The fifth day of the fifth lunar month, commonly known as "Dragon Boat Festival". "Five" is connected with "noon", and "five" is also a positive number, so the Dragon Boat Festival is also called Dragon Boat Festival, Chongwu, Duanyang and Zhongtian. This is a traditional festival of Han nationality in China. The necessary activities of this day gradually evolved into: eating zongzi, dragon boat racing, hanging calamus and mugwort leaves, smoking Atractylodes rhizome and angelica dahurica, and drinking realgar wine. It is said that eating zongzi and dragon boat racing is to commemorate Qu Yuan, so after liberation, the Dragon Boat Festival was named "Poet's Day" to commemorate Qu Yuan. As for hanging calamus, wormwood leaves, smoked atractylodes rhizome and angelica dahurica, drinking realgar wine is said to suppress evil spirits. Although the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated every year, its origin is not very clear. To sum up, there are roughly the following statements.
First, in memory of Qu Yuan. This theory originated from the records of Wu Jun's "Continuation of Qi and Harmony" in the Southern Liang Dynasty and "Time of Jingchu" in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. It is said that Qu Yuan threw himself into the river on the fifth day of May. Trapped by mosquitoes and dragons after death, the world mourned. Every day, he throws five-color silk zongzi into the water to drive away the dragon. It is also said that after Qu Yuan threw himself into the river, the local people immediately rowed to rescue him, and all the way to Dongting Lake, but Qu Yuan's body was not found. It was raining at that time, and the boats on the lake gathered at the pavilion on the shore. When people learned that it was to salvage the sage Dr. Qu, they went out in the rain and rushed into the vast Dongting Lake. In order to mourn, people rowed on rivers, and later it gradually developed into a dragon boat race. Eating zongzi and racing dragon boats on the Dragon Boat Festival seems to be related to commemorating Qu Yuan, as evidenced by Wen Xiu's poem Dragon Boat Festival in the Tang Dynasty. "The festival is divided into Dragon Boat Festival, and it is widely rumored that it is Qu Yuan through the ages. It is ridiculous that the Chu River is empty and cannot be washed directly. "
Second, Ying Tao said. This sentence comes from Cao E tablet in the Eastern Han Dynasty. During the Spring and Autumn Period, after the death of Wu Zixu, a loyal minister of the State of Wu, he became Shen Tao, and the world mourned and sacrificed, so there was the Dragon Boat Festival.
Third, the Dragon Boat Festival said. This statement comes from Wen Yiduo's Dragon Boat Festival Examination and Dragon Boat Festival History Education. He believed that the fifth day of May was the day when the "Dragon" tribe in ancient wuyue held totem worship for their ancestors. The main reasons are as follows: (1) Eating zongzi and dragon boat racing are the two most important activities of the Dragon Boat Festival, both of which are related to dragons. Zongzi thrown into the water is often stolen by dragons, and dragon boat races. (2) The relationship between race crossing and ancient wuyue is particularly deep. Besides, Wuyue people have the custom of tattooing constantly to look like a dragon. (3) The ancient folk custom of "tying the arm with colored silk" on the fifth day of May should be a relic of the tattoo custom of "Like a dragon".
Fourth, the theory of evil day. According to Historical Records, Tian Wensheng of Meng Changjun was born on the fifth day of May. His father once told his mother to abandon Tian Wen on the grounds that the child born on this day would kill his father. There is also a saying in the Customs of Yi Tong in the Eastern Han Dynasty that "having a baby on May 5th, the male is harmful to his father and the female is harmful to his mother". Wang Zhene, a general of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was born on the fifth day of May. His grandfather named him "Zhen Xie". Zhao Ju, from Song Huizong, was born on the fifth day of May, and was fostered outside the palace since childhood. It can be seen that it is a common phenomenon to regard the fifth day of May as an evil day in ancient times. In this way, it is logical to insert calamus and mugwort leaves to exorcise ghosts, smoke atractylodes rhizome and angelica dahurica and drink realgar wine to avoid the epidemic on this day.
Fifth, the summer mentioned on the solstice. Liu Deqian, who holds this view, put forward three main reasons in The Origin of Dragon Boat Festival and Interesting Talk about Traditional Festivals in China: (1) The authoritative book The Story of the Years of Jingchu did not mention the festival custom of eating zongzi on the fifth day of May, but was written on the solstice festival in summer. As for the race, Du Taiqing's Jade Candle Collection in Sui Dynasty listed it as an entertainment activity from summer to the sun, which shows that it is not necessarily to salvage Qu Yuan, a great poet who threw himself into the river. (2) Some contents in the custom of Dragon Boat Festival, such as "stepping on a hundred herbs", "fighting a hundred herbs" and "picking herbs", have nothing to do with Qu Yuan. (3) The first explanation of the Dragon Boat Festival in the famous book Year after Year is: "The sun is shining and it is in midsummer." In other words, Dragon Boat Festival is in summer, so it can also be called Mid-Autumn Festival. From this point of view, the earliest origin of the Dragon Boat Festival is the summer solstice.
There are many theories, and the theory of commemorating Qu Yuan has the widest influence. Because of Qu Yuan's great personality and superb poetic skills, people are willing to attribute this anniversary to him.
The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival. For more than 2,000 years, the Dragon Boat Festival has been a multi-ethnic folk festival, and it is a festival for the whole people to keep fit, prevent diseases, ward off evil spirits and drive away drugs, and pray for health.
Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanyang Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, is said to be the day when Qu Yuan, a great poet in ancient China and one of the four famous cultural figures in the world, died in Guluo River. For more than two thousand years, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month has become a traditional festival to commemorate Qu Yuan. According to historical records, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 278 BC, Qu Yuan, a doctor and patriotic poet of the State of Chu, was saddened by the news that Qin Jun had invaded the capital of the State of Chu. He resolutely wrote the last poem "Huai Sha" and threw himself into the Miluo River. People along the river are scrambling to salvage boats, evoking souls along the water and throwing zongzi into the river to prevent fish and shrimp from eating his body. This custom has lasted for more than two thousand years.
For thousands of years, Qu Yuan's patriotic spirit and touching poems have been deeply rooted in people's hearts. People "remember it, mourn it, pass on its words to the world and pass it on." In the field of folk culture, China people have since closely linked the dragon boat race and eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival with the commemoration of Qu Yuan. With the growing influence of Qu Yuan, the Dragon Boat Festival, which began in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, gradually spread and became a festival of the Chinese nation.
There are many nicknames for the Dragon Boat Festival in China, such as Noon Festival, May Festival, Yulan Festival, Daughter's Day, Zhongyuan Festival, Poet's Day, Dragon Boat Festival and so on. Although the names are different, the customs of people everywhere are similar. The contents mainly include: when the daughter goes back to her parents' house, she hangs a portrait of Zhong Kui, hangs calamus and wormwood, wears sachets, races dragon boats, contests, hits the ball, swings, draws realgar for her children, drinks realgar wine, eats salted eggs, zongzi and seasonal fresh fruits. Apart from the gradual disappearance of superstitious activities, other customs have spread all over China and neighboring countries.
Quzici Town, Miluo City, Yueyang City
Zigui County is the birthplace of Qu Yuan and one of the places with the deepest culture of Dragon Boat Festival in China. In many places in China, there is only one Dragon Boat Festival, but there are three Dragon Boat Festival in Zigui. The first Dragon Boat Festival is on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the big Dragon Boat Festival is on May 15th, and the last Dragon Boat Festival is on May 25th. Every Dragon Boat Festival, Zigui people should commemorate Qu Yuan in their own unique way. The Dragon Boat Festival poetry will praise Qu Yuan, hold a dragon boat race to commemorate Qu Yuan, and hold a ceremony to pay tribute to Qu Yuan. There are also hanging mugwort leaves, inserting calamus, eating zongzi and drinking realgar wine.
During the Dragon Boat Festival, people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in the east of China like to row dragon boats, decorate lanterns and have colorful trips at night. The scene is touching and interesting. The Miao people in Guizhou hold the Dragon Boat Festival from May 25th to 28th of the lunar calendar to celebrate the success of transplanting rice and wish a bumper harvest. Dai people in Yunnan compete in the Dragon Boat Festival to commemorate ancient heroes.
Besides the custom of dragon boat race in Chinese mainland, Taiwan Province also had dragon boat race activities during the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. At that time, Jiang, the chief executive of Taiwan Province Province, held a friendly match in Fukeji Half Moon Pool in Tainan City. Now, in Taiwan Province Province, a dragon boat race is held every year on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. In Hong Kong, Macao and other places, the custom of dragon boat racing is also very popular.
Commemorating Wu Zixu.
The second legend of the Dragon Boat Festival, which spread in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, commemorates Wu Zixu in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). Wu Zixu, a famous Chu national, and 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, and entered the capital city of Chu in the Five Wars. At that time, King Chu Ping was already dead. Zixu dug a grave and whipped 300 bodies to avenge his father's murder. After the death of He Lu, the king of Wu, his son Fu Cha succeeded to the throne. Wu Jun's morale was high and he was defeated by Yue. Gou Jian, the King of Yue, made peace, and Fu Cha agreed. Zi Xu suggested the complete elimination of Yue, but Fu Cha didn't listen. Wu was massacred and bought by the state of Yue. He was framed by slanderers. Fu Cha believed him and gave him a sword. Zi Xu died. Zixu, a loyal minister, feels like death. Before he died, he said to his neighbors, "After I die, I will gouge out my eyes and hang them on the east gate of Jason Wu, watching the Vietnamese army enter the city and destroy Wu." Then he killed himself. Fu Cha was furious after hearing this. On May 5th, he wrapped Zixu's body in leather and threw it into the river. Therefore, it is said that the Dragon Boat Festival is also a day to commemorate Wu Zixu.
In memory of the dutiful daughter Cao E.
The third legend of Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate the filial daughter Cao E who saved her drowning father in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 23-220). Cao E was a native of Shangyu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Her father drowned in the river and didn't see her body for several 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. This was passed down as a myth, and then to the governor of the county government, who made it a monument for disciple Han Danchun to make a eulogy.
The tomb of the filial daughter is in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province today, and there is a monument made by Jin. 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 in the Neolithic age, there was a cultural relic with geometric prints and pottery ruins in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. According to experts' inference, the remaining clan is Baiyue clan, a clan that worships dragon totem in history. The decorative patterns and historical legends on unearthed pottery show that they have the custom of tattooing constantly, live in a water town and compare themselves to the descendants of dragons. Among its production tools, there are a large number of stone tools, as well as small bronzes such as shovels and chisels. As daily necessities, the printed pottery ding used for cooking food is unique to them and is 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 for their ancestors. In the course of thousands of years of historical development, most Baiyue people have integrated into the Han nationality, while 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.