The Qingming festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, is one of the four traditional festivals in China.
清明节，又称祭祖节等, 是中国四大传统节日之一Eu3,rpPLts%w;&5Mu。
The other three are Chinese New Year, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival.
其它三个分别时春节、端午节和中秋节!3j9||!V[77]!。
It falls on either Apr. 4, 5, or 6 each year. Chinese usually have a 3-day holiday.
每年的4月4日、5日或6日是清明节l%JN0eeDH.)E^-8g。中国人通常有3天的假期(iC;eyY[p^|g。
At the very beginning, Qingming was not a festival but the fifth of the 24 solar terms.
最开始，清明并不是一个节日，而是24个节气中的一个节气，排名第五HBx76Hkj2@j[n6^v。
The temperature rises after Qingming. It is the right time for spring plowing and sowing.
清明过后，气温上升，正是春耕和播种的好时候4jDFgS-=Ij~F。
Later, the day becomes more of a festival for Chinese people to commemorate their ancestors.
后来，清明就不仅仅是一个节气了，而是成为人们纪念先祖的节日u3_@9;pthrcAiz。
Tomb Sweeping Day began around the Zhou Dynasty, and it has a history of over 2,500 years.
清明节大约始于周朝，有2500多年的历史4%~75kMl+HhB!,;。
It originated from ancestral beliefs and spring rituals in ancient times.
其源自上古时代的祖先信仰与春祭礼俗s.0a98ABo!NY。
The development of it has incorporated two other traditional festivals.
清明节融汇了另外两个传统节日的习俗4k3*20_lWdfjuR1tOhVN。
The first is the Shangsi Festival which falls on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month, which is close to the Qingming Festival.
第一个是上巳节，时间是农历三月初三，时间上比较临近清明节^VymdW4!B4%W6。
The main customs of Shangsi Festival were spring outings, bathing in the river to get rid of bad luck and illness.
上巳节的主要习俗是春游、祓禊（指在河里洗澡以祛除厄运和疾病XfK.]Yea0^aCAse4T。
The second is the Cold Food Festival which is 1 or 2 days before the Qingming Festival.
第二个是寒食节，是在清明节前一两天Z9l_^pTnsE.xdXNXXEC]。
People were not allowed to use fire and only ate cold food.
寒食节期间，人们不允许用火，只能吃冷食MXZ6e9jh!i|[E)V#。
It's also a time for people to worship their ancestors.
人们也在这段时间祭祖,b4,JgVd-yRxqm.5。

According to the Book of the Later Han, the initial Cold Food Festival has lasted from nearly a month of minimum to 105 days of maximum.
据《后汉书》记载，最初的寒食节时间很长，最长的105天，最短的也要近1个月5iaoA_Gx@2。
It's really a long time that not good for people's health and production.
由于时间过长，所以对人们的健康和生产不利E^&C;)BG7cT2L。
In the Tang Dynasty, Cold Food Festival became only three days. Tomb-sweeping became popular at that time.
到了唐代，寒食节就变成只有三天z]Oz|QEf!@PTp。而也就是在唐代，上墓祭扫成为了风气Cqp|bbz92[。
Meanwhile, people usually went on a spring outing after tomb-sweeping.
同时，人们也开始在扫墓之后踏青郊游94p0OQJGl,D]CSSk。
Later, there were more and more activities, such as kite flying, swinging, and Cuju playing, the ancient Chinese football.
后来，活动越来越多，如放风筝、荡秋千、踢蹴鞠（中国古代的足球）sKq^[P!3~hb!9。
In the Song and Yuan dynasties, the Qingming Festival took the place of the Cold Food Festival, and the Shangsi Festival disappeared in northern China.
到了宋朝和元朝，清明节取代了寒食节，而上巳节也在中国北方消失了[b71~XJm,HZ)1yIlV]。
The main customs of the Qingming Festival are tomb sweeping and spring outing.
清明节的主要活动就是扫墓和春游2WWREYyV)f%Q7=W7WzP。
In 2008, Qingming Festival officially became a public holiday with 1 day off.
2008年，清明节正式成为法定节假日，放假一天xdYndc^y(Wk[z|H+U=PK。
Since 2009, Chinese people have had a 3-day Qingming Festival holiday, including 1-day public holiday and 2 weekend make-up days.
2009年，中国公民在清明节可以享受3天的假期，包括1天的法定节假日和2天的周末补假zghv_n8r+7Z。
There is a story about the origin of the Qingming Festival and the Cold Food Festival, which commemorated Jie Zitui, a loyal man in the Spring and Autumn Period.
关于清明节和寒食节的起源，有一个故事，是为了纪念春秋时期的忠臣介子推^3j;*S&K_W。
Jie Zitui cut a piece of meat from his thigh to save his lord Duke Wen of Jin during their exile but didn't want to get any reward like others.
在晋文公流放期间，随臣介子推为了救他，从自己的大腿上割下一块肉给他吃，后来，介子推也不想像其他人一样去讨赏)k+JgIas,qJtj*AL!Hq*。
In honor of Jie Zitui, the Duke decreed the day of his death as the "Cold Food Festival" and one day later as the Qingming Festival.
为了纪念他，晋文公把介子推死的那天定为“寒食节”，死后的第一天定为清明节t8qhZc!S(!H0U。