Qingming Festival in ancient Chinese poems
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E-mail China Daily, April 5, 2022
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2. Silk - Washing Stream
Spring sheds a mild and wild light on Cold Food Day;
Jade burner spreads the dying incense like a spray.
Walking, I find my hairpin under pillow stray.
The swallows not yet come, a game of grass we play;
Willow down wafts while mume blossoms fade away.
In drizzling rain at dusk the garden swing won't sway.
Silk—Washing Stream is a poem by Song Dynasty poet Li Qingzhao (1084-1155), one of the leading female poets of the time.
The Cold Food Festival or Hanshi Festival, as mentioned in the poem, is a traditional Chinese holiday celebrated one day before the Qingming Festival. On that day, people only eat cold food. It was not until the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) that the practice of Hanshi was replaced by Qingming.
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