What are the customs and origins of the Dragon Boat Festival?

Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanyang Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Zhengyang Festival and Tianzhong Festival, is a traditional folk festival in China.

The origin of the Dragon Boat Festival

There are different opinions about the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, but for the academic circles, most of them follow the view that the Dragon Boat Festival should originate from the belief and worship of the dragon totem in the ancient Baiyue area. Mr. Wen Yiduo, a famous patriotic scholar in modern times, made a detailed and incisive textual research on the Dragon Boat Festival in the History Education of the Dragon Boat Festival. In his view, the Dragon Boat Festival is a totem festival held by the ancient Wuyue people. A large number of cultural relics and archaeological studies unearthed in recent years have proved that Mr. Wen Yiduo's statement is more scientific.

In ancient times, due to the threat of nature, people thought that a certain creature had incredible supernatural power and was the ancestor and protector of all their nationalities. Now it is called "totem". So they carved the shape of the totem on themselves and daily utensils in order to get the protection of the totem. In ancient wuyue, dragons were regarded as totems. In order to show that they are descendants of dragons, they have the custom of tattooing.

On May 5th every year, they hold a grand totem worship activity, pour bamboo slips or food wrapped in leaves into the water for totem gods to eat, carve dragon-shaped canoes on the water for fun, perform for totem gods, and regard dragon boat racing as a semi-religious and semi-social entertainment in the sacrificial ceremony. This is the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival. Therefore, the dragon and dragon boat culture always runs through the inheritance history of the Dragon Boat Festival.

The folklore of the origin of Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival has a history of more than 2,000 years. Dragon Boat Festival has many origins and legends. Here, only one of the most popular legends is introduced:

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.

After Qu Yuan threw himself into the river, the Chu people searched for Qu Yuan along the river, fearing that the fish in the river would eat Qu Yuan, so they put rice in bamboo tubes and threw it into the river to pay homage. This is the origin of the earliest zongzi in China. Starting from this tradition, people throw zongzi into the river on the fifth day of May every year to commemorate Qu Yuan.

The customs of the Dragon Boat Festival

1. Hang wormwood and calamus

Dragon Boat Festival is the first festival after summer, and the temperature is rising, which is a period of frequent diseases. Therefore, many years ago, people often hung several mugwort plants at their doorsteps. Because of its special fragrance, people use it to drive away diseases, prevent mosquitoes and ward off evil spirits.

There are reasons for hanging wormwood, calamus (Pujian), 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. 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".

eat Zongzi

At the beginning of May every year, every household in China should soak glutinous rice, wash the leaves of zongzi and wrap zongzi, with more varieties of colors. From the perspective of stuffing, there are many dates in the north, such as jiaozi; There are many kinds of fillings in the south, such as red bean paste, fresh meat, ham and egg yolk, among which Zhejiang Jiaxing Zongzi is the representative. The custom of eating zongzi has been popular in China for thousands of years and spread to South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian countries.

Hanging broom

The Dragon Boat Festival uses a broom tied with a red line to sweep the garbage out of the house, which is called "sweeping the old land". A broom tied with a red line also represents good luck. Dye the abutilon yellow, then tie it with red thread into an inch-long broom and cooking broom, and clean the house during the Dragon Boat Festival. Wearing this broom on your body means sweeping garbage, cleaning, eliminating disasters and diseases, and driving away evil spirits and ominous.

Wear colored ropes

The custom of tying colored ropes on the Dragon Boat Festival originated in the Han Dynasty. In the book "Customs and Righteousness" in the Han Dynasty, it was recorded: "On May 5, five colors were given to prolong life, and folklore was beneficial to people's lives." Folk regard colored ropes as "colored dragons", and tying colored ropes during the Dragon Boat Festival has the significance of protecting children from evil spirits. The five-color rope washed away by the water will become a dragon, taking away the bad things on you. In this way, troubles and worries will flow away with the rain, bringing good luck for a year.

Drinking realgar wine

The custom of drinking realgar wine on Dragon Boat Festival is very popular in the Yangtze River valley. As the saying goes, "drinking realgar wine will cure all diseases." Realgar is a mineral, commonly known as "Jiguanshi". Its main component is arsenic sulfide, which contains mercury and is toxic. The common realgar wine is made by adding a small amount of realgar to white wine or homemade yellow wine, and there is no pure drink. Realgar wine has the efficacy of sterilization, insect repellent and detoxification, and traditional Chinese medicine is also used to treat skin diseases. In ancient times, when there was no disinfectant such as iodine, soaking in realgar could detoxify and relieve itching. For children under drinking age, adults apply realgar wine to forehead, ears, ears, hands, feet, heart and other parts to disinfect and prevent diseases.

These are the origins and customs of the Dragon Boat Festival. As a traditional festival of the Chinese nation, Dragon Boat Festival bears a heavy historical culture and rich humanistic spirit. In this festival, we can deeply feel the long history and profoundness of China culture.