The traditional Chinese solar calendar di-vides the year into 24 solar terms. Clear andBright，the 5th solar term，starts this year onApr 4 and ends onApr 18.

Of all the 24 solar terms，Clear and Brightis the only one whose first day is also a tradi-tional Chinese festival，Qingming Festival orTomb- Sweeping Day. The words“clear”and“bright”describe the weather during this peri-od. Temperatures begin to rise and rainfall in-creases，making it a crucial time for plowingand sowing in the spring.

Here are 8 things you may not know aboutClear and Bright.

WorshipingAncestors

Clear and Bright is a period in whichChinese people honor nature and the ancestorsof the Chinese nation. The worship of natureand ancestors can be traced to ancient times，and still matters a lot in modern society.

Cleaning the tombs and paying respect tothe dead with offerings are the two importantpractices to remember late relatives. Weedsaround the tomb are cleared away and fresh soilis added to show care for the dead.

The dead person’s favorite food，wineand chopsticks are offered on their tombs，along with paper money. These sacrifices areall burned in the hope that the deceased will notlack food and money in the afterlife.

Willow Branches

Legend has it that Clear and Bright is oneof three periods during the year in which ghostscome closest to the world of living men. Bud- dhists believe that willow branches will driveaway unwelcome ghosts and evil spirits. There-fore，willow branches are also known as“ghostterror wood”.

Folk proverbs also dictate customs. Oneproverb states that if a young lady does notwear a willow branch during the Clear andBright period，she will soon turn old. Anothersays：“If one does not wear a willow，he willbecome a yellow dog after he dies and is rein-carnated.”

Spring Outings

Not only is it a period for commemoratingthe dead，it is also time for people to go outand enjoy nature.

As trees turn green，flowers blossom，andthe sun shines brightly，everything returns tolife. It is a fine time to appreciate the beauty ofnature. This custom can be traced back to theSpring and Autumn Period（770—476BC）andWarring States Period（475—221BC）.

Strolling outside in spring adds joy to lifeand promotes a healthy body and mind.

Flying Kites

Flying kites is an activity favored by manyChinese during Tomb-Sweeping Day. Kites arenot only flown during the day time but also inthe evening. Little lanterns are tied to the kiteor to the kite string. And when the kites are fly-ing in the sky，the lanterns look like twinklingstars at night. What makes flying kites duringthis day special is that people cut the stringwhile the kite is in the sky to let it fly free. It issaid this brings good luck and that diseases canbe chased away by doing this.

Cold Food Festival

The Cold Food Festival or Hanshi Festivalis a traditional Chinese holiday celebrated forone day before Tomb-Sweeping Day. On thatday，making fire is taboo and only cold food is available.

Cuju

Cuju is an interesting game played duringthis period. Ju is a ball made of leather withhairs plugged in it. Legend has it that the Yel-low Emperor first invented it for training war-riors. Later，Cu Ju was used by people to buildup their bodies when they were unable to eathot food during the Cold Food Festival.

Eating Eggs

In many parts of China，eating eggs dur-ing Tomb-Sweeping Day is as important as eat-ing moon cakes at Mid-Autumn Festival. TheChinese folk belief is that eating an egg onTomb-Sweeping Day will bring good health allyear. In China，this custom has lasted for thou-sands of years.

The origin of eating eggs dates back to“Shangsi Jie”（a traditional Chinese festival）.In ancient times，women who want to have ba-bies after marriage often colored boiled eggswith different colors and put them into the riv-er，and people living in the lower reaches ofthe river picked the eggs up and ate them. Itwas said that the more eggs were eaten，thegreater the chance the woman will get preg-nant. Today，people believe that eating eggs onTomb-Sweeping Day will bring success.

Feasting on Qingtuan

In the lower reaches of the Yangtze Riverregion，qingtuan or green cake is very popularsnack on Tomb-Sweeping Day. Qingtuan is akind of round green cake. In order to make thecakes，people mash barnyard grass to squeezejuice from it and mix the flour and juice to apaste. Then they inject black bean filling intothe paste and steam them. Pretty and delicate，Qingtuan have a mellow taste and special fla-vor. Qingtuan are also sacrificed to ancestorson Tomb-Sweeping Day.

