Cold Food Festival
cold food hanshi festival 寒食节 traditional chinese holiday developed local commemoration death jin nobleman jie zitui th century bc zhou dynasty occasion across east asia commemoration veneration ancestor thcentury tang dynasty name derives tradition avoiding lighting kind fire even preparation food practice originally occurred midwinter long month hardship involved led repeated attempt ban observance concern practitioner end three kingdom period rd century limited three day spring around qingming solar term tang ancestral observance limited single day tombsweeping festival tombsweeping festival official holiday several country cold food festival stretch either side continues see observance china south korea vietnam usual story origin cold food tombsweeping festival concern thcenturybc jin nobleman jie zhitui model selfsacrificing loyalty spring autumn period chinese history zhou kingdom began break constituent part lord gained freedom central control one state jin around modern shanxi common among wealthy chinese time duke many wife one li ji lower status came rong tribe lived china west successfully schemed become full wife establish son duke successor older stepson ji chonger framed revolting duke bc forcing prince flee life mother family among di tribe north china men followed exile included jie zhitui entertained prince poem music considerate lord supply stolen traveling wey used meat thigh make soup relieve prince hunger bc duke qin finally invaded jin chongers behalf installed duke posthumously became known wen civilized duke jin bc new duke generous helped adversity overlooked jie sadly withdrew poor obscurity forest near mt mian duke sent repeated envoy lure jie back court felt ambition political power loyal directly criticize master principled accept place corrupt administration opted simply remain seclusion annoyed duke ordered forest fire started around three side mountain smoke jie mother hiding instead coming burnt alive jies charred corpse found still standing embracing tightly bound tree remorse duke renamed mountain mt jie established town still known jiexiu jies rest inaugurated cold food festival memorial period jie addition festival story also occasioned chinese proverb burn entire mountain others kept even lighting eat rice first part legend appears historical earliest account however jie prideful sad killed fire thcenturybc commentary confucius spring autumn annals traditionally credited zuo qiuming includes thucydidean passage jie argues mother future jie credit heaven restored chonger rightful place disgusted creditseeking jobhunting behavior fellow considers worse thief also find lord unworthy failing reward despite failure present court mother asks least go duke jie admits bitter criticism lord make impossibly embarrassing mother accepts decision withdraw hermitage go ji chonger belatedly remembers obligation jie look prof vain accepts situation set aside produce field mëenshang endow sacrifice jies honor memento neglect mark distinction good man source zhou early han mention praise jie various reason poem song chu extol loyalty proper treatment lord forgetfulness spring autumn annals compiled lü buwei praise altruism lack personal ambition point composition hanera biography immortal jie came revered taoist immortal cold food festival first mentioned huan tan new discussion composed around beginning st century record commoner taiyuan commandery avoided using fire preparing food five day around midwinter upholding taboo even gravely ill done jie zhituis honor biography book later han relates magistrate bingzhou ie taiyuan found people rich poor observing dragon taboo lighting fire month jies death midwinter lest anger spirit many old young died every year hardship brought magistrate zhou ju 周舉 wrote oration around ad praising jie admonishing people tradition harmed many could sage intended oration displayed jies temple distributed among poor end cold food festival biography note local superstition improve certain extent improvement explained point next century moved middle winter late spring day dongzhi solar term since also spread taiyuan surrounding commandery shangdang xihe yanmen still causing hardship cao cao attempted outlaw cold food festival ad head offending family liable month hard labor local official liable one month magistrate lose one month salary cao caos effort failure observance cold food festival qingming month around reported midrd century shi le jie emperor later zhao early th century tried forbid next year massive hailstorm devastated crop forest throughout shanxi advice minister approved festival region around taiyuan northern wei similarly banned festival also compelled approve observance around mt mian prohibition failed extent time jia sixies c qimin yaoshu daylong cold food festival spread across china moved day qingming solar term cold food festival grew threeday period began incorporate ancestral veneration tang remained important celebration qingming solar term late song present tombsweeping festival qingming grew incorporating cold food observance along separate