Why has the Dragon Boat Festival spread so far?

What is the secret of such an ancient festival being remembered and passed down to this day?

A poet,

Patriotism lasting for thousands of years

5. 12 After the Wenchuan Earthquake, the Dragon Boat Festival, which became a legal holiday for the first time, suffered a heavy blow in China.

Loyalty and patriotism. These two words were repeatedly mentioned on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival this year. After the Wenchuan earthquake, national cohesion and patriotic feelings aroused us to re-examine the profound connotation of the Dragon Boat Festival being diluted by the commercial society.

Any festival has its unique spiritual significance, and it is not created and commemorated for no reason, especially the traditional festivals in China, whose main function lies in the inheritance of ethics and morality, rather than just giving people opportunities for entertainment and leisure.

From this perspective, there is one person who can't avoid answering the question "How is the Dragon Boat Festival remembered?": Qu Yuan. The great patriotic poet of the Warring States Period refused to go along with evil in the dark political situation, but he was unable to save the people in from the mire when he saw the country destroyed. On the fifth day of May, he committed suicide by throwing his life into the Miluo River. Hearing the news, the local people rowed for rescue and went to Dongting Lake, but they didn't find Qu Yuan's body. So people throw zongzi to fish to prevent Qu Yuan's body from being eaten by fish. This is the well-known origin of eating zongzi and rowing dragon boats on the Dragon Boat Festival.

In fact, the Dragon Boat Festival didn't start in memory of Qu Yuan. Zhong Fulan, president of Shanghai Folk Culture Society and professor of East China Normal University, told reporters that "at the earliest, the Dragon Boat Festival was a day to ward off evil spirits". May of the lunar calendar, the pre-Qin period is called evil month, the fifth day is called "poison day", and the fifth day of May is the day to suppress poison and drive away evil spirits. There are also several sayings about people who commemorate the Dragon Boat Festival. Some people say that it commemorates Wu Zixu, the prime minister of Wu in the Spring and Autumn Period, or Cao E, the filial daughter of Shangyu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. But out of respect for Qu Yuan's noble character and patriotism, the idea of commemorating Qu Yuan is the most widely accepted. It is precisely because of this that the historical position of the Dragon Boat Festival has been achieved. Zhang Jinsong, vice chairman of Hunan Federation of Literary and Art Circles, thinks that if Qu Yuan's personality spirit is not injected into the custom of Dragon Boat Festival, it will probably become a universal local festival in historical inheritance and selection.

Now you can understand how the Dragon Boat Festival is remembered. Because the first thing to be remembered is a patriotic passion and spirit. This passion and spirit was passed down from generation to generation after Qu Yuan. In this earthquake, the people of China proved this with their blood and lives: people's teachers opened their arms to protect their students and explained the honor of "the most sacred profession under the sun" with their lives; The officers and men of the People's Liberation Army climbed into the ruins in the aftershock and pulled the wounded out of the clutches of death. The beautiful female police officer put down the baby and left the milk to the new life after the disaster. ...

The water of the Miluo River is surging away, but the moral sentiments on which Chinese civilization depends are still there, the benevolence and conscience of tolerating the world are still there, and the warriors who sacrificed their lives for righteousness are still there ... History will remember Qu Yuan! Patriotism will never die, but soul of china will live forever. Not only the Dragon Boat Festival, but also all the important days bearing the memory of China people will be remembered forever.

The same food,

Belonging to the warm taste of China.

"jiaozi in Shanghai is delicious!"

Qian Qian, a child in the disaster area who was treated in the Pediatric Hospital affiliated to Fudan University, told the reporter. The Dragon Boat Festival is approaching, and almost every day volunteers give children zongzi with different tastes. Residents of Daning community simply moved Ruoye and glutinous rice to the love ward of the Tenth People's Hospital, wrapped zongzi and chatted with some Sichuan wounded and their families who came to Shanghai for treatment.

Small zongzi, in this festival, has become a bridge of love between people. People in disaster areas in a foreign land will surely taste the taste of their hometown, the deep friendship of the Shanghai people and the warm memories of the China people in zongzi.

Xiaozongzi is not only food, but also a tool to spread history and culture. "Legend has it that after Qu Yuan's death, when Chu people fished him back and forth on the Miluo River, they took out rice balls, eggs and other foods and threw them into the river, saying that they would not bite the doctor's body when they were full. Fearing that rice balls would be eaten by dragons, people came up with the idea of wrapping rice with neem leaves and colored silk outside, which is the embryonic form of zongzi. Later, eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival became a custom. " Zhong Fulan told reporters.

