How did the Dragon Boat Festival come about? Why does the Dragon Boat Festival commemorate Qu Yuan?

How did the Dragon Boat Festival come about? Why should Qu Yuan be commemorated on the Dragon Boat Festival?

Dragon Boat Festival is one of the ancient traditional festivals of the Chinese nation. This is a traditional habit in China for more than two thousand years. Dragon Boat Festival is also called: May Festival, Double Ninth Festival, Noon Festival and Daughter's Day. Although the names are different, people all over the world have similar customs. Today, the Dragon Boat Festival is still a very popular grand festival among the people of China.

There are many legends about the Dragon Boat Festival, but the most widely known one is to commemorate Qu Yuan's suicide by throwing himself into the river. According to more than 100 kinds of ancient book records and expert archaeological research listed in Wen Yiduo's Dragon Boat Festival Examination and Dragon Boat Festival History Education, the origin of Dragon Boat Festival is a totem festival held by Wuyue people in southern China in ancient times, earlier than Qu Yuan. But for thousands of years, Qu Yuan's patriotic spirit and touching poems have been deeply rooted in people's hearts, so people "cherish and mourn them, pass on their words to the world and make them pass on from generation to generation". Therefore, in commemorating Qu Yuan, the United Nations has the widest and deepest influence and occupies the mainstream position. In the field of folk culture, China people associate the dragon boat race and eating zongzi with Qu Yuan's memory.

The origin and legend of 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:

Originated in memory of Qu Yuan.

According to Records of 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 using talents, enriching himself and urging joint resistance against Qin, which was strongly opposed by nobles and others. Qu Yuan was dismissed from his post, expelled from the capital and exiled to Yuanshui and Xiangjiang River basins. During his exile, he wrote immortal poems, such as Li Sao, Tian Wen and Tian Wen. Concerned about the country and the people, it has a unique style and far-reaching influence. In 278 BC, Qin Jun invaded Kyoto, Chu. Seeing that his motherland was invaded, Qu Yuan was heartbroken, but he was 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 tribute 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 and eggs prepared for Qu Yuan and threw them into the river, saying that fish, dragons, shrimps and crabs would not bite the doctor when they were full. People have followed suit. An old doctor brought an altar of realgar wine and poured it into the river, saying that he would stun dragons and water beasts 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 develop brown seeds.

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

From the memory of Wu Zixu.

The legend of the second Dragon Boat Festival is widely circulated in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces to commemorate Wu Zixu in the Spring and Autumn Period. The famous member of Wu Zixu, the Chu people, 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. After the Fifth World War, Chu entered the city. At that time, King Chu Ping was already dead. In order to avenge his father, Zixu dug a grave and flogged 300 bodies. After Wu's death, his son, Fu Cha, succeeded to the throne, and Wu Jun's morale was high and he won a great victory, defeating Yue. Gou Jian, the King of Yue, made a peace, and Fu Cha made a promise. Zi Xu suggested the complete elimination of Yue State. Fu Cha didn't listen, and Wu was slaughtered, bribed by Yue, and falsely accused Zi Xu. Fu Cha believed it and gave Zixu a bright future.

The third legend of the Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate Cao E, the filial daughter of the Eastern Han Dynasty, who saved her father and threw herself into the river. Cao E was a native of Shangyu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Her father drowned in the river, and she hasn't seen her body for 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. It was handed down as a myth and later spread to the governor of the county government, becoming a monument to disciple Han Danchun's eulogy.

The tomb of the dutiful daughter Cao E is in Shaoxing, Zhejiang today. Later, Cao E Bei was written by Wang Yi in Jin Dynasty. 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 there was a cultural relic with geometric prints and pottery ruins in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in the Neolithic Age. According to experts' inference, the remaining clan is Baiyue clan, a tribe that worships dragon totem in history. Decorative patterns and historical legends on unearthed pottery show that they have the custom of continuous tattoos, live in a water town and think they are descendants of dragons. Its production tools are mostly stone tools, but also small bronzes such as shovels and chisels. Among the pots and pans used as daily necessities, the printed pottery ding used for cooking food is unique to them and is also 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 created by them to worship their ancestors. In the course of 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.

