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. Dragon Boat Festival is considered as an "evil moon day", which originated in the northern part of the Central Plains 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.
Dragon boat festival health principle
Chinese herbal medicines avoid toxic pathogens.
I have to say wormwood during the Dragon Boat Festival. It is a medicinal plant with bitter taste, mild nature and no toxicity, and has the functions of warming qi and blood, dispelling cold and dampness, and avoiding filth with fragrance. It is said that there is a folk custom of "hanging Ai people, wearing, drinking Ai wine, eating Ai cake and smoking". Some people still hang wormwood in halls, bedside and other places. During the Dragon Boat Festival, the air is moist and the mugwort leaves are fragrant, which can remove toxic gases, remove dirt, purify the air, keep the room clean and sanitary, and play a role in disinfection and disease prevention. There is a saying among the people: wormwood can cure all diseases and bring blessings. Hanging on the door can get rid of all kinds of poisons and make people healthy. Therefore, the ancients said that "Ai" can "ward off evil spirits". So far, there is a saying that "the family has Ai for three years, and the doctor doesn't have to come."
In addition, the Chinese herbal medicines commonly used in the Dragon Boat Festival include Acorus calamus, Artemisia annua, citronella and pomelo leaves. After being decocted in water, it can be drunk as tea or soaked in wine, which has a good health care function and can prevent diseases.
Diet can keep fit and prevent diseases.
In ancient times, there was the custom of drinking realgar wine on Dragon Boat Festival. The medicinal properties of realgar have long been recorded in Materia Medica. Realgar is pungent and warm, and has the efficacy of killing insects, eliminating dampness and killing insects. Because of the high temperature season after the Dragon Boat Festival, all kinds of germs breed with the increase of temperature. At this time, it is most timely to use realgar to kill insects, detoxify and prevent diseases.
Every year to the Dragon Boat Festival, people have the custom of eating zongzi. According to legend, it originated from commemorating the patriotic poet Qu Yuan's martyrdom in the Miluo River on the fifth day of May to express his grief for this patriotic poet. Over time, China people have formed the custom of eating zongzi on the fifth day of May. The glutinous rice dumplings in the north are mainly sweet and cool. In the south, it can be divided into two categories: Soviet-style jiaozi includes jiaozi such as glutinous rice, red beans and bean paste, and jiaozi such as fresh meat and ham; Cantonese dumplings are mostly meat dumplings, such as barbecued egg yolk, lard bean paste, fresh meat egg yolk dumplings and so on.
Although the flavor, characteristics and practices of Zongzi in the north and south of China are different, glutinous rice and Zongzi leaves are the main materials. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that glutinous rice is a good food and has a good therapeutic effect. According to the analysis of medicinal properties in Materia Medica, glutinous rice is sweet in taste and flat in nature, and has the functions of invigorating qi and spleen, stimulating appetite and promoting digestion. The ingredients of zongzi also have a good health care function. Such as jujube, red beans, mung beans and so on. It has the effects of enriching blood, calming nerves, diuresis and detoxification, while ham, duck egg yolk and fresh meat are all nutritious foods.
What's more worth mentioning is that the leaves used to wrap zongzi are more delicate. Reed leaves are mostly used in the north, and bamboo leaves or lotus leaves are mostly used in the south. These leaves have good medicinal functions. For example, reed leaves can clear away heat and promote fluid production, remove troubles and quench thirst; Bamboo leaves can clear away heat, relieve annoyance, induce diuresis and detoxify; Lotus leaf can clear away heat, induce diuresis and regulate stomach.
The Dragon Boat Festival is just too long in summer, so eating zongzi can be balanced and light, balanced and clear, which is really a recipe for timely food supplement and dietotherapy. Of course, you should be temperate when eating, and diabetics, the elderly and children should not eat more.
Exercise regulates qi and blood.
Dragon Boat Festival is the most sunny time in a year, and the weather is rather dull. If the work pressure is high, the human body's physiological qi and blood are not running smoothly, and it is easy to be agitated and depressed, palpitations and chest tightness. Emotional changes will affect the function of zang-fu organs, and also lead to mental diseases, such as happiness and sadness, anger hurting the liver, sadness and spleen. Health preservation in summer should make the spleen, stomach, heart and lungs unobstructed. Therefore, besides medicine, diet and peace of mind, we should also strengthen exercise at the same time. The smooth operation of qi and blood in the whole body can enhance the cardiopulmonary function, regulate the metabolism of spleen and stomach, regulate the circulation of qi and blood, and the melancholy mood will also melt away.
The implication of eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival
1. means looking for a child.
During the Dragon Boat Festival, people will give each other nine zongzi, which means begging children. Jiuzi Zongzi is a kind of Zongzi, that is, nine Zongzi are connected in a string, big and small, the big one is above and the small one is below, with different shapes and very beautiful. And nine colors of silk thread tied together to form colorful. Jiuzi Zongzi is mostly used as a gift for relatives and friends, such as a gift from a mother to her married daughter and a gift from her mother-in-law to her wedding. Because "Zongzi" is homophonic for "neutron", there is a folk custom that eating "Zongzi" can give birth to sons. "Zongzi" is the homonym of "many sons", which means that people are prosperous.
Step 2 drive away the dragon
There is such a record in the Elementary Book: During the Jianwu period of the Han Dynasty, Changsha people dreamed of a man who called himself Dr. San Lv (the official name of Qu Yuan) at night and said to him, "Everything you sacrificed was stolen by the dragon in the river. You can wrap it with mugwort leaves and tie it with five-color silk thread in the future. Dragon _ is afraid of these two things, so you don't have to worry about being wiped out by the dragon! " So, people made "corn millet" with "leaves wrapped in millet". From generation to generation, it has gradually developed into the Dragon Boat Festival food in China.
3. Guangzong Yao nationality
Because the sounds of "Zongzi" and "Zong" are similar, eating Zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival means "honoring ancestors", so every family eats Zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival.
4. In memory of Qu Yuan
According to legend, in 340 BC, Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet and doctor of Chu, faced the pain of national subjugation. On May 5th, he threw a big stone into Guluo River with grief and indignation. In order to prevent fish and shrimp from damaging his body, people throw rice into the river with bamboo tubes. In the future, people will put rice in bamboo tubes and throw it into the river to pay homage to Qu Yuan. This is the origin of the early Zongzi in our country-"Tongzong".
5. fame and fortune
Because "Zongzi" and "Zhong" are similar in sound, it takes the ancient meaning of "fame", which means _ _ _ _ _ _ _. Usually, ancient imperial examinations are held in autumn, so during the Dragon Boat Festival, people who want to win the first place in fame can be suggested to eat zongzi.