A Study On The Origin And The Early Development History Of The Cold Food Festival

To some extent,the early development history of the Cold Food Festival in China(from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty)is actually an explanatory history of the origin of the Cold Food Festival.In the early history of the Cold Food Festival,there is an important issue that has not attracted enough attention from researchers,that is,people’s interpretations or statements about the origin of the Cold Food Festival in different periods,especially the role and influence of these statements,which is a dark line throughout the early history of the Development of Cold Food Festival.From a theoretical point of view,there are more or less flaws and deficiencies in"the Theory of Jie Zitui"(the theory claims that the Cold Food Festival originated from a folk legend about Jie Zitui),"the Theory of Banning Fire" and"the Theory of Changing Fire",and it is difficult to establish.However,this does not mean that the above statements are meaningless or valuable.In fact,they not only have enriched and deepened our understanding of the origin of the cold food festival,but also promoted the development of the Cold Food Festival to varying degrees.Based on the previous studies on the origin of the Cold Food Festival,it is not difficult to find that most scholars focus on finding the root and interpretation from the Chinese local cultural context,and rarely pay attention to the possible exotic cultural color of the Cold Food Festival.In fact,all the peculiarities of the Cold Food Festival suggest that it is not an inherent Chinese festival,but may be the result of the influence of foreign culture.As we all know,Bingzhou is located at the junction of the northern nomadic area and the Central Plains agricultural area.Because of its unique geographical location,Bingzhou has played an important role in the commercial and cultural exchanges between China and the West since ancient times.The Cold Food Festival in Taiyuan and other places is likely to be engraved with the imprint of an exotic culture,or even "the Golden Peach of Samarkand",which is an "exotic product".In the early development history of the Cold Food Festival,there is a remarkable phenomenon that the Cold Food Festival had been repeatedly banned by the governments of past dynasties,but it had not stopped,even intensified,and eventually spread from local to national,reached its peak.The reason why the rulers of past dynasties frequently banned the Cold Food Festival is not just out of the consideration of caring for the common people,but more importantly to prohibit Jie Zitui belief and sacrificial activities closely related to the Cold Food Festival.In this way,it can not only clean up the local social order,strengthen the control over the local people,but also ensure the official monopoly on the right to worship and strengthen the official authority.However,once a folk custom is formed,it will be relatively fixed along with people’s production and life style for a long time,and become a basic force to regulate people’ s behavior,language and sychology,which can not be banned by a paper order.When the official intention is in conflict with folk customs,and the official wants to transform customs,the role of administrative power is often limited to a certain range,and it may have a certain or even very important impact on folk customs,but it is very likely that the direction of the"countercurrent"can not be stopped.The repeated prohibition of the custom of prohibiting fire and cold food before the Sui Dynasty is a clear example.Changes are normal in the life history of festivals.Many new changes had appeared in the early development history of the Cold Food Festival,which not only shaped the appearance of the Cold Food Festival,but also affected and even determined its development trend.For example,in the Southern and Northern Dynasties,there are many entertainment activities during the Cold Food Festival such as cockfighting,fighting eggs,engraved chicken,cuju(an ancient game of kicking a ball)and swinging.Most of these entertainment activities have the color of fighting,full of vitality and joy,which has changed the temperament of the Cold Food Festival to a certain extent.It changed cheerful and bright from the previous sadness and gloom,and began to develop in the direction of entertainment.For another example,in the Sui and Tang Dynasties,especially in the Tang Dynasty,the prevalence of going tombs during the Cold Food Festival and the custom of changing fires and giving new fires on the Qingming Day not only greatly promoted the development and prosperity of the Cold Food Festival,but also laid a foreshadowing for the Qingming Festival to eventually replace the Cold Food Festival.