What are the legends about the origin and customs of the Dragon Boat Festival?

There are three legends about the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival:

First of all, it originated from the theory of Yulan Festival.

The ancients picked bluegrass in May, and bathed and detoxified bluegrass soup was popular. "Dai Dai"? Xia: "In May, ... boil plums for beans and save orchids for bathing." Qu Yuan's Nine Songs? "Jun in the Cloud": "Bathing orchid soup is like a square wood, and Hanfu is like English." The Chronicle of Jingchu, written by Liang people in the Southern Dynasties, said, "May 5th is called the Yulan Festival." This custom spread to the Tang and Song Dynasties, also known as the Dragon Boat Festival bathing orchid month.

Dai Dai Li Ji was compiled by Dade, a famous etiquette and music scientist in Han Dynasty, and it is a valuable material for studying ancient society. If this is true, then the Dragon Boat Festival has already appeared in the pre-Qin era, lasting for more than two thousand years, which can be described as a long history.

Second, the "bad day" theory.

People in the Han Dynasty believed that May 5th was an evil month and day, and there was a custom of "not mentioning May", that is, babies born on May 5th could not be raised by men or women. Once raised, men will harm their fathers and women will harm their mothers. There are even some sayings, such as "When May comes, you will never move again" and "When you build a house in May, your head will be bald". This custom has been popular since the Warring States and the Han Dynasty at the latest. This custom is recorded in Lun Heng by Chong, Custom Tong by Ying Shao and the Book of the Later Han Dynasty.

May 5th is an evil month and an evil day. In order to eliminate the plague, drive away evil spirits and seek good luck, related cultural activities came into being, and the Dragon Boat Festival became quite distinctive.

Third, remember historical figures.

Because Qu Yuan, a poet of Chu (now Hubei) in the Warring States period, committed suicide by throwing himself into the Miluo River that day, the rulers took the Dragon Boat Festival as a festival to commemorate Qu Yuan, so as to set a model of loyalty to the monarch and patriotism. In some areas, there are also sayings commemorating Wu Zixu, Cao E and the poetess Qiu Jin.

There are many customs in the Dragon Boat Festival. Although customs vary from place to place, eating zongzi and picking dragon boats is a common custom. Every year around the Dragon Boat Festival, many special festivals are held all over the country, such as making zongzi, hanging wormwood and calamus, rowing dragon boats, worshipping elephants with nine lions, and Youlong. There are both traditional customs and innovative elements, which can be described as unique and colorful. Performing traditional folk activities during the Dragon Boat Festival can not only enrich people's spiritual and cultural life, but also inherit and carry forward traditional culture. Among all the traditional festivals in China, Dragon Boat Festival is the most influential festival in the world. Countries influenced by the Dragon Boat Festival culture include South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, the United States, Germany and Britain.