The fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar for the Dragon Boat Festival, is one of the most important traditional festivals in China. The pre-Qin Dynasty, "Wu" and "five" are the same. Therefore, the "Dragon Boat Festival" is also known as "Duanwu". Later, due to Tang Xuanzong's birthday for the fifth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, to avoid Tang Xuanzong's taboo will be "Duanwu" all renamed "Dragon Boat Festival". In addition, it has many aliases, although the name is different, but the people around the custom of the festival is basically the same.
On the origins of the Dragon Boat Festival, there are many ways of saying:
First, the origin of the ancient dragon totem worship in the Wu-Yue region. "Totem worship" is a primitive form of clan symbolism developed from the ancient worship of nature, plants and animals. According to Mr. Wen Yiduo, the Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional festival of totem worship held by the ancient Wu-Yue ethnic group. Ancient Wuyue nation is to the dragon as a totem, because it is said that the dragon's birthday is the fifth of May, the people with the help of the dragon's shelter, to facilitate the first five days of May to hold a grand totem sacrifice activities. In recent times, a large number of unearthed artifacts and archaeological research confirms: the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in the vast area, in the Neolithic era, there is a geometric printed pottery as a characteristic of the cultural remains. The remains of the clan. According to experts, it is inferred to be a tribe with the dragon as its totem - historically known as the Baiyue tribe. The decorations on the excavated pottery and historical legends indicate that they had the custom of breaking their hair and tattooing (dressing like dragons so as not to be harmed by them), lived in watery villages, and compared themselves to the descendants of dragons. The Dragon Boat Festival is the festival they created to honor their ancestors. Over thousands of years of history, most of the Baiyue people have been integrated into the Han Chinese, while the rest have evolved into many ethnic minorities in the south, making the Dragon Boat Festival a festival for the entire Chinese nation.
Secondly, it honors Qu Yuan (340-278 BC), a great patriotic poet in history. Qu Yuan, known as Ping, was a native of Chu during the Warring States period, and was a patriotic poet and statesman immortalized for thousands of years. He joined the civil service around the age of twenty and served as Dafu of Sanlu, and at the age of twenty-five he became Zuodu, in charge of formulating the internal and foreign policies of the state of Chu. He was responsible for formulating the internal and foreign policies of Chu. He advocated the appointment of talents, the rule of law, the alliance of Qi against Qin, and assisted King Huai of Chu in ruling the country, which was well received by the public. However, because his advocacy of political reforms offended the interests of the aristocratic ministers, he was slandered and removed from his post, and was exiled to the Yuan and Xiang valleys (present-day Yuan and Xiang rivers in Hunan province). In 278 B.C. (the twenty-first year of King Hali Xiang of Chu), the Qin army attacked Ying (north of present-day Jiangling in Hubei Province), and Qu Yuan, feeling that he was unable to salvage his country and unwilling to leave the land of Chu, threw himself into the Miluo River (a tributary of the Xiangjiang River north of present-day Xiangyin in Hunan Province) on the fifth day of the fifth month of May in order to die for his will. Legend has it that after Qu Yuan's death, the people of Chu grieved and flocked to the Miluo River to pay homage to him. Fishermen rowed up their boats and salvaged his real body from the river. People took out the rice balls, eggs and other food prepared for Qu Yuan and threw them into the river, saying that the fish, dragons, shrimps and crabs would not bite Dr. Qu's body when they were full.
Thirdly, it stems from the anniversary of the death of Wu Zixu. Wu Zixu name member, Chu people, father and brother were killed by King Ping of Chu, and then Zixu defected to the state of Wu, to help Wu to conquer Chu, five battles and into the Chu capital Ying. At that time, King Ping of Chu was already dead, Zi Xu dug up his grave and whipped his body 300 times to avenge the killing of his father and brother. After the death of King Helu of Wu, his son Fu-chai assumed the throne. The Wu army was in high morale and won a hundred battles, and the Yue kingdom was defeated, so King Goujian of Yue asked for peace, and Fu-chai agreed to it. Zixu suggested that the state of Yue should be completely annihilated, but Fu-chai refused to listen. But Fu Chai did not listen to him. Later, a treacherous minister of Wu, after accepting a bribe from Yue, framed Zixu with a slanderous story, which Fu Chai believed and gave Zixu a sword, which he used to kill him. Before his death, Zixu said, "When I die, gouge out my eyes and hang them on the east gate of the capital of Wu to see the Yue army enter the city to destroy Wu." Then he killed himself. Fu Chai was so angry that he ordered Teshu's body to be thrown into the river on the fifth day of the fifth month. Therefore, it is said that the Dragon Boat Festival is also a day to honor Wu Zixu.
