During festivals, we follow the custom of worshiping our ancestors. My family has three tables during the holidays. Shanghai's lane houses are cramped, and three tables cannot be held at the same time, so two tables must come first, and then one table. If you can’t come up with a complete set of cups, chopsticks, dishes, etc., you can use mixed-colored ones. The wax cup bent its head. There was no ashes in the incense burner, so I had to put three sticks of incense on the mouth of the burner to count. All in all, it was all very sloppy.

　　Incense was offered, wine was poured, and then they knelt down. I don't exercise too much. I'm only over forty, and my knee joints have hardened. I feel stiff when I kneel down, and there's nothing else to think about. In the past, when my father and uncle were in Japan, their kneeling rituals were different. His appearance looked very solemn. After kneeling three times, he kowtowed gently for dozens of times, as if he was praying silently. Then he stood up and respectfully left his place of worship. The so-called "sacrifice as it is" and "respect when the situation arises" have become a habit for them since childhood.

　　——Excerpted from "Celebrating the Festival" by Ye Shengtao

　　Tomb sweeping is routine during the Qingming Festival. Sweeping graves is a sad thing. Therefore, the ancients said: "The crows are crows and the birds are noisy in the dark trees. Who will cry during the cold food during the Qingming Festival?" They also said: "On the Qingming Festival, the peaches and plums smile, but the fields and graves are only filled with sorrow." However, when I was a child, sweeping tombs during the Qingming Festival was a supreme event. Pleasure. People borrow Buddhas to visit in the spring, and we "borrow the tombs to visit in the spring."

　　...Uncle Maosheng picked up a load of sacrifices and walked in front. Everyone followed him, picking peach blossoms and stealing new broad beans along the way, and had a great time. After everyone had rested at the tomb, Uncle Maosheng went to a nearby farmhouse and borrowed a table and two stools. Then he laid out the sacrifices and knelt down to worship in turn. After worshiping, play freely.

　　Some eat sweet wheat cakes, some eat rice dumplings, and some pull broad bean stems to make flutes. The broad bean stem is square, and a few holes are cut on it to serve as flute holes. Then pick a piece of pea stem and put it on one end of the flute, and the flute is made. Press the flute hole with your fingers and blow the pea stem with your mouth, and the pronunciation is melodious and audible.

　　——Excerpted from "Qingming" by Feng Zikai

　　There are many poems about Qingming, and there are also many good poems about Qingming. However, there are very few paintings depicting the Qingming Festival, and works with grand themes like "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" by Zhang Zeduan during the Northern Song Dynasty are even rarer. However, during the Qingming Festival, people can easily think of Du Mu's Qingming poem ("Along the River During the Qingming Festival"). "Qingming", editor's note), but rarely think of Zhang Zeduan's Qingming painting collected in the Forbidden City. This painting and this poem are both written about the Qingming Festival, which is cold and hot, heavy and noisy, depressed and excited, low-key and high-spirited. The feelings they leave on people are absolutely completely different.

　　Perhaps because of all the poems written about the Qingming Festival, due to the cold food, the sacrifices and sweeps, and even more because the weather in late spring is suddenly warm and then cold, the poet's writing will inevitably reveal a touch of sadness and a slight sadness. This is " Pedestrians on the road are in a mental state of despair. However, it is possible to see this "Along the River During Qingming Festival" with Bianliang, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, as the background. It is another kind of extremely sunny and joyful Qingming. Not only will it never "break the soul", but it will also attract you wholeheartedly. The city of Kaifeng in the Song Dynasty was thrown into a carnival-like festival. Both writing about Qingming Festival, poetry and painting can bring out different emotions in people. This is probably the charm of art.

　　——Excerpted from "Along the River During Qingming Festival" by Li Guowen

　　Wen Wei Po