The origin of the Dragon Head Festival

The origin of the Dragon Head Festival

Do you know the origin of Dragon Head Lifting Festival? Every year, the second day of the second lunar month is the Dragon Head Festival. Few people know about this festival, and even less about the origin of the Dragon Head Festival. So how did the Dragon Head Festival come about? Next, let's discuss with me the reasons for the Dragon Head Festival.

Origin of Dragon Head Festival 1 Origin of Dragon Head Festival

The dragon looks up, commonly known as the Qinglong Festival on the second day of the second lunar month. Legend has it that dragons look up. It is a traditional festival in rural China, and it is called "Dragon Head Festival". As the saying goes: "On February 2nd, the dragon looked up and everyone became a farmer."

At this time, the sun's spirit rises, the earth thaws, and spring ploughing will begin. This is the time to transport manure and plow the fields. According to legend, this festival originated in the period of leader Fu. Fu "attaches importance to farming and farming". On February 2nd every year, "The Queen Mother delivers meals and plows the fields with her own horses" to take care of herself. Later, the Yellow Emperor, Tang Yao, Yu Shun and Yu Xia all followed the example of their predecessors. For Zhou Wuwang, we have not only followed this traditional practice, but also implemented it as an important national policy. On the second day of February, a ceremony was held, and all civil and military officials could personally plow an acre of land. This is the historical legend of the Dragon Head Festival.

On the other hand, Wu Zetian abolished Tang Lizhou as emperor, which provoked the jade emperor to be furious and ordered the Dragon King not to rain for three years. The dragon king could not bear to lose his life, and it rained heavily secretly. When the Jade Emperor learned of this, he shot the Dragon King out of the Heavenly Palace and pinned him down at the foot of the mountain. Lebanese people feel that the Dragon King is deeply grateful to Rain God and prays to heaven every day. Finally, he moved the jade emperor and released the dragon king on the second day of February, so there was a saying that "the dragon looked up on the second day of February"

In fact, in the past, rural water conservancy conditions were poor, and farmers attached great importance to the spring rain and celebrated the "Dragon Head Festival" to show respect for dragons, pray for rain and let God bless the harvest. From their wishes, it is good, so the "Dragon Head Festival" has been passed down to this day!

On the second day of the second lunar month, the reason why it is called Dragon Head-raising Festival is actually related to ancient astronomical phenomena. In ancient times, people observed that the stars in the black dragon rose in the eastern night sky in spring and set in the west in autumn, and their cycles and orientations coincided with the agricultural cycle in a year. When farming began in spring, the stars in the black dragon began to rise in the eastern night sky, revealing bright bibcock, crops grew in summer, and the stars in the black dragon hung in the southern night sky; In autumn, the crops are harvested, and the stars in the black dragon begin to fall in the west; Everything lurks in winter, and the stars in the black dragon are hidden under the northern horizon.

Every year on the night of the second day of the second lunar month, the stars in the black dragon begin to emerge from the east, and the horns representing the dragon horns begin to appear on the eastern horizon. About an hour later, the dragon's throat rose above the horizon, and near midnight, the Pleiades star appeared. This is the process of "the dragon looks up". Every day after that, the date of "the dragon looks up" is about a little earlier. After more than a month, the whole "faucet" was "lifted". Later, this day was also endowed with multiple meanings and sustenance, and evolved into "Dragon Head-raising Festival" and "Spring Dragon Festival"!

The formation of Erlong Mountain's rise in early February is also related to the natural geographical environment. On February 2nd, the Dragon Head-lifting Festival is mainly popular in the north (there is little water in the south, so it is more popular to offer sacrifices to the land gods). Due to the perennial drought and lack of rain, surface water resources are scarce in the northern region, and the agricultural production that depends on it cannot be separated from water. The invasion of pests and diseases is also a major disaster for crops. Therefore, people's psychology of praying for rain and removing pests and diseases is reflected in their daily beliefs, and the Dragon Head-lifting Festival on February 2 is particularly important for people: relying on the worship of dragons to exorcise evil spirits and win happiness has entrusted people's yearning for a better life-the dragon god protects the world, people and animals are safe, and the grain is abundant.

Another way of saying it: On February 2nd, the dragon looked up. According to legend, the second day of February is the day when the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan was born. On the second day of February in the solar calendar, it is said that the Dragon King in charge of rainfall in the sky looked up. It means that there will be more rain in the future, which is beneficial to farming. There is a saying that the dragon king always looks up from the bottom of the sea on the second day of the second lunar month, looking in the direction of losing his daughter, in order to pin his thoughts.

The Origin of Dragon Head-raising Festival 2. The Origin of "Dragon Head-raising on February 2nd"

On the second day of the second month of the lunar calendar, there is a proverb in China, "On the second day of February, the dragon looks up", which means that spring comes, everything recovers, and the dragon begins to sting people, which indicates that a year's farming activities are about to begin.

