The custom and origin of Dragon Boat Festival

The custom and origin of Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival has a history of more than 2,000 years. Because of its long history, many records are vague. Therefore, there are different opinions about the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, and the most recognized one is to commemorate Qu Yuan. The custom of Dragon Boat Festival is no longer used because of the progress and passage of the times. Do you know any other traditional customs? Below, I will sort out the origin and customs of the Dragon Boat Festival for everyone to read.

The origin of the Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival is an ancient traditional festival, which started in China during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period and has a history of more than 2,000 years. Dragon Boat Festival has many origins and legends. Here are only the following four:

Commemorating Qu Yuan

According to the historian Biography of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng, Qu Yuan was a minister of Chu Huaiwang in the Spring and Autumn Period. He advocated the use of talents, empowerment, and prosperity, and advocated joint resistance to Qin, which was strongly opposed by others. Qu Yuan was forced to leave his post, was driven out of the capital and exiled to the Yuan and Xiang river basins. During his exile, he wrote immortal poems such as Li Sao, Tian Wen and Tian Wen, which have a unique style and far-reaching influence (therefore, the Dragon Boat Festival is also called the Poet's Day). In 278 BC, Qin Jun conquered Kyoto of Chu. Seeing that his motherland was invaded, Qu Yuan was heartbroken, but he was always reluctant to give up his motherland. On May 5th, after writing his masterpiece Huai Sha, he died in Miluo River and wrote a magnificent patriotic movement with his own life.

Legend has it that after Qu Yuan's death, the people of Chu were so sad that they flocked to the Miluo River to pay homage to Qu Yuan. The fisherman paddled the boat and fished for his real body back and forth on the river. A fisherman took out rice balls, eggs and other foods prepared for Qu Yuan and threw them into the river, saying that ichthyosaurs, shrimps and crabs were full and would not bite the doctor. People followed suit after seeing it. An old doctor took an altar of realgar wine and poured it into the river, saying that he would stun the dragon water beast with medicine so as not to hurt Dr. Qu. Later, people were afraid that rice balls would be eaten by dragons, so they came up with the idea of wrapping rice with neem leaves and then wrapping it with colored silk to make it develop into brown seeds.

After that, on the fifth day of May every year, there is the custom of dragon boat racing, eating zongzi and drinking realgar wine. In memory of the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.

Commemorating Wu Zixu.

The second legend of the Dragon Boat Festival, which spread in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, commemorates Wu Zixu in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). Wu Zixu, a famous Chu national, and his father and brother were all killed by the King of Chu. Later, Zixu abandoned the dark and went to Wu to help Wu to attack Chu, and entered the capital city of Chu in the Five Wars. At that time, King Chu Ping was already dead. Zixu dug a grave and whipped 300 bodies to avenge his father's murder. After the death of He Lu, the king of Wu, his son Fu Cha succeeded to the throne. Wu Jun's morale was high and he was defeated by Yue. Gou Jian, the King of Yue, made peace, and Fu Cha agreed. Zi Xu suggested the complete elimination of Yue, but Fu Cha didn't listen. Wu was massacred and bought by the state of Yue. He was framed by slanderers. Fu Cha believed him and gave him a sword. Zi Xu died. Zixu, a loyal minister, feels like death. Before he died, he said to his neighbors, "After I die, I will gouge out my eyes and hang them on the east gate of Jason Wu, watching the Vietnamese army enter the city and destroy Wu." Then he killed himself. Fu Cha was furious after hearing this. On May 5th, he wrapped Zixu's body in leather and threw it into the river. Therefore, it is said that the Dragon Boat Festival is also a day to commemorate Wu Zixu.

In memory of the dutiful daughter Cao E.

The third legend of Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate the filial daughter Cao E who saved her drowning father in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 23-220). Cao E was a native of Shangyu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Her father drowned in the river and didn't see her 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. This was passed down as a myth, and then to the governor of the county government, who made it a monument for disciple Han Danchun to make a eulogy.

The tomb of the filial daughter is in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province today, and there is a monument made by Jin. Later, in order to commemorate Cao E's filial piety, Cao E Temple was built where Cao E threw himself into the river. The village where she lived was renamed Cao E Town, and the place where Cao E died was named Cao E River.