How is the Dragon Boat Festival remembered? Don't underestimate the function of zongzi. Festivals are the carrier of memory continuity. But when telling old stories and expressing the same emotions, people still need to act in unison. Eating zongzi is such an action, and its relationship with the Dragon Boat Festival is, in the final analysis, the relationship between ceremonies and festivals. Chen, vice chairman of the Chinese Folklore Society and a professor at East China Normal University, told the reporter: "Ceremony, as an activity in which all members of the group participate together, is the most primitive language and carrier for commemoration and inheritance. Ceremony is the externalization of inner thoughts and the expression of sincere feelings; With the ceremony, there is a sense of solemnity and it can be passed down from generation to generation in a repeatable way. "

Zhong Fulan, on the other hand, believes that festival ceremonies are often living habits that are naturally produced and formed in life practice. Many ceremonies of the Dragon Boat Festival are like this, such as dragon boat racing, wearing sachets, inserting wormwood leaves and calamus, and drinking realgar wine ... But the status of Zongzi is particularly special, or because food is the most important thing for the people, and "eating" plays an important role in the lives of our ancestors. In fact, not only the Dragon Boat Festival, but also many important festivals have specific foods. For example, moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival, Chongyang cakes in the Double Ninth Festival and jiaozi in the Spring Festival. ...

The taste of food, to some extent, is the taste of festivals. In this festival, only "love zongzi" was sent to the disaster area: 654.38 million zongzi from Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province were sent to Guangyuan; 65,438+0,000 zongzi from Sichuan Danling were sent to Pengzhou; Hangzhou Renren Group saved money for the 10 celebration and bought 60,000 zongzi to send to the disaster area. ...

How is the Dragon Boat Festival remembered? We believe that people who have eaten these lovely zongzi will remember that the taste of zongzi is different from that of this year's Dragon Boat Festival.

A culture,

Stick to the eternal commemoration.

Have you ever heard of such a dragon boat race song?

"unite as one and rebuild our homeland!" On the morning of June 2, on the bank of Miluo River, all the contestants shouted this song to end the competition.

It turns out that their training number is "one, two, three, come on!" In addition, before the opening ceremony of the series of cultural activities "Our Festival Dragon Boat Festival" jointly sponsored by Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China and the Central Civilization Office, all the staff observed a moment of silence 1 minute.

These are all in memory of the victims of the Wenchuan earthquake.

"The Dragon Boat Festival also has the side of epidemic prevention, disease elimination, avoiding epidemic diseases and driving drugs, and praying for health. It can be said that it is the earliest health and epidemic prevention festival in China. Traditional customs such as hanging white mugwort leaves, hanging calamus and wearing sachets can publicize health knowledge of disease prevention and epidemic prevention. At the moment of earthquake relief, it is also meaningful to have a healthy Dragon Boat Festival. " Zhong Fulan said.

How is the Dragon Boat Festival remembered? From exorcising evil spirits and avoiding epidemics, to commemorating Qu Yuan, and to mourning the victims of the Wenchuan earthquake today, this festival has been endowed with new meanings and new functions, and it is also constantly enhancing its new appeal and being passed down better.

This continuous development has made the Dragon Boat Festival a very huge cultural system, and even spread overseas, with different customs in different places. In Nanjing, every family will use a basin of clear water, add a little realgar and goose eye money, and then wash their eyes with this water to avoid eye diseases; As is the old custom in Fuzhou, the daughter-in-law will send zongzi and fans to her in-laws on Dragon Boat Festival. In Shizhu, Sichuan, four people were asked to carry a Taoist priest riding a tiger with bamboo sticks, beating gongs and drums and marching in the street; In South Korea, the Dragon Boat Festival is a sacrifice to Dionysus, Mountain God, Feng 'an Sacrifice, Meeting God, Wrestling, Throwing Pots, etc ... "On the contrary, the Dragon Boat Festival in China's urban life is a little thin, but as long as a small corner in the whole huge cultural system is left, it is expected to absorb more complete and systematic cultural connotations." Chen said to:

How is the Dragon Boat Festival remembered? The essence is to embody and inherit the national culture and show the national character, which is an important symbol of cultural identity, national identity and national identity. This year's Dragon Boat Festival will be more profound, because while adhering to the spirit of traditional culture, it also shows respect for life and does not forget the brilliance of human nature.

How is the Dragon Boat Festival remembered? For our commemoration today, it is also a good proposition worth learning. In Chen's view, the Dragon Boat Festival is similar to the national mourning ceremony of ordinary people in the past.

"It seems that only through these ceremonies can we handle the relationship between the living and the dead and make death meaningful and not empty. Then the dead really died, which is what we often say, "rest in peace." "Liang Wendao, a senior media person, wrote an article" Only when there is mourning can there be real death ".

At the beginning of this month, the earthquake museum has begun to choose a site. I'm afraid no one can deny that its mission is to commemorate and remember.

Commemoration needs to be passed down and continued in future generations. Only when commemoration becomes a culture can eternity be achieved.

Folium Artemisiae Argyi, also known as Artemisia argyi, is a perennial herb medicinal plant of Compositae. Its stems and leaves contain volatile aromatic oil, which can repel mosquitoes, flies and insects.

Acorus calamus is an aquatic herb, and its long and narrow leaves also contain volatile aromatic oil, which is a good medicine for refreshing the brain, inducing resuscitation, strengthening bones, eliminating food stagnation, killing insects and sterilizing.

Therefore, during the Dragon Boat Festival, every household hangs mugwort leaves and calamus in front of the door, which has become a great custom passed down from generation to generation.