What are the customs of Dragon Boat Festival?
The first significance of the Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate Qu Yuan, a great national poet in history. Qu Yuan, Ming Ping, was a native of Chu in the Warring States Period. Born in the seventh day of the first lunar month in Wu Wang, Chu Wei, or twenty-seven years, he died in the ninth year of King Xiang of Chu.
The second meaning of Dragon Boat Festival is the anniversary of Wu Zixu's death. 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 neighbor, "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 to destroy Wu." Hearing this, Fu Cha was so angry that he took the body of Zixu away, wrapped it in leather and threw it into the river on May 5th. Therefore, it is said that the Dragon Boat Festival is also a day to commemorate Wu Zixu.
The third significance of the Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate Cao E, the filial daughter of the Eastern Han Dynasty, who saved her drowning father. Cao E was a native of Shangyu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Her father drowned in the river, and her body was not seen for several days. At that time, Cao E, the filial daughter, was only fourteen years old and cried 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 handed down as a myth, and later passed to the governor of the county government, and a preface was made for it. His disciple Han Danchun wrote a poem to praise it. The tomb of the filial daughter is in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province today, and there is a monument made by Jin. To commemorate Cao E's filial piety, later generations built Cao E Temple 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.
The fourth significance of the Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate Qiu Jin, a modern revolutionary poetess. Qiu Jin was martyred on June 5th. Later generations admired his poems and mourned his heroic deeds. It was held to commemorate the Poets' Day, and the Poets' Day was designated as the Dragon Boat Festival to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan. Qiu Jin was born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang. When she was young, she was good at poetry and lyrics, and she liked riding and fencing. She is called Mulan and Qin Liangyu. Joining the revolution at the age of 28 had a great influence. He planned an uprising and was arrested by the Qing army at the meeting. On June 5, Guangxu died heroically in Xuanhengkou, Shaoxing.
Wall clock: Zhong Kui catches ghosts, which is the custom of Dragon Boat Festival. In the Jianghuai area, bells and statues are hung in every household to ward off evil spirits. Emperor Kaiyuan of Tang Dynasty returned to the palace after giving a lecture in Lishan, and malaria was rampant. He dreamed that two ghosts, one big and one small, were running around the temple wearing red crotch pants and stealing Yang Guifei's sachet and the jade emperor of the Ming Dynasty. GREAT GHOST, wearing a blue robe and a blue hat, caught the child, gouged out his eyes and swallowed it in one gulp. When asked by the Ming emperor, GREAT GHOST said: My surname is Zhong Kui, that is to say, I am a martial artist, and I am willing to exorcise evil spirits for your majesty. When the Ming emperor woke up, malaria was cured, so I asked the painter Wu Daozi to draw a portrait of Zhong Kui catching ghosts according to what he saw in his dream, and ordered people to post it on the Dragon Boat Festival to exorcise evil spirits.
Gua calamus: On the Dragon Boat Festival, every household uses calamus, mugwort, Liu Hua, garlic and dragon boat flowers to make human figures, which are called "lovers". In the hall, mugwort leaves are hung, cut into tiger shapes or tiger shapes, and affixed with mugwort leaves. Women compete to wear them to ward off evil spirits. Using calamus as a sword and inserting it on the lintel has the magical effect of exorcising ghosts and removing expensive things.
Dragon Boat Race: At that time, Chu people were reluctant to part with the death of the sage Qu Yuan, so many people rowed and chased to save people. They rushed to catch up, but when they arrived at Dongting Lake, there was no trace, because that was the origin of dragon boat racing, and then they rowed dragon boats on May 5 every year to commemorate it. Rowing a dragon boat to disperse the fish in the river so as not to eat Qu Yuan's body. The habit of competition prevails in wuyue. Dragon Boat Race started in Taiwan Province Province in the 29th year of Qing Qianlong. At that time, Jiang, the chief executive of Taiwan Province Province, held a friendly match in Hexi Half Moon Pool in Tainan City. Now, Taiwan Province Province holds a dragon boat race on May 5th every year. There are boat races in Hong Kong. Recently, the British have followed China's example and organized ghost teams and held competitions.