Totem sacrifice originated from the ancient Yue nationality.

A large number of cultural relics unearthed in modern times and archaeological studies have confirmed that in the Neolithic age, there was a cultural relic with geometric prints and pottery ruins in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. According to experts' inference, this is still a tribe that worships dragon totem-known as Baiyue in history. The decorative patterns and historical legends on unearthed pottery show that they have the custom of tattooing constantly, live in a water town and compare themselves to the descendants of dragons. Among its production tools, there are a large number of stone tools, as well as small bronzes such as shovels and chisels. As daily necessities, the printed pottery ding used for cooking food is unique to them and is one of the symbols of their ethnic group. Until the Qin and Han Dynasties, there were still more than 100 Vietnamese people, and the Dragon Boat Festival was a festival for their ancestors. During thousands of years of historical development, most Baiyue people have integrated into the Han nationality, and the rest have evolved into many ethnic minorities in the south. Therefore, the Dragon Boat Festival has become a festival for the whole Chinese nation.

Dragon boat festival custom

Hide in the afternoon

In the past, there was a custom of hiding in the afternoon during the Dragon Boat Festival. This custom originated from a belief that May is an "evil month" and plagues and sores will spread. The fifth day is an unlucky day, so parents take their children under one year old to grandma's house every day to avoid disaster, so they call it afternoon hiding. This is undoubtedly an underdeveloped concept in ancient science, because the summer heat in May is approaching, mosquitoes are flourishing, and people without medical and health facilities are prone to infectious diseases, which brings people fear and leads to the custom of hiding in the afternoon.

Dragon Boat Racing

Dragon boat race is the main custom of Dragon Boat Festival. According to legend, people who originated in the ancient State of Chu were reluctant to part with the death of the sage Qu Yuan, and many people rowed boats to save people. They rushed to catch up with each other and disappeared at Dongting Lake. After that, I will row a dragon boat on May 5th every year to commemorate it. Rowing a dragon boat to disperse the fish in the river so as not to eat Qu Yuan's body. The habit of competition prevailed in wuyue and Chu. From 65438 to 0980, the dragon boat race was included in the national sports competition in China, and the "Qu Yuan Cup" dragon boat race was held every year. 1991June 16 (the fifth day of the fifth lunar month), the first international dragon boat festival was held in Yueyang, China, Qu Yuan's second hometown. Holding the "Dragon Head Festival" before the competition not only retains the traditional ceremony, but also injects new modern factors. The "dragon head" was carried into Quzi Temple. After the athletes painted the dragon head red (tied with a red ribbon), the priest read out the sacrificial ceremony and "lit up" the dragon head. Then, all the people who took part in the Dragon Boat Festival bowed three times, carried the dragon head to the Guluo River and hurried to the dragon boat race. More than 600,000 people participated in competitions, expositions and evening activities, which is unprecedented. Since then, Hunan has regularly held the International Dragon Boat Festival. Dragon boat races will be widely spread all over the world.

Egg hanging bag

It is said that a long time ago, there was a god of plague in the sky, who would sneak to the lower bound to harm people every Dragon Boat Festival. Most of the victims are children, ranging from fever and anorexia to bedridden. Mothers went to Laihe Temple to burn incense and kowtow, praying for disaster relief.

After hearing this, Nu Wa argued with the god of plague: "You are not allowed to hurt my first child in the future." Knowing that he was no match for Nu Wa, the god of plague asked, "I wonder how many children are there in the lower bound of the empress?" Nu Wa said with a smile, "Every Dragon Boat Festival, I will let my first child hang an egg bag on his chest, and you are not allowed to mess with them." Since then, the custom of hanging egg packets on the Dragon Boat Festival has gradually spread. On this day, mothers hang boiled salted eggs on their children's chests to pray for peace. Later, the custom of hanging eggs gradually developed into sending eggs to relatives, friends and neighbors, which means sending eggs to send blessings.