農(nóng)歷把全年分為二十四個節(jié)氣。中國傳統(tǒng)二十四節(jié)氣的第五個節(jié)氣是清明，今年清明從4月4日開始，4月18日結束。

在二十四節(jié)氣中，只有清明節(jié)氣的第一天也是中國的傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日 — —清明節(jié)。 “清”和“明”是對這一時期天氣的描述。氣溫開始回升，降雨增多，是春耕春播的關鍵時期。

一起來了解關于清明的8個小知識。

祭拜祖先

清明節(jié)是中國人崇尚自然和中華民族祖先的節(jié)日。對自然和祖先的崇拜可以追溯到古代，在現(xiàn)代社會仍然非常重要。

掃墓和用祭品祭奠逝者是緬懷先人的兩個重要習俗。清理墳墓周圍的雜草、添土，以表示對逝者的關懷。

逝者生前最愛吃的食物、酒和筷子以及紙錢都會被供奉在墓前。焚燒這些祭品是希望逝者在去世后（的世界）不會缺食少錢。

插柳

傳說清明節(jié)是一年中鬼魂最接近人間的三個節(jié)氣之一。佛家認為，柳枝可以驅(qū)趕不受歡迎的鬼魂和邪靈。因此，柳枝又被稱為“鬼怖木”。

民間諺語也體現(xiàn)出節(jié)日習俗。比如，“清明不插柳，紅顏變皓首” “清明不插柳，死后變黃狗”。

踏青

春天不僅是紀念逝者的季節(jié)，還是人們外出享受大自然的季節(jié)。

樹木吐綠，百花盛開，陽光明媚，萬物復蘇。這是一個欣賞自然之美的好時節(jié)。這一習俗可以追溯到春秋戰(zhàn)國時期。

春天到戶外漫步，能給生活增添樂趣，有益身心健康。

放風箏

清明節(jié)期間，放風箏是許多中國人喜愛的活動。白天和晚上都有人放風箏。風箏或線繩上會系上小燈籠。當風箏在天空中飛翔時，燈籠就像夜晚閃爍的星星。這一天放風箏的特別之處在于，人們會在風箏升空時剪斷風箏線，讓風箏自由飛翔。據(jù)說這樣做能帶來好運，趕走疾病。

寒食節(jié)

寒食節(jié)是清明節(jié)前一天的中國傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日。這一天忌諱生火，只能吃冷食。

蹴鞠

清明時節(jié)一項有趣的運動就是蹴鞠。

鞠是一種用皮革做成的球，里面塞有羽毛。

傳說黃帝最早發(fā)明蹴鞠是為了訓練戰(zhàn)士。

后來，人們在寒食節(jié)吃不上熱食時，就用蹴鞠來強身健體。

吃雞蛋

在許多地方，清明節(jié)吃雞蛋與中秋節(jié)吃月餅一樣重要。民間認為，在清明節(jié)吃一個雞蛋會帶來一年的健康。在中國，這一習俗已經(jīng)延續(xù)了數(shù)千年。

吃雞蛋的起源可以追溯到（中國傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日）“上巳節(jié)”。在古代，想要孩子的已婚女性常常把煮熟的雞蛋染上不同的顏色，然后投入河中，住在河下游的人就把雞蛋撿起來吃掉。據(jù)說吃的雞蛋越多，女性懷孕的幾率就越大。如今，人們相信在清明節(jié)吃雞蛋會帶來成功。

吃青團

在長江下游地區(qū)，青團或青餅是清明節(jié)非常受歡迎的小吃。青團是一種圓形的、綠色的餅團。制作時，人們將稗草搗碎榨汁，然后將面粉和汁液攪拌成糊狀。包上豆沙餡后蒸熟。青團外觀漂亮精致，口感醇厚，風味獨特。它也可作為清明節(jié)的祭品。