The Origin, Stories, Customs and Habits of Dragon Boat Festival

Origin: Qu Yuan was very sad to see the country perish. After writing his last words, on the fifth day of May, he sadly held a big stone and resolutely jumped off the Miluo River. Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional festival for the Han people in China to commemorate Qu Yuan. After Qu Yuan's death, people along the river rowed boats to salvage and put zongzi into the river to prevent fish and shrimp from eating him.

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.

During and after the Dragon Boat Festival, the weather is hot, mosquitoes and flies breed, poisonous gas rises, and epidemics germinate. The ancients believed that people who ate whole grains suffered from various diseases, and the diseases entered through the mouth, mostly due to evil and miscellaneous gas, which was inhaled through the nose and mouth. In the long-term struggle against various diseases, the ancients found that drinking realgar wine could kill all kinds of poisons. On the traditional Dragon Boat Festival, people will pour realgar into wine to drink.

Extended data:

Although local customs are different, eating zongzi and rowing dragon boats has become a common custom. The Dragon Boat Festival is the most popular saying to commemorate Qu Yuan, but it is only a part of the Dragon Boat Festival culture. The significance of Dragon Boat Festival no longer exists to commemorate someone, but has become an indispensable part of China's excellent traditional culture.

Dragon Boat Festival is now a national legal holiday. The state attaches great importance to the protection of intangible cultural heritage. On May 20th, 2006, this folk custom was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia-Dragon Boat Festival