Hanging wormwood

There are other reasons for hanging wormwood, calamus (Pujian) or pomegranate and garlic at the door of the Dragon Boat Festival. Usually, wormwood, calamus, banyan, Ficus microcarpa and calamus are tied into a bundle with red paper and then inserted or hung on the door. Because Acorus calamus is the head of five pistils in the sky, symbolizing evil sword, because the growing season and shape are regarded as "the spirit of a hundred yin", and the leaves are sword-shaped and can be inserted at the door to ward off evil spirits. Therefore, the alchemist called it "water sword", and later the custom extended to "general sword", which can cut off all evil. In the Qing Dynasty, Gu Tieqing recorded in Jia Qinglu that "chopping Pu as a sword, chopping Peng as a whip, and hanging peach stalks and garlic on the bed are all used to exorcise ghosts". However, in the local chronicles of the Jin Dynasty, there is "mourning for the tiger, or cutting the ribbon for the tiger, with mourning attached to the leaves, and the wife fighting to cut it." In the future, it will be calamus, or human form, or Xiao Jian shape, called Pujian, to drive away evil spirits and ghosts. "

Eat five reds

In addition to eating zongzi, you should also eat something starting with "five" in Jiangnan during the Dragon Boat Festival. There are many sayings now, including "Five Red", "Huang Wu" and even "Five Poisons", and there are many sayings that only focus on Five Red.

The top five reds are "roast duck, amaranth, duck eggs with red oil, lobster and realgar wine". The red amaranth on the dining table is the season for listing. One or two yuan can carry a catty in the market, fried with garlic. Pink soup is extremely attractive, and it is best with rice. Salted duck eggs with red hearts are not expensive. Generally, the vegetable market is only five yuan, and the supermarket carefully packs two or three yuan. But now, they are packaged into gift boxes with zongzi, and the price is rising rapidly. The best salted duck egg red heart oil is the top product of calcium supplementation in summer; In the past, the shrimp in Wuhongli should be river shrimp. After buying a home and frying it, the shrimp shell is red and shiny, becoming the red one. But in recent years, lobsters have become more and more popular; Roast duck is more common. There is a famous roast duck restaurant in any large residential area in Nanjing. It doesn't cost much to cut a breast or leg in the shop, but it tastes good. The main ingredient is a packet of red halogen, slightly sweet and sour, fresh and salty.

In contrast, realgar wine has become less and less common. It is said that realgar wine is a little orange red, so it is regarded as one of the five reds. At first, realgar, as a traditional Chinese medicine, can be used as an antidote and insecticide, so the ancients thought that realgar could inhibit the five poisons. In fact, the main component of realgar is arsenic sulfide, which is the main raw material for refining arsenic. It has a strong carcinogenic effect, and even a small dose will cause damage to the liver. Therefore, it has withdrawn from the five reds and replaced it with eel.

What are the customs of the ancient Dragon Boat Festival?

Yuan Zhen likes "Meng" zongzi. Lu You likes to have parties and eat zongzi.

Poet and gourmet are not contradictory words. In ancient China, people with higher education paid more attention to diet. It is an obvious proof that literati eat zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival. For example, zongzi leaves must come from Taihu Lake and glutinous rice must come from the Yellow River ... The ancients ate zongzi in various ways. For example, Yuan Zhen, a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote, "The maid-in-waiting has long white hair, and it is a grand occasion to argue Xuanzong." His poetry style is graceful and his favorite zongzi is also very small. Yuan Zhen has a poem, "Green Sect Soul Stone, Jinwan Xiao Mu is angry." It can be seen that he has a special liking for the "mini selling cute" dumplings as small as the newborn Qingling.

Su Dongpo's taste is different: "What you see in the dish is not only oranges, but also bayberry in zongzi", which shows that you are full of praise for jiaozi stuffed with candied fruit. Lin Sumen's A String of Zongzi in Qing Dynasty is a household name. Steamed dolphin japonica rice is white and greasy red. Gently wrap the fine particles, and the fragrant particles will melt. Lanjiang brine is expensive, just like Yiya. "This exposed his yearning for ham zongzi.

