(dāng)然，還要學(xué)習(xí)介子椎寧死不屈的氣節(jié)。