Eating zongzi: People in Jingchu boiled glutinous rice or steamed zongzi cakes and threw them into the river to offer sacrifices to Qu Yuan on May 5th, so they threw the glutinous rice in bamboo tubes for fear of being eaten by fish. Later, they gradually replaced the bamboo tube with rice wrapped in zongzi leaves.
Drinking realgar wine: This custom is very popular among people in the Yangtze River valley.
Wandering about all diseases: This custom prevails in the Dragon Boat Festival in Guizhou.
Wearing sachets: Children wear sachets during the Dragon Boat Festival, which not only means to ward off evil spirits and drive away epidemics, but also has decorative styles on the front. The sachet contains cinnabar, realgar and fragrant medicine, wrapped in silk cloth, and the fragrance is overflowing, and then tied into a rope with five-color silk thread to make a string of different shapes, exquisite and eye-catching.
Legend of Dragon Boat Festival
During the Warring States period, Chu and Qin fought for hegemony, and the poet Qu Yuan was highly valued by the King of Chu. However, Qu Yuan's ideas were opposed by the old school headed by the above officials, doctors and Shanxi merchants, and he constantly vilified Qu Yuan in front of Chu Huaiwang. Chu Huaiwang gradually alienated Qu Yuan, and Qu Yuan, who had great ambitions, was deeply distressed. With uncontrollable sadness and indignation, he wrote immortal poems such as Li Sao and Tianxiang.
In 229 years before Wu Gong, Qin captured eight cities in Chu, and then sent envoys to invite Chu Huaiwang to make peace with Qin. Qu yuan saw through the plot of the king of Qin and risked his life to enter the palace to state his interests. Chu Huaiwang did not listen, but expelled Qu Yuan from the capital. Chu Huaiwang attended the meeting as scheduled and was imprisoned as soon as he arrived in Qin. Chu Huaiwang was filled with remorse and died in the state of Qin three years later. Shortly after the King of Chu ascended the throne, the King of Qin sent troops to attack the State of Chu. The King of Chu retreated hastily and Qin Jun captured Ying City. On the way to exile, Qu Yuan heard the bad news of sudden death and the attack on Tancheng, but he was so desperate that he sighed and jumped into the turbulent Guluo River.
Fishermen on the river and people on the shore heard that Dr. Qu Yuan threw himself into the river and came to the river to salvage Qu Yuan's body, and brought zongzi and eggs into the river one after another. Some doctors also poured realgar wine into the king, so that the medicine could make dragons and water beasts unconscious and prevent Qu Yuan from being hurt.
Since then, every year at the beginning of May-Quyuan was martyred in the river, the people of Chu all went to the river to row dragon boats and throw zongzi to commemorate this great patriotic poet, and the custom of the Dragon Boat Festival was thus handed down.
Dragon Boat Festival is one of the four major festivals throughout the year. May is the poison month, the fifth day is the poison day, and the noon on the fifth day is the poison time, ranking at the bottom of the three poisons. The Dragon Boat Festival is also called "the end of May".
Rowing a dragon boat is the legendary exorcism. People compare river water to dragon urine, which can enlighten people and drive away evil spirits. As long as people draw water from the river to the altar at noon on the Dragon Boat Festival and put it in the water tank at home, they can ward off evil spirits and bring good luck to the year. Children can avoid getting sick by bathing by the river.
As we all know, in memory of Qu Yuan, we eat zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival. The traditional way to commemorate Qu Yuan is to take Zongzi to the river and throw it into the river to prevent fish and insects from eating Qu Yuan's body. Up to now, we still maintain this traditional custom.
Wormwood is also a legendary plant that can exorcise evil spirits, so in the Dragon Boat Festival, people usually make "grey water brown" with wormwood, while in the folk, people will gather in a local special grass garden at noon of the Dragon Boat Festival to snatch herbs that can be used as herbal tea, and the more lively the scene, the more useful the efficacy of herbs, which is a good sign.