The origin of this festival
Welcome to Tao Shen, this is the tablet of Cao E from the Eastern Han Dynasty. 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. 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.
Dragon Boat Festival, 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 sacrifices. The main reason is: (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".
Evil day, in the pre-Qin era, it was generally believed that May was a poisonous month and the fifth was an evil day. According to legend, on this day, evil spirits were in power, and the five poisons were out of the body at the same time. According to the Book of Rites, the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the orchid bath in the Zhou Dynasty. Midsummer in Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals stipulates that people should abstain from sex and fast in May. "Xia Zheng Xiao" records: "Store medicine this day to get rid of poisonous gas." It is recorded in "Da Dai Li" that "the livestock orchid takes a bath on May 5", and there are many legends that the fifth day is the taboo day for bathing to exorcise evil spirits. The famous Meng Changjun in Historical Records and Biography of Meng Changjun was born on May 5th. His father asked his mother not to have him, thinking that "a child born in May is longer than a family, which is not good for parents." "Custom Pass" was lost. "It is said that on May 5th, a child was born, and the male harmed his father and the female harmed his mother". Wang Chong, the author of Lun Heng, also described: "The first month and May are taboos; Kill your father and your mother in May of the first month. " Wang Zhene, a general of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was born on the fifth day of May. His grandfather named him "Zhen Xie". Evonne and Song Huizong were born on the fifth day of May, and were 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. It can be seen that this day has been an unlucky day since the pre-Qin period. 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. Moreover, people also avoid the taboo of "Dragon Boat Festival" and call it "Dragon Boat Festival".
With regard to the solstice in summer, Liu Deqian, who holds this view, put forward three main reasons and an interesting talk about the traditional festivals in China in Dragon Boat Festival: (1) The authoritative book "Jingchu Sui Ji" did not mention the festival custom of eating zongzi on the fifth day of May, but wrote it on the solstice 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 Ji Huali is: "The sun shines, and the Dragon Boat Festival is in midsummer, so it can also be called midsummer festival. Therefore, the earliest origin of the Dragon Boat Festival is the summer solstice. There are many controversies, and the theory of commemorating Qu Yuan has the most extensive influence. Because of Qu Yuan's outstanding personality and art, people are willing to attribute this anniversary to him.
Commemorative poetess Qiu Jin: Qiu Ruixiong, No.1 Jianhuxia, Xiao Gu, a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, was good at writing poems, lyrics, songs and poems since childhood, and was fond of riding and fencing. She is called Mulan and Qin Liangyu. Joining the revolution at the age of 28 had a great influence. He was arrested by Qing soldiers when planning an uprising, and died heroically in Xuanhengkou, Shaoxing on June 5, Guangxu thirty-three years ago. In order to praise her poems and mourn her heroic deeds, later generations merged with the Poets' Day to commemorate her, and designated the Poets' Day as the Dragon Boat Festival to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.
In memory of Qu Yuan, one of the greatest romantic poets in China.
Qu Yuan is one of the greatest romantic poets in China and the earliest famous poet and great politician in China. He created the style of "Chu Ci" (that is, the style of "Ci Fu") and the tradition of "vanilla beauty".
According to Records of the Historian Biographies of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng, Qu Yuan advocated the promotion of talents and empowerment, and made the country rich and persuaded the Qin Dynasty, which was strongly opposed by the nobles. Qu Yuan was expelled from the capital and exiled to the Yuanxiang Valley. During his exile, he wrote immortal poems such as Li Sao, Tian Wen and Tian Wen, which have a unique style and far-reaching influence (therefore, the Dragon Boat Festival is also called the Poet's Day). In 278 BC, Qin Jun conquered Kyoto of Chu. Seeing that his motherland was invaded, Qu Yuan was heartbroken, but he was always reluctant to give up his motherland. On May 5th, after writing his masterpiece Huai Sha, he died in Miluo River and wrote a magnificent patriotic movement with his own life.
Legend has it that after Qu Yuan's death, the people of Chu were so sad that they flocked to the Miluo River to pay homage to Qu Yuan. The fisherman paddled the boat and fished for his real body back and forth on the river. A fisherman took out rice balls, eggs and other foods prepared for Qu Yuan and threw them into the river, saying that ichthyosaurs, shrimps and crabs were full and would not bite the doctor. People followed suit after seeing it. An old doctor took an altar of realgar wine and poured it into the river, saying that he would stun the dragon water beast with medicine so as not to hurt Dr. Qu. Later, people were afraid that rice balls would be eaten by dragons, so they came up with the idea of wrapping rice with neem leaves and then wrapping it with colored silk to make it develop into brown seeds.
Later, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, there was the custom of rowing dragon boats, eating zongzi and drinking realgar wine. In memory of the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.
