The Cold Food Day is strange to some people who know little about the Chinese traditional festivals. But the Pure Brightness Festival is known to almost all the Chinese people. Even foreigners know the Pure Brightness Festival is the day for the Chinese people to offer sacrifices to their ancestors. In fact, these two festivals derived from the same one in the ancient time. But today, the people only know the Pure Brightness Festival is the day to offer sacrifices to their ancestors and at the same time climb mountain. They know little about the Cold Food Day and only the cold food was served on day before the Pure Brightness Festival. The Cold Food-Pure Brightness Festival was established by Lord Wen of the State of Jin in memory of one of his loyal courtiers Jie Zitui who did not asked for any royal offer for his merits. The Cold Food-Pure Brightness Festival is one of the important traditional festivals in China.
Serving cold food only on the eve of the Pure Brightness Festival has aroused great concern among the Chinese and foreign researchers. What are the reasons for serving cold food that day? The Cold Food Day falls on the 105th day after the Winter Solstice, so it was also known as the 105th Day. It was established in memory of Jie Zitui, a loyal courtier of Lord Wen of the State of Jin of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.). This festival has a history of more than 2,600 years. It was popular in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) in Jiexiu and Taiyuan County not far from the Mianshan Mountains. The Cold Food Day and the story of Jie Zitui are on the lip of local people.
Jie Zitui was forced to leave his native land for 19 years following Chong Er, the prince of the State of Jin, and once cut a piece of flesh from his leg to cook a dish for the starving prince. After returned to the State of Jin, Chong Er enthroned and became Lord Wen of the State of Jin and entitled Jie a loyal courtier. But Jie refused and returned to his hometown Xiaxian County. In early spring of 635 B.C., Jie and his mother came back to his maternal grandmother¡¯s home in Xiaosongqu Village in Jiexiu (Dingyang County) to dodge. After Lord Wen knew the news and asked his neighbor Xie Zhang to act as a guide to look for Jie in Jiexiu. Jie Zitui refused the King¡¯s offer and then carried his mother on his back to a cave of the Mianshan Mountains and lived a harsh life on the mountain. Lord Wen tried to persuade Jie to help him to administer his state and came to the foot of the mountain together with his ministers and sent his men to climb up the mountain to call Jie out of the mountain. But Jie did not go out of the forests. Some treacherous ministers advised the king, saying, ¡°Jie Zitui is a worthy progeny. If we light fire on three sides, he should come out from one side carrying his mother on his back.¡± Then the treacherous ministers set the fire on four sides. The fire became strong in the spring wind and burnt for three days. The fire stopped Jie coming out together with his mother. Then Lord Wen sent his ministers to look for Jie on the mountain and finally someone found part of a broken weed mattress in the cave. Lord Wen looked carefully at the mattress and found some words on it. The words say, ¡°I cut my flesh for making food for you in order to express my loyalty. I hope the king to reward me with the Pure Brightness Festival. I do not regret I will die. But I hope you will be sober and calm in your administration of state affairs.¡± After reading the words, the king was sad and regret. To remember him, Lord Wen renamed the mountain the Jieshan Mountains and the county the Jiexiu County. Also he designed the day the mountain was burnt the Cold Food Day and banned the people in his state to cook the food for three days, having cold food instead. This is the earliest saying about the festival and has become a unique cultural heritage of Jiexiu.
