Notice of Qingming Festival holiday for the company in 2016

Qingming Festival has arrived, and our company has scheduled a three-day holiday from April 2nd to April 4th, 2016. During this period, there will be on duty personnel who can communicate with the company's business normally. Normal work on April 5th. We deeply apologize for any inconvenience caused to you as a result.

The Origin of Qingming Festival

The traditional Qingming Festival in China dates back to the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of over 2500 years. Qingming Festival is a very important solar term. As the temperature rises during Qingming Festival, it is a great time for spring plowing and planting. Therefore, it is called "planting melons and beans before and after Qingming Festival". The agricultural proverb goes, "Planting trees and afforestation is never better than Qingming Festival. Later, as the Qingming Festival approached the day of Cold Food, which was a day for people to ban fire and sweep tombs, Cold Food gradually merged with Qingming Festival. Cold Food became both a nickname for Qingming and a custom during the Qingming season. On Qingming Day, there were no fireworks and only cold food was eaten.
There is a legend about cold food:
　　

According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Li Ji, the consort of Duke Xian of Jin, plotted to assassinate Crown Prince Shen Sheng in order to allow her son Xi Qi to succeed to the throne. Shen Sheng was forced to commit suicide. Shen Sheng's younger brother Chong'er fled in exile to avoid harm. During his exile, Chong'er suffered immense humiliation. Most of the courtiers who had fled with him had gone out one after another. Only a few loyal people remained, chasing after him. One of them is named Jie Zitui. Once, Chong'er fainted from hunger. Jie Zitui cut a piece of meat from his own leg to save Chong'er, roasted it over fire, and gave it to Chong'er to eat. Nineteen years later, Chong'er returned to China and became a monarch, becoming one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Wen of Jin.
　　

After Duke Wen of Jin came to power, he greatly rewarded those officials who shared his joys and sorrows, forgetting about Jie Zitui. Someone criticized Jiezi in front of Duke Wen of Jin. Duke Wen of Jin suddenly remembered an old incident and felt guilty in his heart. He immediately sent someone to ask Jie Zi to push him up to court to receive rewards and be appointed as an official. But after several trips, Jiezi couldn't push him. Duke Wen of Jin had no choice but to personally invite him. However, when Duke Wen of Jin arrived at Jie Zitui's house, he saw the door tightly closed. Jie Zitui refused to see him and had already hidden behind his mother in Mianshan (now southeast of Jiexiu County, Shanxi Province). Duke Wen of Jin sent his imperial army to search Mianshan, but they couldn't find it. So someone came up with an idea, it's better to set fire to the mountain, ignite on three sides, and leave one side behind. When the fire starts, Jie Zitui will come out by himself. Duke Wen of Jin ordered a fire to burn the mountain, but unexpectedly, the fire lasted for three days and three nights. After the fire was extinguished, Jiezi was never seen to come out. Looking up the mountain, Jie Zitui and his son were holding a burnt willow tree that had already died. Duke Wen of Jin looked at Jie Zitui's body and wept for a while before burying it. He found that Jie Zitui's spine was blocked by a willow tree hole, and there seemed to be something inside the hole. Pulling it out, it turned out to be a piece of lapel with a blood poem inscribed on it:
Cutting flesh to serve the lord with sincerity, may the lord always be clear minded.
Liu Xia acted as a ghost and disappeared, as if accompanying the emperor as a remonstrant.
If the Lord has me in his heart, remember me and reflect on myself often.
I have a clear conscience in Jiuquan, and I am diligent in governance to restore clarity.

Duke Wen of Jin hid the blood book in his sleeve. Then, Jie Zitui and his mother were buried separately under the burnt willow tree. In memory of Jie Zitui, Duke Wen of Jin ordered the renaming of Mianshan as "Jie Mountain", the establishment of ancestral halls on the mountain, and designated the day of setting fire to the mountain as the Cold Food Festival. He also issued an edict to the whole country that smoking and fireworks should be prohibited on this day every year, and only cold food should be eaten.

When he left, he cut down a burnt willow tree and made a pair of wooden clogs in the palace. Every day, he looked at it and sighed, "What a pity for your feet." "Feet" is a term of mutual respect between superiors or peers in ancient times, which is said to have originated from this.

In the second year, Duke Wen of Jin led his courtiers to hike up the mountain in plain clothes to offer condolences. Arriving at the grave, I saw the old willow tree come back to life, with thousands of green branches swaying in the wind. Duke Wen of Jin looked at the resurrected old willow tree as if he had seen Jie Zitui. He walked up respectfully, pinched a branch with affection, and made a circle to wear on his head. After the sacrificial sweeping, Duke Wen of Jin named the resurrected old willow tree "Qingming Willow" and designated this day as Qingming Festival.

In the future, Duke Wen of Jin would often keep the Blood Book by his side as a symbol of encouragement for his governance. He is diligent in governance and strives for excellence, managing the country very well.

Afterwards, the people of Jin were able to live and work in peace and contentment, and they deeply missed Jie Zitui, who had made great contributions but did not seek wealth or prosperity. On the day of his death, fireworks are prohibited to commemorate him. Using flour and jujube paste, it is molded into the shape of a swallow, strung with willow branches and inserted into the door to summon its soul. This thing is called "Zhituiyan" (also known as Jiezi Push). Afterwards, Cold Food and Qingming became grand festivals for the people of the country. Whenever there is a cold food, people do not start a fire to cook and only eat cold food. In the north, the common people only eat pre made cold foods such as jujube cakes, wheat cakes, etc; In the south, they are mostly green balls and glutinous rice sugar lotus roots. Every Qingming Festival, people weave willow branches into circles and wear them on their heads, and insert willow branches in front of and behind houses to show their nostalgia.