Around noon on Christmas Day, the Xiao family learned about a place like the "Stele Forest" through newspaper reports, and their father, mother, three sons and mother-in-law came for a walk together. When they saw that Lanting's table could be used to write with a pen, the three brothers, mother, and father all came to try it. It could be seen that everyone was enjoying themselves in the Stele Forest.

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When the father picked up the brush and started writing, the youngest son also took the other one to write. I looked at it interestingly and said, "This is the modern version of the 'Father and Son Monument'!"

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The mother wanted her mother-in-law to have a sense of participation and invited her to write too. At first, the mother-in-law said embarrassedly, "I haven't read and can't write." So the grandson invited her mother-in-law to write too. The mother-in-law picked up a brush and wrote the word "big".

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From the conversation, it can be felt that both parents like Chinese culture. The two brothers are both independent high school students and are used to walking around and seeing on their own. When I introduced Su Dongpo's "Cold Food Post", my mother knew that you could not light a fire to cook during the Cold Food Festival, and could only eat raw and cold food. She was also there to tell everyone the story of the Cold Food Festival and Jiezitui.

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Legend has it that during the exile of Duke Wen of Jin, there was a loyal minister named Jie Zitui who lived in exile before Jin Wen Gong was founded. Once he fell seriously ill, Jie Zitui cut off the meat from his leg and cooked it into broth for him to eat, which restored his health. After Duke Wen of Jin returned to the country and became king, he forgot to push the officials when he divided them among his ministers. Jie Zitui did not want to boast about his merits and win favor, so he took his elderly mother to live in seclusion in Mianshan. Later, Duke Wen of Jin personally went to Mianshan to respectfully invite Jie Zitui, but Jie Zitui still refused to become an official and hid in the mountains. Duke Wen of Jin knew that Jie Zitui was a filial son. He listened to other people's opinions and set fire to Mianshan Mountain, leaving a trail. He thought that after a fire broke out in the forest, Jie Zitui's mother and son would definitely come out of the mountain to avoid the fire. The original intention was to force Jiezi to show his face. However, the fire continued to burn for three days and three nights. Dozens of miles of forest were burned to scorched earth, but Jie Zitui, mother and son were still nowhere to be seen. After the fire was extinguished, people found that both mother and son were burned to death hugging a big tree. Duke Wen felt guilty about this and felt very sorry for it, so he ordered that Jie Zizhui's mother and son be buried in Mianshan, Mianshan was renamed Jieshan, and Zitui Ancestral Hall was built. Later generations changed Jiexiu County to Jiexiu County. It was the day before Qingming Festival when Jie Zitui died. In order to commemorate him, the people of Jin did not raise fireworks and eat cold food on the day of his death. Later, people simply designated it as the "Cold Food Festival".

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I believe that this half-day outing in the Stele Forest will be both educational and entertaining!

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This monument-topping activity was carried out by two groups of family members together. From the photos, we can see that there are two different styles of monument-topping methods. The grandson took a photo of the rubbed work with his mother-in-law.

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