Day of No Fire

Hanshi

Set your thermostat, it is going to be cold.

Hanshi, the Cold Food Festival is celebrated this year on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. It is then followed by the Tomb Sweeping Festival (Qingming).

A poem by an unknown author titled Miscellaneous, about a Day of No Fire. After observing a day of no fire, the Chinese gather around the tombs of their ancestors and clear the grass.

雜詩

Záshī
Miscellaneous Poems

盡寒食雨草萋萋，

Jǐn hánshí yǔ cǎo qī qī,
At the end of Hanshi, when the grass is thick,

著麥苗風柳映堤。
zhe màimiáo fēng liǔ yìng dī.
As the wheat sprouts, as the willows blow, as the sun shines on the bank

等是有家歸未得，
Děng shì yǒu jiā guī wèi dé,
I am hoping to be home, but not yet

杜鵑休向耳邊啼。
dùjuān xiū xiàng ěr biān tí.
The cuckoo won’t stop crying.

Anonymous, 無 名 氏 Wumingshi

Anonymous

An unknown poet (Wumingshi) finds himself on the road, out in the cold, far from home. It is Hanshi, commonly known as the ‘Day of No Fire.’

Interestingly, Exodus 35:3 in the Hebrew Bible says one should not kindle a fire on the Sabbath. The Rabbi teaches one to get around this by setting the thermostat the day before.

Hanshi, literally, Cold Food. This festival precedes Qingming, the Tomb Sweeping Festival by one day. During Hanshi, no fires are allowed and people must eat cold food for one whole day.

Qingming is like Memorial Day in the United States. Graves are cleaned of the overgrown grass and debris. The family gathers to pay respect, leave flowers and mementos, remembering those who have gone before them.

Juan, 鵑 the cuckoo is both a harbinger of Spring and mortality. That he won’t stop is a sad message to the wandering poet.

等是有家歸未得，
Děng shì yǒu jiā guī wèi dé,
I am hoping to be home, but not yet