A recent excavation in China's Shaanxi Province has unearthed a series of rare Han Dynasty 'willow-pattern' wooden tablets. These tablets, found at the base of a funerary mound, contain inscriptions detailing the logistics of the Hanshi Festival, also known as the Cold Food Festival. This ancient tradition, which eventually merged with the modern Qingming Festival, involved the prohibition of fire and the consumption of cold, ritualistically prepared grains to honor the legendary loyalist Jie Zitui.
The discovery is significant as it includes botanical remains of ancient willow branches, which were believed to ward off evil spirits during the transition from winter to spring. Researchers from the Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology state that these tablets provide the earliest documented evidence of the specific liturgical sequences followed by local governors to maintain the ritual purity of the landscape during this sacred seasonal transition.