清明一般在公历4月4日至6日之间变动，并不固定在某一天，但以4月5日最常见。清明既是节气又是节日，清明节气在时间和天气物候特点上为清明节俗的形成提供了重要条件。清明节气，与岁时物候相关，常以指导农事，有天朗气清、春耕时宜之意；清明节日，是人们扫墓祭祖、慎终追远的日子；因为二者相融，让清明兼具自然和人文内涵。
清明，是二十四节气之一，春季的第五个节气。斗指乙，太阳到达黄经15°，便为清明。清明节气因为节令期间“气清景明、万物皆显”而得名。清明是反映自然界物候变化的节气，这个时节阳光明媚、草木萌动、百花盛开，自然界呈现一派生机勃勃的景象。中国南方地区，此时已呈气清景明之象；北方地区开始断雪，气温上升，春意融融。
清明扫墓
清明节是中华民族古老的节日，既是一个扫墓祭祖的肃穆节日，也是人们亲近自然、踏青游玩、享受春天乐趣的欢乐节日。 清明扫墓，即为“墓祭”，谓之对祖先的“思时之敬”，祭扫祖先是对先人的缅怀方式，其习俗由来久远。 清明节融汇自然节气与人文风俗为一体，是天时地利人和的合一，充分体现了中华民族先祖们追求“天、地、人”的和谐合一，讲究顺应天时地宜、遵循自然规律的思想。
南方很多地方在重阳、清明或冬至扫墓，如福建、广东、海南、广西、云南昆明等地方。祭祖除扫墓的”山头祭”外，后世还有祠堂祭，称为”庙祭”，庙祭跟古代春礿之祭有着密切的关系，二者虽然在时间上相距遥远，血脉确实相通。庙祭是宗族的共同聚会。扫墓祭祖习俗在先秦以前就有了，由于古时南北风俗各异，有些地方扫墓不一定是在清明之际。唐代以前北方一些地区扫墓主要在寒食节与寒衣节，到唐宋后清明扫墓才开始在全国范围盛行，唐代是各地墓祭风俗融合时期，沿袭清明墓祭风俗，并扩大到全国各地。
清明之祭主要祭祀祖先，表达祭祀者的孝道和对先人的思念之情，是礼敬祖先、慎终追远的一种文化传统。 清明节期很长，10日前和8日后皆可扫墓祭祀，有的地方甚至长达一月。 按照旧的习俗，扫墓时，人们要携带酒食果品、纸钱等物品到墓地，将食物供祭在亲人墓前，再将纸钱焚化，为坟墓培上新土，再折几根嫩绿的柳枝插在坟上，然后叩头行礼祭拜。
Tomb-Sweeping Day generally varies between April 4th and 6th in the Gregorian calendar, and is not fixed on a certain day, but April 5th is the most common day. Qingming Festival is both a solar term and a festival. The Qingming Festival provides important conditions for the formation of Qingming Festival customs in terms of time and weather and phenological characteristics. The Qingming solar term is related to the phenological climate of the year, and is often used to guide farming, meaning that the sky is clear and the weather is good for spring plowing. The Qingming Festival is a day when people visit their tombs, pay homage to their ancestors, and remember the past with caution. Because the two are integrated, Qingming is both natural and harmonious. Humanistic connotation.
Qingming is one of the twenty-four solar terms and the fifth solar term in spring. Douzhiyi, when the sun reaches 15° of ecliptic longitude, it is Qingming. The Qingming Festival gets its name because during the festival, “the air is clear, the scenery is bright, and everything appears.” Qingming is a solar term that reflects the phenological changes in nature. At this time, the sun shines brightly, vegetation sprouts, flowers bloom, and nature presents a vibrant scene. In the southern part of China, the air is clear and the scenery is bright at this time; in the northern part of the country, snow is beginning to break, the temperature is rising, and spring is coming.
Offering sacrifices and sweeping graves
Qingming Festival is an ancient festival of the Chinese nation. It is not only a solemn festival for sweeping tombs and worshiping ancestors, but also a joyful festival for people to get close to nature, go out and enjoy the fun of spring. Tomb-sweeping during the Qingming Festival is a “tomb sacrifice”, which is called “respect for the times” for ancestors. Ancestor-sweeping is a way of remembering the ancestors, and its custom has a long history. The Qingming Festival integrates natural solar terms and humanistic customs. It is the unity of the right time, place and people. It fully embodies the pursuit of the harmonious unity of “heaven, earth and people” by the ancestors of the Chinese nation, and pays attention to conforming to the right time and place and following the laws of nature. thought of.
In many places in the south, tombs are swept during the Double Ninth Festival, Qingming Festival or Winter Solstice, such as Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi, Kunming in Yunnan and other places. In addition to the “mountain sacrifice” of sweeping tombs for ancestor worship, later generations also had ancestral temple sacrifices, called “temple sacrifices.” Temple sacrifices are closely related to the ancient Chunchun Festival. Although the two are far apart in time, they are indeed connected by blood. The temple festival is a common gathering of the clan. The custom of sweeping tombs to worship ancestors existed before the pre-Qin Dynasty. Due to the different customs in the north and south in ancient times, tomb sweeping in some places does not necessarily occur during the Qingming Festival. Before the Tang Dynasty, tomb sweeping in some northern areas was mainly held during the Cold Food Festival and Cold Clothing Festival. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, tomb sweeping during the Qingming Festival became popular nationwide. The Tang Dynasty was a period of integration of tomb worship customs from various places. The custom of tomb worship during the Qingming Festival was followed and expanded to all parts of the country.
The Qingming Festival mainly honors ancestors and expresses the filial piety of the worshipers and the longing for their ancestors. It is a cultural tradition of paying respect to ancestors and pursuing the future with caution. The Qingming Festival is very long. Tombs can be visited before the 10th and after the 8th. In some places, it even lasts for a month. According to the old custom, when sweeping the tomb, people should bring wine, food, fruit, paper money and other items to the cemetery, offer the food in front of the tomb of their relatives, burn the paper money, cover the tomb with new soil, and then fold a few green willow branches and insert them in the tomb. on the grave, and then kowtow to pay homage.