Posters for some of the spring solar terms: 雨水 ("rain water"), 惊蛰 ("waking of insects") and 春分, the spring equinox. These Nezhas are from the 发呆哪吒 (spacing out nezha) merch series.

Qingming Festival Customs

The 5th Solar Term in Spring, one of the 24 Solar Terms. In the Song Dynasty, Qingming was the 3rd day of the Cold Food Festival. Gradually it formed into a festival itself and gained popularity. It's comprised of Cold Food Festival, Drinking New Wine and Tomb Sweeping.

The Zitui Swallow

Made of dough in the shape of a swallow with small dates inside, and strung up with willow branches. It's said to be in memory of the loyal minister Jie Zitui.

Cold Food

In the Song Dynasty, the 105th day after Winter Solstice was called the Great Cold Food Festival, and the 3rd day afterwards was Qingming. Therefore people don't cook during Qingming and eat cold food instead.

Advertising for New Wine

All wine sellers start brewing wine before Qingming. During Qingming, each store brings wine samples to the provincial government and get evaluated. Each store will advertise by performing music and hanging flags.

Going on Outings

There were not so many taboos about Qingming in the past. The ancients did their best to celebrate the festivals with whatever they had. They would bring food and drinks and go on picnics!

Tomb Sweeping

Cleaning the tombs of your relatives and loved people, adding new soil and burning paper money in front of them is the most important part of Qingming. From Royal Family members to palace servants to ordinary people, everyone offer sacrifices to their ancestors on this day.

Planting Willows

There's an old saying that goes; "When willow branches are green, it'll rain, when willow branches are dry, the sky will be sunny." Therefore, planting willow branches in front of your door during the Qingming festival can predict the weather and is also said to have the effect of warding off evil spirits. This custom is also depicted in the titular painting Riverside Scene by Qingming Festival.

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Various Professions in Song Dynasty

Roadside Litigator- Zhao Buyou

Enabled bringing law and justice to commonfolk, by being hired legal advisors and agents. They would draft important documents, collect evidence and help suing and defense and provide consultations for public. Character design video.

Independent Business Owners- Wen Yue

In the show, Wen Yue has an oil paper umbrella shop, now one of the intangible cultural heritages of China. She's been caught in rain once hence she chose this line of work. The main person in charge of the store is equivalent to a modern shop owner or manager. They themselves were responsible for quality control, sales strategy, overall performance of the establishment and everything in between.

Retired Cadres- Zhao Li

Among these people were sometimes great talents, royal officials and ex-influential figures, now laying low and enjoying the romantic countryside. Their only responsibility now was to maintain the harmony of their family and savor their leisure time with food, poetry, music and philosophy discussions.

Kaifeng Prefecture's Chief Inspector- Gu Zhen

Equal to patrol police today, they were responsible for upholding righteousness and bringing justice for civilians. Kaifeng was the capital of Song, and this unit was part of the local administrative and military system. They maintained the capital's peace and security and conducted crime investigations and saw to other emergencies.

Kaifeng Prefecture's Police Officers- Wan Fu

Mainly responsible for carrying out punishments and in-situ judgements for minor cases, information gathering and assisting the Chief Inspector.

Painters of the Imperial Academy - Zhang Zeduan

The Eagle Eye of the Song Dynasty, was an amazing city observer and a people-watcher. The man behind "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", a master of details, drew the prosperous cityscape. His other responsibilities were to create paintings needed for the palace, including portraits of emperors and nobles, scenes of court life, historical events etc.

Carpenters and Craftsmen- Zhao Mo'er

Lu Ban was a master architect in Chinese history, famous for his handcrafts, said to be capable of making everything out of anything. Apprentices with potential are personally guided by a master, hoping to promote and pass on the skills as much as possible.

Coroners and Forensic Officers- Zhao Baner/Yao He

They fight for the rights of both the living, and the dead, and worked in the judicial system of the Song Dynasty. Their duties were to examine the corpse, determine the cause of death, type of murder weapon, time of death, etc., provide clues for solving the case, write autopsy reports, and provide basis for judicial trials.

Tabloid Reporter- Song Qiyu

Hot blooded youth often worked in this arena, newspapers were popular among Song Dynasty people and were published and sold in bulk. The journalists would collect news materials by walking in the streets and alleys, seeking information and providing commentary on social issues and fairness across all classes and dynamics.

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24节气 | the 24 solar terms

The plum blossoms came out

Another tree bears white blossoms

The robins have been fighting in the court yard

Art for winter solstice (冬至) 2021

Art for 立秋 2023 (Liqiu, the beginning of autumn in the traditional Chinese calendar)