In memory of Wu Zixu: The second legend of the Dragon Boat Festival, widely circulated 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 ancient times, the Spring Festival was called "Zheng Dan", "the beginning of a year" and "China New Year". 19111231The Hubei military government of the Republic of China issued the Notice of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the Conversion of the Republic of China to the Gregorian Calendar, clearly calling the annual festival "Spring Festival". 1On September 27th, 949, the first plenary session of China People's Political Consultative Conference further clarified that the first day of the first lunar month was called "Spring Festival", and the name of "Spring Festival" was officially included in China's holiday code. Spring Festival is commonly known as "Chinese New Year".
The spelling of "Nian" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions is "He" at the top and "Ren" at the bottom. The word "year" in the bronze inscription is the same as the word "year" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, and it is also related to food and people. Xiao Zhuan's Nian wrote "Going to Grain and Going to Thousand" and "Explaining He Zi's Supplement"; "Year, solid book also. From the grain, from the thousand sounds. " Xiao Zhuan changed the word "person" to "thousand", so Xu Shen used this expression. The word "thousand" is originally decorative, and this solution is not contradictory. "Grain" is a general term for grain and cannot be misinterpreted as "wheat". The quality of a year is mainly determined by the growth and harvest of "Wo", but now the word "Wo" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions has been excavated, almost all of which are heavy and curved, which shows that it symbolizes the bumper harvest of grain production. What about the word "people" under the word "year"? From Oracle Bone Inscriptions's point of view, the word "nian" seems to be a line on a person's head.
There is another legend:
In ancient China, there was a monster called Nian. Its tentacles were very long and fierce. Nian lived on the seabed for many years, and climbed ashore every New Year's Eve, devouring livestock and killing people. Therefore, every New Year's Eve, people in the village fled to the deep mountains to avoid the harm of the "Nian" beast. One year on New Year's Eve, an old beggar came from outside the village. The villagers were in a hurry and panic. Only an old woman in the east of the village gave the old man some food and suggested that he go up the mountain quickly to avoid Nian beast. The old man lifted his beard and said with a smile, "If my mother-in-law lets me stay at home for one night, I will definitely drive Nian beast away." The old woman continued to persuade and begged the old man to laugh without saying a word.
At midnight, Nian beast broke into the village. It found that the atmosphere in the village was different from previous years: the old woman's house at the east end of the village had red paper on the door and bright candles in the room. The beast Nian trembled and let out a long whistle. When we were near the door, there was a sudden explosion in the yard, and Nian trembled and dared not go any further. It turns out that Nian was most afraid of red, fire and explosion. At this time, my mother-in-law's door was wide open, and I saw an old man in a red robe laughing in the hospital. "Nian" was frightened to disgrace and fled in confusion. The next day was the first day of the first month, and the people who came back from refuge were very surprised to see that the village was safe and sound. At this time, the old woman suddenly realized and quickly told the villagers the promise of begging for the elderly. The story soon spread in the surrounding villages, and people all knew the way to drive away the "Nian" beast. Since then, every year on New Year's Eve, every family has posted red couplets and set off firecrackers. Every household has a bright candlelight, so it is better to wait for the New Year. In the early morning of the first day, I want to say hello to my relatives and friends. This custom has spread more and more widely, and has become the most solemn traditional festival among the people in China.
There is another saying:
In ancient times, there was a beast called Nian, which was several times bigger than the current elephant and dozens of times fiercer than the tiger. It eats people, eating dozens of people in one bite, and countless people are eaten by it. The people have suffered. One day, Nian came again, and a young man hated it very much. He said: "It is better to fight it than to let it eat. They are all dead anyway. " He rushed up with an axe and many young people followed him. But they are no match for Nian. All the young people were eaten by Nian. From then on, "Nian" became more vicious, and all people were angry and hated.
The resentment in the sky shocked the white Venus in the sky, and the hatred in the earthquake shocked the king and bodhisattva in the underground. As soon as Venus Taibai and Bodhisattva Wang Di discussed it, they sent the founder of Shennong to land to collect the new year. Shennong holds a whip, aiming at Nian's ass is a whip. The fierce Nian actually fell to a draw. Shennong ran a few steps, stepped on Nian's head and roared, "Bastard, you ate countless people and did terrible things. Today is your end. " Say, take out two melon bowls from the waist, aim at the word "year" and close them. Nian, bigger than an elephant, suddenly fell into a melon bowl. Shennong buried the bowl with Nian in the ground. When he left, he repeatedly told him: "This bowl is buried in the ground and will grow melons in the future. This melon can't be broken, so be sure to say it's not broken. " Later, a melon really grew in the place where the bowl was buried, and the people called it "North Melon" according to Shennong's "No" voice. The day when Shennong got rid of "Nian" happened to be December 30th of the lunar calendar, so people called this day "Nian", which means to avoid "Nian" and get rid of its meaning. On this day, the class consecrated the North Melon to show the suppression of evil, and beat gongs and drums and lanterns with bamboo poles to commemorate the merits of Shennong's ancestors. Probably it was added by later generations according to the old customs and traditions. It is unlikely to be the origin of "Year".