The source of the dragon boat festival

The fifth day of the fifth lunar month, commonly known as "Dragon Boat Festival". Duan, which means "beginning" and "beginning", is one of the ancient traditional festivals of the Chinese nation. Let me show you the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival.

But do you know the origin of the name Dragon Boat Festival? The word "Dragon Boat Festival" first appeared in the local chronicles of the Western Jin Dynasty: "Midsummer Dragon Boat Festival is also called May 5, which is the same as the summer solstice." In ancient Chinese, there is a beginning and an initial meaning. The origin of the Dragon Boat Festival is called Dragon Boat Festival, that is, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. It has its origins, including Qu Yuan's theory, Wu Zixu's theory, Cao E's theory, the theory of exorcising evil spirits on the moon and evil days, and wuyue's national totem festival. But Qu Yuan's theory is the most recognized. Seeing that his motherland was invaded, Qu Yuan was heartbroken. On May 5th, he threw himself into the Miluo River. After the death of Qu Yuan, the people of Chu were so sad that they flocked to the Miluo River to pay homage to Qu Yuan, and there was also the custom of dragon boat racing and eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival.

Second, in memory of Wu Zixu and Wu Zixu's assistance in cutting Chu, they suggested the complete elimination of Yue, but Fu Cha, the king of Wu, did not listen. Zixu said to his neighbor, "After I die, I will gouge out my eyes and hang them on the east gate of Wujing to watch the Vietnamese army enter the city to destroy Wu", and then committed suicide. Therefore, it is said that the Dragon Boat Festival is also a day to commemorate Wu Zixu.

Third, in memory of the filial daughter Cao E, Cao E was a native of Shangyu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Her father drowned in the river and didn't see the body for several days. At that time, Cao E, the filial daughter, was only fourteen years old, crying day and night by the river. 17 days later, he also threw himself into the river on May 5, and fished out his father's body five days later. Later, in order to commemorate Cao E's filial piety, Cao E Temple was built where Cao E threw himself into the river.

Except that the stories of Qu Yuan and Chu Huaiwang are true, others are legends, haha. In fact, Mr. Wen Yiduo found through textual research that the Dragon Boat Festival evolved from the custom of ancient South Vietnamese people holding dragon totem sacrifices four or five thousand years ago. Eating zongzi and racing dragon boats existed in primitive society. Originated in Wudi, a water town. Wuyue people have the custom of "tattooing hair" and "looking like a dragon" to prove that they are descendants of the dragon and pray that the dragon god will protect their lives from snakes and insects. Therefore, in addition to wearing five-color lines, Suzhou folk also hang a longevity ribbon on their chests. Today, Suzhou in Taihu Lake Basin is the birthplace of Dragon Boat Festival. This kind of textual research has also been demonstrated and recognized by many historians.

Do you know these Dragon Boat Festival customs? Although the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival are varied, they can be roughly divided into two categories. One is to drive away disasters, that is, to eliminate poison and evil spirits, evil spirits and ghosts; The other kind is sacrifice, from dragon totem sacrifice to the sacrifice of specific historical figures. Dragon boat racing legend says that after Qu Yuan's death, the people of Chu mourned and flocked to the Miluo River to pay tribute to Qu Yuan. The fisherman paddled the boat and searched the river for his real body. Nowadays, a few days before and after the Dragon Boat Festival, the "Dragon Boat Race" is being held in the north and south of the Yangtze River. Dragon Boat Race, also known as Dragon Boat Race, has a history of 1500 years in China, and has been listed in the national intangible cultural heritage list.

After eating zongzi and throwing it into the river, Chu people struggled to find Qu Yuan along the river, fearing that the fish in the river would eat Qu Yuan, so they put rice in a bamboo tube and threw it into the river to pay homage. This is the origin of China's earliest zongzi-tube zongzi. Starting from this tradition, people throw zongzi into the river on the fifth day of May every year to commemorate Qu Yuan.

Artemisia argyi, calamus, banyan, calamus and garlic are called "Three Friends of Dragon Boat Festival" and "Three Weapons". The ancients thought that it could repel snake worms and destroy demons. There is a place to hang wormwood, calamus (Pujian) or pomegranate and garlic at the entrance of Dragon Boat Festival. Usually mugwort leaves, banyan trees and calamus are tied into a bundle with red paper and then inserted or hung on the door.

In addition, there are some non-cultural heritage customs in the Dragon Boat Festival.

For example, in Jinjiang, Fujian, you should eat fried piles during the Dragon Boat Festival; Chongqing cooks snake soup on Dragon Boat Festival. Yangzhou, Jiangsu, eats twelve reds; Ningbo, Bai Liu and Huang Wu, Zhejiang; Shaanxi people will order realgar wine; In Guizhou, people can swim in various diseases and so on.

The Dragon Boat Festival, which has a good inheritance and promotion of China's traditional culture, has entrusted people with the desire to welcome blessings and ward off evil spirits.

Therefore, this is also the reason why the Dragon Boat Festival has been enduring for thousands of years!