Who is the Cold Food Festival commemorating? The origin and significance of the Cold Food Festival

The Cold Food Festival, also known as the "No Smoking Festival", is held one hundred and five days after the winter solstice in the lunar calendar and one or two days before Qingming Festival. So, do you know the origin of Cold Food Festival? Do you know who the Cold Food Festival is commemorating? Friends who are interested, let’s learn about it together.

Who is the Cold Food Festival in memory of?

The Cold Food Festival is to commemorate Jie Zitui, a minister of the State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period. According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Jie Zitui and Duke Wen of Jin, Chong'er, were exiled to various countries, and Jie Zitui cut off his thigh meat to feed Duke Wen. After Duke Wen restored the country, Zhitui did not seek fame or fortune, and retired to Mianshan with his mother. Duke Wen burned the mountain in search of him, but Zhitui refused to come out and died hugging a tree. Later, Duke Wen of Jin designated the day when he set fire to the mountain as the Cold Food Festival, and announced to the whole country that on this day every year, fireworks were forbidden and only cold food was eaten to commemorate Jie Zitui.

The relationship between Cold Food Festival and Qingming Festival

The Cold Food Festival is usually on the 105th day after the winter solstice, which is close to the date of Qingming Festival. People usually abstain from fire and eat cold food at tomb-sweeping day, and take new fire and go outing on Qingming day. In ancient China, spring festivals used to be held on the Cold Food Festival, until it was later changed to the Qingming Festival. Cold Food Festival and Qingming Festival are originally two festivals, but the customs in different places are different. Most areas celebrate the Cold Food Festival on the day before Qingming Festival. A few places celebrate it two days before Qingming Festival. Still other places celebrate the Cold Food Festival on the day before Qingming Festival as Cold Food Festival, and the two days before Qingming Festival as Minor Cold Food Festival.

What to eat on Cold Food Festival

What do we eat during Cold Food Festival? The most classic food of Cold Food Festival is Zitui Mo from Shanxi Province. Zitui Mo is also known as Lao Mo Mo. From the name, we can know that it is to commemorate Jie Zitui. The Cold Food Festival gets its name because fire is banned during the festival and people are not allowed to cook with fire. They can only eat prepared cooked food or cold food. Therefore, the traditional foods of the Cold Food Festival are all cold foods that can be stored for a long time, such as Sanzi, which is a must-eat during the Cold Food Festival in the Han area, and Qingtuanzi, which is a must-eat food during the Qingming Festival in the Jiangnan area. They are all very delicious and unique foods.