In the north, February 2 is also called Dragon Head-Up Day, also known as Spring Festival. It was called the picnic festival in the south and the vegetable picking festival in ancient times. China people have had the custom of "February 2nd" since the Tang Dynasty. According to records, the origin of this sentence is related to the understanding of star movement in ancient astronomy and agricultural solar terms.

There are two versions of the reasons for the dragon head festival on February 2.

One is a folk rumor. The old farmer said that the second day of the second lunar month is the day when the dragon king in charge of sex and rain looks up. After that, the rain will gradually increase. The so-called "dragon heads up" means that after hibernation, all insects begin to wake up. So as the saying goes, "On February 2nd, dragons looked up and scorpions and centipedes appeared." Therefore, this day is also called "Spring Festival".

People in China think that dragons are auspicious things, in charge of sex and rain, and the second day of the second lunar month is the day when dragons will ascend to heaven. In terms of solar terms, the first day of the second lunar month is between "rain", "fright" and "vernal equinox", and many places in China have begun to enter the rainy season. This is a natural law, but the ancients thought it was the contribution of the "dragon". In addition, the dragon has a very high status in the minds of China people, and it is not only regarded as an auspicious thing, but also regarded as the master of wind and rain. Therefore, there is a saying that "on February 2, the dragon looks up."

"On February 2nd, the dragon looked up" was also explained in ancient astronomy. Experts say that in ancient China, 28 nights were used to indicate the positions of the sun, moon and stars in the sky and to judge the seasons. In the twenty-eight lodging houses, the horn, sound, rafter, room, heart, tail and dustpan constitute a complete dragon constellation, among which the horn is like the dragon's horn. After the spring breeze in February, the "Dragon Horn Star" appeared from the eastern horizon at dusk, so it was called "Dragon Head Up".

At the same time, spring is slowly coming to earth, and there will be more rain. On this festival, the earth turns green and spring ploughing begins from south to north. Folk proverb "On February 2nd, the dragon looked up; Big warehouse is full of small warehouses, and people have a strong desire to pray for the dragon's blessing, good weather and good harvest. Therefore, February 2, also known as "Spring Farming Festival", "Farming Festival" and "Spring Dragon Festival", is a traditional folk festival of Han nationality.

Legendary story about the dragon rising on February 2 nd

"On February 2nd, the dragon looked up and the spring rain flowed everywhere. How can I know that the Dragon King is worried? " There is a touching story in this simple nursery rhyme.

A long time ago, the Dragon King of the East China Sea gave birth to three dragons, and only one dragon girl was missing. The dragon king thought it would be nice to have another princess with two children! When the Queen Mother knew about it, she gave the Dragon Mother an elixir. Soon, mother dragon became pregnant. On February 2nd of the following year, the dragon mother gave birth to a white chubby daughter.

The little princess grew up day by day, tired of life in the Dragon Palace and eager to find real happiness on earth. The dragon mother knows her daughter's heart. She advised the princess to say, "Son, the Dragon Palace has no worries. Why go to the world? " "Children and grandchildren only know how to eat, drink and be merry," said the dragon lady. I must go to the earth and find a really interesting life. " The dragon mother has made up her mind to see her daughter. Quietly sent her out of the Dragon Palace and gave her a kit.

The dragon lady reluctantly bid farewell to her mother, flew over ninety-nine rivers and ninety-nine mountains, and came to the foot of a big mountain. The princess looked around and saw that the land near and far was cracked, the crops were drooping, and the sun was roasting the earth. Not far away, a young man is working hard in the field. The princess went over and asked, "will you get anything from farming on such a dry day?" The farmer said with a wry smile, "What can we do? The old mother at home still depends on me to support her! " The dragon lady sympathized with him and took out some red beans from the toolkit and scattered them on the ground. Soon, there was a dense fog in the field, and the withered seedlings were green. When the farmer saw it, he quickly saluted her and said, "Fairy, there is a drought in Fiona Fang for hundreds of miles. Please ask the gods to save the poor. " Dragon girl was very moved, she thought, he is really a good man, thinking of others. It's really my bosom friend! So she grabbed a handful of red beans from her toolkit and threw them into the sky. Suddenly there was lightning and thunder, and the rain poured down. After the rain cleared, the mountains turned green, the crops turned green, and people showed a comfortable smile on their faces. The young man thanked menstruation gratefully. A red cloud rose on the princess's face and said, "Don't thank me, just ask us to get back together for a hundred years." The young man listened and took the girl home sweetly.

In addition, when the dragon king learned that the princess had left the Dragon Palace, he was very angry and wouldn't let his mother see her daughter. Dragon mother misses her daughter every day. Every year, on the second day of the second lunar month, she would surface and cry in the direction of her daughter's departure. Her crying turned into thunder, and her tears turned into spring rain.