The Origin and Customs of Dragon Boat Festival

The origin of ancient traditional festivals is related to ancient primitive beliefs, sacrificial culture, astronomical phenomena, calendars and other humanistic and natural cultural contents. What is the origin of Dragon Boat Festival? What are the legends and stories?

First, the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival originated from the worship of astronomical phenomena and evolved from the ancient Dragon Boat Festival. On the midsummer Dragon Boat Festival, the black dragon spent seven nights in the sky, which is the day of the dragonfly. As the fifth poem in The Book of Changes and the Melon says, "The dragon is in the sky". At noon, Long Xing is both a "win" and a "right" and a symbol of good luck.

Dragon Boat Festival, originally founded by ancestors in the south, is a festival to worship the ancestors of dragons. It is said that Qu Yuan, a poet of Chu State in the Warring States Period, jumped into the Miluo River on May 5th and committed suicide. Later, people also took the Dragon Boat Festival as a festival to commemorate Qu Yuan. There are also sayings in memory of Wu Zixu, Cao E and meson push.

Generally speaking, the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the ancient ancestors' choice of "Dragon Ascending to Heaven" as an auspicious day to worship the dragon ancestors, and injected the seasonal fashion of "eliminating diseases and preventing epidemics" in summer. The Dragon Boat Festival is considered as "the evil day of the moon", which originated in the northern part of the Central Plains and was attached to commemorate Qu Yuan and other historical figures.

The formation of the Dragon Boat Festival custom can be said to be the product of the integration of North and South customs. The word "Dragon Boat Festival" first appeared in the local chronicles of the Western Jin Dynasty: "Midsummer Dragon Boat Festival is also called May 5, which is the same as the summer solstice."

Duan, which means beginning and beginning in ancient Chinese, is called "Dragon Boat Festival", that is, "the fifth day". Shuowen Jiezi: "Duan is also the subject of the birth of all things", which means that "Duan" means the beginning, so the fifth day of May is called "Dragon Boat Festival". "Guangji at the Age of Years" said: "The dust people in the capital take the first day of May as the first end, the second day as the second end, and the number is even five." The ancients used to call the first few days of May end to end. Therefore, the first afternoon in May is called Dragon Boat Festival.

But the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival have existed for a long time, such as dragon boat racing and sacrifice. The ancients took heavenly stems and earthly branches as the carrier, and the heavens and the earth supported the way of the earth, and set up heavenly stems and earthly branches to contract the fate of heaven and earth. Ancient people used heavenly stems and earthly branches to represent calendar year, calendar month, calendar day and calendar time. According to the calendar, according to the order of the twelve earthly branches, May is called "noon month" and noon day is called "heavy noon", so the Dragon Boat Festival is also called "Duanyang".

At the beginning of the Dragon Boat Festival, it mainly spread in southern wuyue, and appeared in the form of "totem sacrifice". Ancient ancestors took "dragon" as a totem and chose to sacrifice on the Dragon Boat Festival, which was actually a festival to worship the ancestors of the dragon at that time.

Second, the legend of the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival

According to the history book Biography of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng, Qu Yuan (about 339 BC-about 278 BC) and Danyang (now Zigui County, Yichang City, Hubei Province) were ministers of Chu Huaiwang in the Spring and Autumn Period.

Qu Yuan's real name is Ping, but his surname is Mi, not Qu. According to legend, Qu Yuan advocated using talents and empowering people to make them rich, and urged them to unite against Qin, which was strongly opposed by others. Qu Yuan was deposed, expelled from the capital, and exiled to the Yuan and Xiang river basins. During his exile, he wrote poems such as Li Sao, Tian Wen, Jiu Ge and so on, which were concerned about the country and the people.

In 278 BC, Qin Jun invaded Kyoto, Chu. Qu Yuan was heartbroken to see his motherland being invaded, but he couldn't bear to abandon his motherland. On May 5th, after Qu Yuan wrote Huai Sha, he jumped into the Miluo River and wrote a magnificent patriotic movement with his own life.

After Qu Yuan threw himself into the river, the local people immediately rowed to rescue him. In order to mourn, people rowed on rivers, and later it gradually developed into a dragon boat race. People were afraid that fish in the river would eat his body, so they went home and threw rice balls into the river to prevent fish and shrimp from ruining Qu Yuan's body. Later, eating zongzi became a custom.