holiday shangsi cold food festival almost completely disappeared end qing since early th century chinese western scholar argued alternative origin festival du gongzhan editor latesui record season jingchu connected ritual avoidance fire mentioned rite zhou midspring announce prohibition fire capital using bell wooden clapper prohibition related ancient chinese use different kind firewood according season particularly development chinese astrology considered heliacal rising antares occasion great risk conflagration wildfire du followed conjecture others including li fu sinologist jjm de groot argued origin celebration sun victory vernal equinox based comparative anthropological analysis drawing ovid macrobius lucian epiphanius salami james frazer follower similarly considered either suncharm purification similarity firefestivals claude lévistrauss based analysis festival kind chinese lent upon mistranslation relevant passage rite zhou frazer eberhard connected idea prehistoric springbased calendar made cold food festival remnant original new year unanimous connection festival jie zhitui early source dependence later theory cold food festival occurrence late spring—when fact began midwinter observance—suggests none likely accurate one contemporary record ritual fireavoidance coming separate source southeastern china concerned latendcentury bc king yue mi 越糜王 yuè míwáng yao 越王遙 yuè wáng yáo 越繇王 yuè yáowáng actually prince old yue royal family fighting southern successor state minyue supposedly mi king beheaded battle yao body continued stay atop horse way back wu village buried late th century resident area avoided fire day death mark respect spirit southern equivalent cold food festival celebrated annually though every wu day old chinese calendar generally unlucky day taoist cold food festival originally observed midwinter dongzhi solar term moved late spring qingming solar term around nd century primary activity strict taboo using fire usually superstitious belief violation led violent weather leading th century patch blackened tree mt mian used local worship jie zhitui reputation miracle traditional cold food included lǐlào 醴酪 kind congee flavored apricot pit malt sugar later activity included visiting ancestral tomb cock fighting playing swing beating blanket tugofwar game cold food festival generally ignored modern china except extent influenced activity traditional food tombsweeping festival city jiexiu shanxi province near jie died local still commemorate festival even tradition eating cold food longer practiced korean equivalent hansik korean 한식 take place th day dongzhi translates april gregorian calendar except leap year april instead day welcome warm weather thawing frozen land day rite worship ancestor observed early morning family visit ancestor tomb tidy custom eating cold food day however disappeared since day coincides arbor day public cemetery crowded visitor planting tree around tomb ancestor vietnamese equivalent tết hàn thực celebrated part country rd day rd lunar month marginally people cook glutinous rice ball called bánh trôi holiday origin largely forgotten fire taboo also largely ignored tết hàn thực list festival asia traditional public holiday china hong kong macao taiwan festival public holiday south korea north korea list korean traditional festival milburn olivia ed tale land wu urbanization early medieval china gazetteer city suzhou seattle university washington press pp – isbn chapman ian festival ritual calendar selection record year season jingchu early medieval china sourcebook new york columbia university press pp – isbn confucius legge james ed chun tsew tso chuen pt chinese classic vol v hong kong lane crawford co de groot jan jakob maria le fêtes annuellement célébrées emoui annales du musée guimet french paris guimet museum pp – durrant stephen w et al ed zuo tradition classic chinese thought seattle university washington press isbn eberhard wolfram lokalkulturen im alten china toung pao german vol die lokalkulturen de nordens und westens leiden brill frazer james george golden bough vol vii rd ed london macmillan co hanan patrick chinese vernacular story harvard east asian series cambridge harvard university press isbn holzman donald june cold food festival early medieval china harvard journal asiatic study vol cambridge harvard university press pp – doi jstor huan tan pokora ed hsinlun writing michigan paper chinese study ann arbor university michigan press johnston reginald fleming purification chinese encyclopaedia religion ethic vol x edinburgh clark pp – lévistrauss claude du miel aux cendres french paris plon ling lhm et al confucianism liberal face democratic politics postcolonial taiwan dallmayr fred reinhard ed border crossing toward comparative political theory lanham lexington book pp – isbn moriya mitsuo kanshoku kō wada hakase kanreki kinen tōyōshi ronsō japanese tokyo pp –citation c maint location missing publisher link sukhu gopal ed song chu anthology ancient chinese poetry qu yuan others new york columbia university press isbn wu dongming panoramic view chinese culture simon schuster isbn