Fourth, in honor of Cao E, a filial daughter of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Cao E was a native of Shangyu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. When her father drowned in the river and the body was not seen for several days, Cao E, who was only 14 years old at the time, cried along the river day and night. After seventeen days, she threw herself into the river on May 5, and carried out her father's body five days later. The story spread to the governor of Qu Yuan, who erected a monument and had his disciple, Handan Chun, eulogize her. The tomb of Cao E, a filial daughter, is located in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, and it was later rumored that Cao E's monument was written by Wang Yi of the Jin Dynasty. In order to commemorate Cao E's filial piety, Cao E Temple was built in the place where Cao E threw herself into the river, the village and town where she lived were renamed Cao E Town, and the place where Cao E died for her father was named Cao E River.
On the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, it can be said that there are many different opinions; one said that it originated from the Wu Yue national totem festival; one said that it is to commemorate the Qu Yuan; popular in the area of Shanxi to commemorate the Jie Zi Tui said; Wu and Chu are popular to commemorate the Wu Zi Xu said; popular in the commemoration of filial piety Cao E, Zhejiang Huijie, said and so on. For the first statement, Mr. Wen Yiduo has done a lot of evidence, he is in the "Dragon Boat Festival of History Education" article has this discussion. This statement is quite recognized by the academic community, and the second law belongs to the folklore left behind and no archaeological evidence to support the legend. However, because Qu Yuan's patriotic spirit and noble sentiments are highly admired by the public, thus commemorating Qu Yuan has become one of the most widely circulated folk sayings. Although these sayings have certain limitations, most of them reflect the concepts of patriotism, loyalty and filial piety promoted in traditional Chinese culture.
The Dragon Boat Festival has a wide variety of customs:
(a) Dragon boat race. Dragon boat race scene is extremely majestic and spectacular, to participate in the race of dragon boats of different colors, the bow of the boat tied a large dragon head, the boat before the erection of colorful flags, flags, a person behind the drums, the stern of a person to support the big paddle as a race to the command, on both sides of the paddle of the 10 people. Once the ferry order, the drums, paddlers strive to be the first to capture the tag. The content of the mark is also colorful, common is "grab ducks".
Dragon boat racing is one of the most important customs of the Dragon Boat Festival. According to legend, the Chu people could not bear to see the death of the wise minister Qu Yuan, so many people rowed boats to catch up with the rescue, which is the origin of the Dragon Boat Race, and then every year on May 5 to commemorate the Dragon Boat Race.
In fact, as early as before the martyrdom of Qu Yuan, there was a dragon boat race, on the memorial of Qu Yuan's this statement is just a folk legend. There are descriptions of dragon boats in the Biography of Mu Tian Zi and Chu Ru - Jiu Ge, the latter of which is the work of Qu Yuan himself, which is more proof that dragon boats existed before Qu Yuan's martyrdom. The Dragon Boat Race at the Dragon Boat Festival was first described in Wu Jun's Continuation of the Qi Harmony Records of Southern Liang. The book said: "Chu doctor Qu Yuan was not used by slander, is the day (May 5) threw Miluo River to die, Chu people mourn, is to save the oars. Duanyang race, is the legacy of custom." After the death of Qu Yuan, people associate the Dragon Boat Race with Qu Yuan at the Dragon Boat Festival, mainly because Qu Yuan's patriotic feelings are widely spread and admired by people, plus the anniversary of Qu Yuan's death happens to be the fifth day of the fifth month, so people use this activity to commemorate Qu Yuan.
(2) eat zongzi. Zongzi also called "corner corn", "tube dumplings", the former is due to the shape of angular, wrapped in sticky rice and named, the latter, as the name suggests, is probably a bamboo tube with rice cooked. The earliest zongzi is "tube zongzi", as for the later people with reed leaves wrapped zongzi, legend has it that in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Changsha has a district called Qu (or Ou Hui) dream met a self-proclaimed Qu Yuan's sages, who said to the district of the Qu: "For many years people sacrificed to me the rice are letting the dragon ate it, in the future, you have to use it with the reed leaves and wrap it in colorful silk; the scaly dragon is afraid of reed leaves and colorful silk." Since then there has been horned millet.
Eating rice dumplings at the Dragon Boat Festival was already prevalent in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Western Jin Dynasty Zhou Zhi's "Records of Customs and Excavations" has a "mid-summer Dragon Boat Festival, cooking washed corn" record. To the Tang and Song dynasties, zongzi has been extremely famous, the Tang capital Changan has specialized in the production and operation of zongzi store. To the Song Dynasty, more types of rice dumplings. Ming and Qing dynasties, zongzi filling is also rich up, there are honey, bean paste, pork, pine nuts, dates, walnuts, etc., Qing Qianlong years also appeared in the ham zongzi.
