The first day of the tenth lunar month is the Winter Clothes Festival. On this day, we pay homage to the deceased and give winter clothes to our ancestors, which is called giving cold clothes. Together with Qingming Festival and Hungry Ghost Festival (the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month), it is also known as the three major "ghost festivals" of the year. You can do the following things:
1. Burn cold clothes
On the first day of October, the descendants will send cold clothes to the deceased for the winter. In the old days, women would sew cold clothes with their own hands and give them to relatives far away. If a relative has passed away, they would make cold clothes out of paper and burn them in front of the grave on this day, so it is called "Cold Clothes Festival".
There are also some things to pay attention to when giving cold clothes:
1. The cold clothes must be folded by yourself.
2. The clothes, coins and other sacrificial items of the ancestors must be burned thoroughly. Otherwise it cannot be used.
3. If you can’t go home to burn cold clothes, you can burn paper at the crossroads, facing the direction of your hometown.
4. Not only do you have to burn enough things for your ancestors, but you also need to burn some paper money for the lonely ghosts, so as not to take away what belongs to the ancestors.
2. Visiting the graves
In addition to sweeping the graves during the Qingming Festival, you can also visit the graves to pay homage during the Winter Clothes Festival. It should be noted that when going to the grave, you need to prepare tributes (bowls of vegetables) and pay attention to the time (usually 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.). Do not go to the cemetery when it is dark, and be careful not to laugh in front of the grave, but to be solemn and solemn.
3. Repair the tomb
You can break ground during Qingming Festival and Hanyi Festival, but not at other times. Clean the weeds next to it to see if there are any. Vulnerabilities etc.
4. Graves can be moved
Generally, it is because of Feng Shui problems, so the graves are moved to improve Feng Shui.
Nowadays, the custom of visiting graves to burn paper and cold clothes on the first day of October still exists in most rural areas, but it has faded in some places, especially among urbanites, who only go to graves to observe silence or offer a memorial service. Bouquet of flowers to remember the loved ones who have passed away.