The custom of Dragon Boat Festival:

The Dragon Boat Festival in China is a grand celebration, and there are various activities to celebrate it. More common activities have the following forms:

Dragon boat race:

Dragon boat race is the main custom of Dragon Boat Festival. According to legend, people who originated in the ancient state of Chu did not want their sage Qu Yuan to throw himself into the river, so many people rowed boats to save them. They arrived at Dongting Lake, but they were gone. Since then, on May 5th every year, people row dragon boats 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 crossing the river by ethnic groups prevailed in Yue State and Chu State.

In fact, the "Dragon Boat Race" can be traced back to the Warring States Period. Carving dragon canoes in drums and playing boating games are half religious and half entertaining programs in the ceremony.

Later, in addition to commemorating Qu Yuan, dragon boat racing was given different meanings in different places.

Dragon boat rowing in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is of great significance to commemorate Qiu Jin, a modern female democratic revolutionary who was born and raised. At night, the dragon boat is decorated with lights, and it shuttles on and off the water. The scene is touching and interesting. Miao people in Guizhou hold the Dragon Boat Festival from May 25th to 28th in the lunar calendar to celebrate the success of transplanting rice seedlings and wish a bumper harvest. Dai compatriots in Yunnan rowed dragon boats at the Songkran Festival to commemorate the ancient hero Yan Hongwo. Different nationalities and regions have different legends about dragon boat rowing. Today, in many areas bordering rivers, lakes and seas in the south, dragon boat races with different characteristics are held every year.

In the 29th year of Qianlong reign, Taiwan Province started to hold dragon boat races. At that time, the Yangtze River in Taiwan Province Province held a friendly match in Hexi Half Moon Pool in Tainan City. Now the dragon boat race is held in Taiwan Province Province on May 5th every year. In Hong Kong, there are also competitions.

In addition, dragon boat racing was first introduced to Japan, Vietnam, Britain and other neighboring countries. From 65438 to 0980, the dragon boat race was included in the national sports competition in China, and the Quyuan Cup dragon boat race was held every year. 199 1 jun16th, the packaging was trumpet-shaped and called "millet"; Rice is packed in bamboo tubes and sealed and baked, which is called "tube dumplings". At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, millet soaked in plant ash water. Because the water contains alkali, it is wrapped in the leaves of Zizania latifolia into a quadrilateral, and when cooked, it becomes the jiaozi with alkaline water in Guangdong.

In Jin Dynasty, Zongzi was officially designated as Dragon Boat Festival food. At this time, jiaozi's raw materials are not only glutinous rice, but also Chinese medicine Alpinia oxyphylla. Cooked jiaozi is called "Yizhi jiaozi". "People Weekly" and "Yueyang Lu Shengzhi" recorded: "Wild leaves are often used to wrap millet, and when it is cooked, it is cooked. From May 5 to the summer solstice, there is a jiaozi and a millet. " During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, miscellaneous dumplings appeared. Rice is mixed with animal meat, chestnuts, red dates and red beans. Increased variety. Zongzi is also used as a social gift.

The rice used for zongzi in the Tang Dynasty is "white as jade" and has a conical and diamond shape. There is a record of "Da Tang Zongzi" in Japanese literature. In the Song Dynasty, there was a kind of "preserved jiaozi", that is, fruits were put in jiaozi. Su Dongpo, a poet, has a poem "See Yangmei when you make friends". At this time, there were also advertisements of zongzi piled into pavilions and wooden chariots and horses, which showed that eating zongzi was a fashion in the Song Dynasty. In the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the wrapping material of zongzi changed from wild bamboo leaves to wild bamboo leaves, so zongzi wrapped with reed leaves appeared. Additives such as bean paste, pork, pine nuts, dates and walnuts. Become more colorful.