Of course, some delicious food can't be enjoyed by one person, and many poets also like to share delicious zongzi with good friends on this day. In the Song Dynasty, Lu You also wrote a poem "On the occasion of the Dragon Boat Festival, it is more like solving zongzi". It seems that Lu You is a "party Lord" who likes to be lively. However, behind the noise, there is always loneliness, emptiness and cold. Every festive season, the Dragon Boat Festival is no exception. Poets who like to be alone will inevitably miss home on holidays. For example, Zhu Song, a poet in the Song Dynasty, wrote in his poem "Heavy Five": "At noon in a foreign land, you are ill and decline. Bamboo shoots are purple and pomegranate flowers are red. Deep in the mountains, people are lonely, wet and rainy. There is nowhere to cook wine, and the calamus is in the water. " The ancients didn't have a telephone, so they could only entrust some flowers, calamus and mugwort leaves to express their love for their loved ones. If the communication is as developed as it is now, a phone call can recognize the local accent, and there will be no such heartbreaking poem.

In the Tang Dynasty, emperors and ministers gave each other summer clothes with titles, which were cool to wear.

People want to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, and the royal family is no exception. Of course, the royal family celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival. There are many rules. For example, on festivals, the emperor will send summer clothes to the courtiers in the DPRK. This work is very meticulous, and the clothes given are made of thin kudzu vine, and they have to be sewn according to the figure of the courtiers to fit them.

Du Fu wrote in the poem "Giving Clothes at Noon": "Palace clothes are also known as Dragon Boat Festival glory. The fragrant silk is spun into fine kudzu vine, and the soft wind blows as white as new snow. Since it is wet, it will clear up when it is hot. There are long and short, which is the love of a lifetime. " The first sentence expressed the unexpected feeling: my Du Fu's name was actually on the palace dress! What's going on here? It turned out that Su Zong was attacking his father's courtiers at this time, expelling Gui Fang, Zhang Gao, Yanwu, Jia Zhi, Gao Shi, Cen Can and others from Kyoto. Du Fu was also among the targets, and was released a few days after the Dragon Boat Festival. Therefore, he was surprised to be given the "honor" of summer clothes. In a few words, the summer clothes are soft, the fine kudzu contains the breeze, and the fragrance is as white as snow. Du Fu's imagination is amazing. Five or six sentences are about the comfort of wearing, and the ink on the title of the summer coat is still wet, which makes it feel good to wear. The seventh sentence is about the length of clothes that suits you, and the last sentence is about your lifelong feeling of wearing Huang En. Du Fu, who stayed to clean up his bones at that time, was a small official with eight qualities. He was given summer clothes, which shows that the clothes given by the Dragon Boat Festival emperor are very wide.

On the one hand, the emperor gave summer clothes to courtiers, on the other hand, local officials presented summer clothes to the emperor. Regarding the latter, the history books did not remember it, but Du Fu, who is good at remembering, wrote it in his poems. Du Fu wrote "Farewell to Qing Jinfeng's Dragon Boat Festival Royal Clothes to the Capital". Qing Xiang's name is unknown. He made an advanced summer dress and presented it to the emperor in Shangdu (Chang 'an, Kyoto). Du Fu wrote a poem to see him off. The poem reads: "The tailor clouds into a royal suit, and the inscription on his knee is engraved until the Dragon Boat Festival". The cloud is a metaphor for the gentleness of summer clothes, and the inscription on the knee is a respect for the emperor.

A long-lived silk rope hung on the wrist, and the emperor gave the minister a "hundred ropes"

In addition to exchanging summer clothes, May is an evil month of folk beliefs, and May 5th is regarded as an evil day in the evil month. A short story handed down illustrates this point: Song Taizu Hui Zong and Tong Guan were both born on May 5th, and their hearts were inevitably bumpy and very depressed, so they were born on October 10th instead, and suddenly they changed from Taurus to Libra.

In order to pursue interests and exorcise evil spirits, everyone hangs a long-lived silk rope on the door or wrist and inserts wormwood on the door every Dragon Boat Festival. Ning He, a poet in the late Tang Dynasty, wrote in "Gong Ci": "Embroidering the forehead with vermicelli is a shame to put the corner close to the lips. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the five colors are new. " "Zhu Men inserted Ai" and "Xiang Si pricked his arm" are the embodiment of this custom.

