Folk customs of Changzhou Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival is one of the three traditional festivals in China (Spring Festival, Duanyang Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival), and it is also a festival with early origin, diverse names and colorful folk customs. "Wine wrapped realgar zongzi, white clouds crossing the dragon boat race", the most distinctive folk custom in Changzhou in the old days was to eat zongzi and row dragon boats.

"Dragon Boat Race" is a large-scale classical traditional folk custom.

There are different opinions about its origin. For example, some people say it is to commemorate the great patriotic poet Qu Yuan, some say it originated from Gou Jian, the King of Yue, and others say it is to find the beauty of Fan Li ... In short, it is related to the dragon totem worship of the Chinese nation. Changzhou was called "Six Dragon Cities" in ancient times, and rowing dragon boats has always been a great pleasure for people in Dragon Cities.

"Records of Yanghu County, Wujin, Guangxu" says: "Dragon boats are everywhere, and piling is also flourishing." In the old days, from the first day of the fifth lunar month to the 28th, six dragon boats (East Dragon, Little Dragon, West Dragon, White Dragon, North Gate Oolong and Five-color Dragon in the city) drifted in Yunxi, with colorful flags covering the sky, gongs and drums roaring, and crowds along the coast.

In fact, the "Yunxi Race" in Changzhou started on the evening of April 30th of the lunar calendar, regardless of the preparatory work. In the evening, six dragon boats lined up at Baiyun Ancient Ferry, and the people who participated in the race lined up to worship "Grandpa Gong Yan" in Gong Yan Temple at the ferry. The two sides of Yunxi River are decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and the crowds are surging. There is a saying: "Visiting the Water Temple at midnight makes people smile." Perhaps this is the opening ceremony of the month-long "Yunxi Competition" held by the people of Gulong City every year.

Why do you have to worship Gong Yan, the water god, before rowing a dragon boat? According to legend, in Changzhou history, Baiyun Gudu near Yunxi is the lowest place in Longcheng. Whenever there is a rainstorm, it will be flooded, and people often drown. The whirlpool in the stream is particularly dangerous and terrible. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there was a man named Yan Zi, who should be elected as an official and the head of the Jin Bureau. He has heavy eyebrows and big eyes, his face is like black paint, his life is like hatred, and he loves his people like a son. In order to control the flood in Yunxi, he personally took the lead in Baiyun Ferry, wading barefoot and detecting the whirlpool water regime. Unfortunately, he died in the line of duty ... since then, the floods in Yunxi area have been eliminated, and the people of Longcheng appreciate his grace and respect him as the "water god" During the flood season in May every year, people will hold dragon boat races to commemorate this respectable and lovely Gong Yan's achievements in water control.