Can't wash clothes on Cold Clothes Festival? What's the saying about washing clothes on Cold Clothes Festival?

As everyone knows, October 1st of the lunar calendar is the Cold Clothes Festival. Whenever this festival comes, people have to perform sacrificial and ancestor worship activities, and also burn winter clothes. However, since there are many taboos during this period, then, can we wash clothes during the Cold Clothes Festival?

Can't wash clothes during Cold Clothes Festival

Wash clothes during the Cold Clothes Festival.

The Cold Clothes Festival is on October 1st every year. People can wash clothes on this day, but there are the following taboos that everyone should pay attention to. All clothes and paper money sent to the deceased must be burned. Only when they are burned cleanly can these papers from this world be transformed into silk, cloth, houses, clothes, quilts, gold, silver and copper coins in the underworld. As long as there is even a little bit that is not burned out, all previous efforts will be wasted and the deceased cannot use it. When sending winter clothes, people also burn some colored paper at the crossroads to symbolize cloth. The purpose is to help those lonely souls who have no one to worship their ancestors, so that the winter supplies sent to their relatives will not be snatched away by them.

What is the saying about washing clothes on Cold Clothes Festival?

There is no particular saying about washing clothes on the Cold Clothes Festival, but customs vary from place to place, so it is recommended that everyone follow the customs of the area where they live.

There are many festivals for sacrifice in China, but the most important ones besides Qingming Festival are Cold Clothes Festival. You know, October 1st of the lunar calendar is China's Cold Clothes Festival. It is also the day after Qingming Festival when people visit graves again in a year. On this day, people pay special attention to paying homage to the deceased, which is called sending winter clothes. Together with the Qingming Festival in spring and the Zhongyuan Festival in autumn, it is known as one of the three major "ghost festivals" of the year. In order to prevent their ancestors from suffering from the cold in the underworld, people burn five-colored paper on this day to send them warm clothes and also to bring warmth to the wandering ghosts. On October 1st, people burn winter clothes, which expresses people's remembrance of their deceased loved ones and carries the compassion of the living for the dead.

What are the taboos of the Cold Clothes Festival?

The Cold Clothes Festival is the largest sacrificial festival besides Qingming Festival. Although the customs and habits vary from place to place when this day comes, there are still common taboos, such as not talking about marriage, not moving to new houses, not discharging patients from hospitals, not holding business openings, not drying clothes and quilts, not staying outdoors, not going hungry, not looking back after the memorial service, women not going out, and not hanging wind chimes at the head of the bed.