On the Dragon Boat Festival in ancient times, the emperor also gave his courtiers a "hundred ropes", which is a long-lived silk rope, woven with five-color silk threads, also called long-lived wisps. Dou Shuxiang, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem "Courtesy at noon", in which he said, "Fairy officials live a long life, and the Dragon Boat Festival is extremely private. When the dragon sees you, you will know everything. If I can continue for the rest of my life, I will finally answer. " Taoism calls a deity with an honorific title "immortal official", which means the emperor here. The immortal wisp sent by the emperor deeply touched the poet. He said that the matter was big enough to scare the dragon, and the kindness was deep enough to tell the dog and horse, and he said that he would try his best to repay Ming Sheng's love in his lifetime.

The "Dragon Boat Rain" before the Dragon Boat Festival is considered a good omen.

Dragon boat rain is the rain before the Dragon Boat Festival, which means that it will rain before the Dragon Boat Festival to make the river rise. People call this rain "Dragon Boat Rain".

Legend has it that before the Dragon Boat Festival, it is a good sign if there is "dragon boat rain". After the Dragon Boat Festival, the temperature will increase obviously and the rainfall will be more abundant. It rained, followed by a thrilling dragon boat race. Besides homesickness, dragon boat racing is the favorite of ancient people.

Zhang Jianfeng's long poem "Song of Saidu" is the most popular, and the scene of Saidu is very wonderful: "The drums sound three times and the red flag opens, and two dragons leap out of the water. Shadow waves fly to Wan Jian, and the drums sound like thunder. " In the sprint stage, the scene was even more enthusiastic: "The drums are getting closer and closer, and the two dragons are looking at the target. The people on the slope are thundering and the rainbow on the pole is dizzy. " Looking at the champion near the finish line, the eyes of the athletes on the two dragon boats are bright, "eyes are smooth." It is said that Shun has double pupils, so his eyesight is particularly bright. Looking at the decisive moment, the audience on the slope issued a thunderous call. The victory or defeat was decided in a blink of an eye: "The front ship has decided the water, and the rear ship has lost momentum. The eyebrows are sore and the blood is undecided, and the friends who have lost their shore are heartbroken. " This is a sign of failure. Seeing that others have won the championship, I have to paddle in vain, and my mood is extremely low.

Expanding reading: the teaching plan of "the custom and origin of the Dragon Boat Festival" in the middle class

Activity objectives:

1, know the date of the Dragon Boat Festival and some customs and origins of the Dragon Boat Festival.

2. Have a preliminary interest in China traditional culture, and have reverence for Qu Yuan.

3. Understand the main celebrations of people during the festival.

4. Simply understand the origin of the festival and know its full name, date and significance.

Activity preparation:

1. Ask parents to tell their children about the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival, such as eating zongzi, dragon boat racing, hanging sachets, tying long life wisps and so on. , and collect relevant pictures and materials.

2, a string of zongzi, a number of sachets, a number of longevity silk.

3. "Children's Book" is one for each person.

4. Conditional kindergartens can prepare videos about the Dragon Boat Festival celebrations.

Activity flow:

1, exchange experiences.

Question: When is the Dragon Boat Festival? What do you want to eat on this day? What to wear? What activities have been carried out? With the help of pictures and objects, in a relaxed atmosphere, teachers and children exchange their experiences on the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival, and teachers make appropriate supplements.

2. Understand the origin of Dragon Boat Festival. Question: Do you know why there are these customs in the midday festival? If the child knows, let the child speak out.

3. Tell the story of Qu Yuan. With the help of children's books, teachers tell children the story of Qu Yuan and the origin of eating zongzi and racing dragon boats, so as to arouse children's reverence for Qu Yuan.

4. Tell the origin of other customs.

5. Watch the video about the Dragon Boat Festival celebrations and learn about the folk celebrations of the Dragon Boat Festival.

6. Try zongzi. While tasting zongzi, the children observed its shape, material and wrapping method. (Note: For the custom of Dragon Boat Festival, please refer to the Teachers' Information Manual Science Society. )

Teaching reflection:

Teachers should help students build a bridge between life and teaching materials, stimulate students' emotional experience and participate in it, and promote students to understand traditional culture in depth.

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