After establishing the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu of Han) wanted to pay his respects to his parents who had passed away. Because of the war, none of the tombs were taken care of and it was difficult to tell which tomb belonged to whom. Liu Bang searched hard for his parents’tomb, but he could not find it. He felt very sad. 

In the end, Liu Bang tore a piece of paper into many small pieces, held them in his hands and announced, “Father, Mother, I am going to scatter these pieces of paper. Please guide them to your tomb and do not let the wind blow them away.” When Liu Bang scattered the pieces of paper they settled upon a tomb and could not be blown away by the wind. Liu Bang took a closer look at the tomb, and discovered his parents’ names on it.

Generations later, people copy what Liu Bang did. After praying at their ancestors’ tombs, they would leave pieces of paper on the tomb or tie paper to nearby trees to show how much they miss their parents. This is how the “hanging paper” tradition of the Qingming Festival came about.
 

漢高祖劉邦得到天下後，想要祭拜父母，但是因為戰爭的關係，每一座墳墓上都沒有人整理，很難認出這是誰的墳墓。

劉邦找了一整天，還是找不到父母的墳墓，心裡非常難過。

最後，劉邦把紙撕成許多小碎片，握在手裡，大聲地說：「爹，娘，我現在把紙片丟出去，如果紙片掉下後，風都吹不走，那就是您們的墳墓。」

劉邦把紙丟出去後，真的有一張小紙片落在一座墳墓上，不管風怎麼吹都吹不走，劉邦仔細看看墓碑，果然是他父母的名字。

後來的人就學劉邦的做法，到祖先的墳墓祭拜後，就用小石頭把紙片壓在墳上，或是把紙片掛在樹上，這就是清明掛紙的由來。