According to the literature, the earliest connection between Qu Yuan and the Dragon Boat Festival is the mythical novel "The Sum of Continued Qi" written by Wu Yun of Nanliang in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. At this time, Qu Yuan has been dead for more than 750 years. It can be seen from the lost text of Customs Tong (written by Ying Shao at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty) copied by Ou Yangxun in the Tang Dynasty that Qu Yuan was already in the folklore of the Dragon Boat Festival when Xu Dong, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, but it was more than 400 years since Qu Yuan died.

Although many Dragon Boat Festival customs have nothing to do with Qu Yuan, Qu Yuan's patriotic spirit and touching poems have been deeply rooted in people's hearts for thousands of years, so people "cherish it as filial piety, tell it to the world and spread it to the Tao". Therefore, the theory of commemorating Qu Yuan has the widest and deepest influence and occupies the mainstream position. In the field of folk culture, China people associate dragon boat racing and eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival with commemorating Qu Yuan.

Third, the custom of the Dragon Boat Festival:

? Dragon boat race?

Dragon boat race is the main custom of Dragon Boat Festival. According to legend, it originated in ancient times. Because Chu people could not bear to be separated from the sage Qu Yuan, they died in the river, and many people rowed to catch up and save. They rushed to catch up until Dongting Lake disappeared. After that, I will row a dragon boat on May 5th every year to commemorate it. People use dragon boats to disperse the fish in the river so as not to eat Qu Yuan's body. The habit of competition prevailed in wuyue and Chu.

? Eat brown?

Eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival is another traditional custom of China people. Zongzi, also known as "corn millet" and "tube zongzi". It has a long history and various patterns. On the morning of Dragon Boat Festival, every family eats zongzi to commemorate Qu Yuan. Zongzi is usually wrapped the day before, cooked at night and eaten in the morning.

? Wearing a sachet?

Children wear sachets on the Dragon Boat Festival, which is said to mean to ward off evil spirits and plague (ancient people thought their illness was caused by demons and ghosts), but it is actually used for the decoration of the inner head. The sachet contains cinnabar, realgar, and fragrant medicine. It is wrapped in silk, and the fragrance is overflowing. Then it is tied into a rope with five-color silk threads, and made into various shapes of strings, which are small and lovely.

? Hang ai?

There is a folk proverb that says, "Willows are inserted in Qingming Festival and Ai is inserted in Dragon Boat Festival". On the Dragon Boat Festival, people regard inserting wormwood and calamus as one of the important contents. Every household should sweep the courtyard, put calamus and moxa sticks in the eyebrows of the door and hang them in the main room. Acorus calamus, Folium Artemisiae Argyi, Liu Hua, Garlic and Dragon Boat Flower are made into human or tiger shapes, which are called Ai Ren and Ai Hu. It is made into garlands and decorations, beautiful and fragrant, and women compete to wear it to ward off evil spirits. Dragon Boat Festival is also a "health festival" handed down from ancient times. On this day, people sweep the courtyard, hang mugwort leaves, hang calamus, sprinkle realgar wine, drink realgar wine, stir up turbidity, remove rot, sterilize and prevent diseases.

? Order realgar wine?

In ancient times, realgar, as a traditional Chinese medicine, was used as an antidote and insecticide. Realgar wine is white wine or yellow wine made by grinding realgar into powder. The ancients lacked the scientific concept that realgar could restrain snakes, scorpions and centipedes. In addition, they mistakenly believe that diseases are caused by ghosts and evil spirits, and even the white snake essence with a thousand-year reputation has been returned to its original shape after drinking realgar wine. Then drinking realgar wine can naturally protect health and avoid the epidemic. Even children who can't drink should be covered with realgar wine on their heads and bodies, so that ghosts can be afraid and children can live longer.

As a traditional festival of the Chinese nation, Dragon Boat Festival bears a heavy historical culture and rich humanistic spirit. In this festival, we can deeply feel the long history and profoundness of China culture. Since ancient times, people have been singing and dancing at this time to express their blessings. When the Dragon Boat Festival comes, we should also express our blessings and respect in various ways, and pray for the prosperity of the motherland, social harmony and stability, and people's livelihood.