寒食

hánshí

noun

Meanings

1 Cold Food Festival
2 day before Qingming when no fires are lit, only cold food is eaten

Characters

Examples

寒食节在清明节前一两天。

Hánshí jié zài Qīngmíng jié qián yī liǎng tiān.

The Cold Food Festival falls a day or two before Qingming.

古人在寒食节不生火做饭。

Gǔrén zài hánshí jié bù shēnghuǒ zuòfàn.

In ancient times, people did not light fires to cook on the Cold Food Festival.

Tips

history

Traditionally commemorates Jie Zitui (介子推), a loyal retainer of Duke Wen of Jin who was burned to death in a forest fire. People banned fire for one to three days in his memory, eating only cold food. Largely merged with Qingming today.

Stroke Order

寒 hán

食 shí