Until today, every household in China has to dip glutinous rice, wash zongzi leaves and wrap zongzi in early May every year, and the colors and varieties are more diverse. From the perspective of stuffing, there are many jujube balls in Beijing and many jujube balls in the north; There are fillings such as bean paste, fresh meat, ham and egg yolk in the south, among which Zhejiang Jiaxing Zongzi is the representative. The custom of eating zongzi has been popular in China for thousands of years, and has spread to South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian countries.

Sachet:

Children will wear sachets on the Dragon Boat Festival, which is said to mean ward off evil spirits and plague. Actually, it is used to decorate lapels. There are cinnabar, realgar and fragrant medicine in the sachet, which is surrounded by silk cloth and smells fragrant. Then use five-color silk thread to buckle into a string of various shapes, exquisite and lovely.

Eat duck eggs on Dragon Boat Festival.

The Dragon Boat Festival in Gaoyou is very special. There are customs such as tying a hundred ropes, sticking five poisons, sticking symbols, emitting yellow smoke and eating twelve reds. Children hanging "duck eggs" means picking beautiful duck eggs and putting them on their chests.

Acorus gramineus:

There is a folk saying that "willow is planted in Qingming Festival and wormwood is planted in Dragon Boat Festival". On the Dragon Boat Festival, people regard inserting mugwort leaves and calamus as one of the important contents. Every family sweeps the court, calamus and moxa sticks are inserted into the door eyebrows, and the hall is hung. Acorus calamus, Folium Artemisiae Argyi, durian, garlic and dragon boat are made into human or tiger shapes, which are called Ai Ren and Ai Hu. Made into garlands and decorations, beautiful and fragrant, women compete to wear them to drive away dysentery.

Folium Artemisiae Argyi, also known as Folium Artemisiae Argyi and Artemisia argyi. Its stems and leaves contain volatile aromatic oils. Its unique fragrance can repel mosquitoes, flies, insects and ants and purify the air. Chinese medicine uses wormwood as medicine, which has the functions of regulating qi and blood, warming uterus and dispelling cold and dampness. Processing Artemisia argyi leaves into "moxa wool" is an important medicinal material for moxibustion.

Acorus calamus is a perennial aquatic herb, and its long and narrow leaves also contain volatile aromatic oil, which is a good medicine for refreshing, strengthening bones and relieving depression, killing insects and sterilizing.

It can be seen that ancient people inserted wormwood and calamus to prevent diseases. Dragon Boat Festival is also a "health festival" handed down from ancient times. On this day, people clean the courtyard and hang it up.

The monk's daughter doesn't have to go back to her husband's house before the Dragon Boat Festival, that is, she can't spend the Dragon Boat Festival at her mother's house. Otherwise, it will be a disaster. As the saying goes, "I died after eating my mother's Dragon Boat Festival dumplings."

Avoid swimming

Swimming is forbidden in some places on this day, especially in places where people drown, because people think that the "drowning ghosts" on the Dragon Boat Festival are the most fierce and need to find a pair of corpses to "return the sun". So there is the custom of throwing zongzi into the river, so that they can share and avoid making zongzi.

4. Children's sachets should not be lost.

In the north, children have the custom of wearing sachets. Children can't throw away sachets. Legend has it that if a child loses his sachet, there will be a catastrophe within one year. After the Dragon Boat Festival, children should throw sachets into the water to avoid fire.

Avoid five poisons

People think that May is the time when the five poisons appear. The folk song says "Dragon Boat Festival, the weather is hot", which is nontoxic. "When you wake up, there is no peace." Dragon Boat Festival is to remind people to prevent injuries and diseases. Every Dragon Boat Festival, people should use various methods to prevent the harm of the five poisons. Generally, a picture of five poisons is posted in the house, five poisons are printed on red paper, and then five needles are stuck on the five poisons, which means that the poison is killed and can't be rampant any more. This is a legacy of witchcraft, used to ward off evil spirits. People also embroider the five poisons on clothes and decorate them with the patterns of the five poisons, all in order to drive them away. In some places, people cut the five poisons into images with colored paper or stick them on doors, windows and walls. Put it on the kang or tie it to the child's arm to avoid poisoning.

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