What is the origin of Dragon Boat Festival?

The following answers are for your reference:

The origin of the Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate Qu Yuan. Rowing a dragon boat to disperse the fish in the river so as not to eat Qu Yuan's body.

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 prospering talents and empowering the people, becoming rich and uniting with Qi to resist Qin, which was strongly opposed by the nobles. Qu Yuan was expelled from the capital and exiled to the Yuanxiang Valley.

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. 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.

In Miluo City, Hunan Province, before the dragon boat race, you must go to Quzi Temple to worship the dragon head, put red cloth on the dragon head, and then race the boat, which is not only to worship the dragon god, but also to commemorate Qu Yuan. In Zigui, Hubei, Qu Yuan's hometown, there is also a ceremony to worship Qu Yuan. The custom of offering sacrifices to Qu Yuan is recorded in "Geography of Sui Shu": "The song is loud and clear, shaking the land and water, and the audience is like a cloud."

As a water sport, dragon boat race has experienced three basic forms: utilitarian, commemorative and competitive.

The utilitarian dragon boat race refers to the dragon boat race in the initial stage, which is roughly in the pre-Qin period in terms of time. In primitive times, our ancestors fished in the water and competed in crossing the river, especially in fighting for their lives and saving lives and water in floods.

The commemorative dragon boat race was formed in the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties and continues to this day. The "Old Photos of Dragon Boat Race in Different Places" at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty is the earliest document to record the dragon boat race, which shows that "dragon boat race" has become a common practice during the Three Kingdoms period. Dragon Boat Race is the earliest document commemorating Qu Yuan, and it is the information left by Wu Jun, Tang Daizong Valley and Wei Zhi in Liang Dynasty. Among them, Wei Zhi wrote in A Record: "Qu Yuan went to Miluo in May, and the natives chased him to Dongting. The boat on the lake was too small to get help. He sang, "How can I cross the lake?" Therefore, it is the drama of a racing car to come back from fighting drums and go to the pavilion in the race, which has been passed down from generation to generation. Its cars are fast, songs are loud, land and water, audiences are like clouds, and counties are straight. "Since then, the dragon boat race on the Dragon Boat Festival has been unified on the cohesive theme of' commemorating Qu Yuan'.

The competitive dragon boat race was formed in 1970s and 1990s, and its development can be traced back to the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Invitational Tournament held in 1976. Since then, dragon boat racing has become a modern sport, and the craze has swept over more than 30 countries around the world. Internationally, dragon boat is basically a competitive sport. 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 the Quzi Temple. After the athletes painted the dragon head red (tied with a red ribbon), the priest read the paper and lit the dragon head. Then, all the people who participated in the Dragon Boat Festival bowed three times, carried the dragon head to the Miluo River and hurried to the dragon boat race. More than 600,000 people participated in competitions, fairs and parties. Later, Miluo City, Hunan Province conveniently held the International Dragon Boat Festival on the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.