After thousands of years of development, the zongzi from the shape to the filling are constantly renovation and change. There are quite a few patterns of zongzi, there is a difference between north and south, east and west. The South commonly used dates, peanuts, salted meat, etc. mixed in glutinous rice made, but also see not mixed with other foods, and only taste the fragrance of the zongzhi leaves; the North more dates, preserved fruits, etc. as the filling of the zongzi.
(C) hanging Zhong Kui statue. Zhong Kui's role is similar to the door god, whose portrait is often used to drive away ghosts and evil spirits. It is said that the Tang Ming Huang Kaiyuan, from the Lixan lecture martial arts back to the palace, malaria, dreaming of two ghosts, a small, small, small ghosts wearing red crotchless pants, stealing Yang Guifei's scented pouch and the Emperor's jade flute, around the temple and run. The big ghost is wearing a blue robe and hat, caught the little ghost, gouge out its eyes, swallowed. Ming Huang asked, the ghost said: "I surnamed Zhong Kui, that is, the martial arts did not pass, would like to remove the demons for His Majesty." Ming Huang woke up, malaria cured, then made the painter Wu Daozi, according to the dream, painted a picture of Zhong Kui catch ghosts, order the world in the Dragon Boat Festival, all posted to drive away the evil spirits.
(d) hanging calamus leaves. Proverbs say: "Qingming willow, Dragon Boat Festival plug Ai." In the Dragon Boat Festival, every family put calamus and mugwort leaves hanging near the door to ward off evil spirits and drive away miasma. It is said that the calamus do sword, inserted in the lintel, have the magic effect of driving away the ghosts. "May 5th afternoon, the master of the sky riding the tiger. Holding the calamus sword in his hand, the god of pestilence returns to hell". This is a popular song. Ancient people believed that this is an evil month, and especially the first five most evil, even the children born this day are unlucky, and therefore hanging moxa leaves and calamus. The fifth month of the lunar calendar is the time when the heat of summer is approaching, and it is also the time when epidemics and plagues are prevalent. Mugwort, also known as family mugwort and wormwood. Its stems and leaves contain volatile aromatic oils. The peculiar aroma it produces can repel mosquitoes and flies, insects and ants, and purify the air. In Chinese medicine, moxa is used in medicine and is an important herb for curing diseases. Calamus is a perennial aquatic herb, its long and narrow leaves also contain volatile aromatic oils, which are medicines for refreshing the mind, strengthening the bones and eliminating stagnation, killing insects and sterilizing. It can be seen that the ancients inserted wormwood and calamus is a certain role in disease prevention.
(E) drink xionghuang wine. Folk "drink xionghuang wine, all diseases are far away," said. Therefore, the Dragon Boat Festival this day, most parts of our country have the custom of drinking andrographis, as for children, elders will be andrographis wine coated in its face or body to drive away insects in addition to filth. In fact, andrographis is a toxic mineral, external use can be sterilized, but if you drink directly is easy to cause cancer, should not be promoted.
(F) Pei Xiangbao. Dragon Boat Festival children wear scented pouches, not only to ward off evil spirits to drive away the plague, but also a lapel head embellishment of the wind. Cinnabar, andrographis, incense medicine, wrapped in silk cloth, fragrant, and then five-color silk string buckle into a rope, do a variety of different shapes, knotted into a string, colorful, delicate and eye-catching.
(7) Hanging five-color silk thread. Ying Shao "Customs" recorded: "May 5, to the five-colored silk tied arm, a long-life wisp, a renewal of life wisp, a Pai Bing Zeng, a five-colored wisp, a Zhu Suo, Pai Bing and ghosts, the fate of the people do not get sick plague." Ancient China worshipped the five colors as auspicious colors (it is also said that the five colors represent the five dragons). Therefore, early in the morning of the festival, the adults of each family wake up the first thing is in the child's wrists, ankles, neck tied to the five-color line. When tying the thread, children are forbidden to speak. The five-color thread cannot be broken or thrown away arbitrarily, and can only be thrown into the river during the first heavy summer rain or the first bath. It is said that children wearing the five-color thread can avoid the harm of snake and scorpion-type poisonous insects; throwing it into the river means letting the river wash away the plague and diseases, and children can thus preserve their health and well-being.
The past Dragon Boat Festival and the custom of avoiding the noon, this custom stems from a belief that: May for the "evil month", the plague sores spreading, heavy five is an unlucky day, so parents are so the day will be under the age of children to take to Grandma's house to avoid to escape from the disaster, it is called avoiding the noon. This is undoubtedly the ancient scientific underdevelopment and the concept, because the May heat will come, mosquitoes breed, in the absence of medical and health equipment in the folk, prone to infectious diseases, and then bring a fear of people, so the custom of avoiding the noon, now some of the ancient customs of this festival has changed with the times and disappeared, only to eat zongzi, dragon boat racing, these two customs are still popular.