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 month of Wu Wang calendar in Chu Wei, or in the twenty-seventh year, 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 furious. On May 5th, he wrapped the body of Zixu 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.
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 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.
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. He was arrested by the Qing soldiers at the meeting and persevered. Guangxu died heroically in Xuanhengkou, Shaoxing on June 5th, thirty-three years ago.
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 the best martial artist. I am willing to exorcise evil spirits for your majesty. When the Ming emperor woke up, malaria was cured. So I asked Wu Daozi, the painter, to draw a portrait of Zhong Kui catching ghosts according to what I saw in my dream, and ordered all the people to post it on the Dragon Boat Festival to exorcise evil spirits.
Folium Artemisiae Argyi hangs calamus: On the Dragon Boat Festival, every household makes calamus, Folium Artemisiae Argyi, pomegranate flower, garlic and dragon boat flower into human figures, which are called Ai people. Hanging mugwort leaves in the hall, cutting them into tiger shapes or ribbons, and sticking mugwort leaves on them, 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.
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 prevailed in wuyue and Chu. 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 by organizing ghost teams and holding 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 all diseases: This custom prevails in the Dragon Boat Festival custom 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
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(A) Qu Yuan into the river
In memory of the patriotic poet Qu Yuan, in order to prevent Qu Yuan's body from being eaten by fish and shrimp, residents threw a lot of rice (zongzi) wrapped in bamboo leaves into the river and competed to find Qu Yuan's body.
(2) Cao E found her father's body.
Cao E, a dutiful daughter of the Eastern Han Dynasty, died because Cao Fu threw herself into the river. /kloc-when she was 0/4 years old, she cried by the river. 17 days later, Cao Fu's body is still missing. She threw herself into the river on May 1 day, and five days later, the two bodies closed and floated, and were sacrificed by the villagers.
(3) Legend of White Snake
Legend has it that Empress White Snake married Xu Xian in return for her kindness. It is said that on the Dragon Boat Festival, the white snake drank realgar wine, which was almost snake-shaped. It is a famous folk drama, together with The Legend of the White Snake in Fahai and the flooded Jinshan Temple.
(4) The anniversary of Wu Zixu's death.
Legend has it that after Wu Zixu helped Wu attack Chu, He Lv died and Fu Cha succeeded to the throne, winning a great victory. Ju Jian, the King of Yue, invited him to make peace and Wu Zixu fought the main battle. Fu Cha did not listen, but listened to the treacherous court official and committed suicide for Wu Zixu. On May 5th, he threw the body into the river. After that, people offered sacrifices to Wu Zixu on the Dragon Boat Festival.
Second, related customs.
The Dragon Boat Festival is also called the Mid-Autumn Festival, because after the fifth month of the lunar calendar, the weather is getting hotter, mosquitoes and flies breed, and infectious diseases are prone to occur, so the ancients called May "evil month" or "poisonous month". On the Dragon Boat Festival, the sun is the hottest and all kinds of poisons come out. The ancients used five kinds of plants-Acorus calamus, wormwood, pomegranate flower, garlic and Shandan-to detoxify, which can be said to be an ancient health festival in China.
After the founding of the Republic of China, it was designated as "Summer Festival", also known as "Poet's Festival" to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan. Dragon Boat Festival is called "Universal Festival" because every household hangs calamus to ward off evil spirits.
The customs related to the Dragon Boat Festival are as follows:
(1) Eat zongzi
It was because Qu Yuan threw himself into the river that people were afraid that Qu Yuan's body would be eaten by fish and shrimp, so they packed rice in bamboo tubes and threw it into the river. Later, it evolved into being wrapped in bamboo baskets and bamboo leaves and thrown into the river to feed fish and shrimp.
(2) Drink realgar
After the Dragon Boat Festival, various insects became active and the plague gradually increased. Realgar has the effect of eliminating epidemic diseases. It is precisely because of the story of the white snake that after drinking realgar wine, the white snake is almost snake-shaped, so the people play a role as effective, hoping to receive the role of exorcism.
(3) hanging branches of Folium Artemisiae Argyi, Acorus calamus and Ficus.
There are reasons for hanging wormwood, calamus (Pujian), pomegranate and garlic at the entrance of Dragon Boat Festival. Usually mugwort leaves, banyan trees and calamus are tied into a bundle with red paper and then inserted or hung on the door. Because Acorus calamus is the first of the five auspicious symbols in the sky, it symbolizes the ominous sword, because the growing season and shape are regarded as "the breath of a hundred yin", and the leaves are sword-shaped and can be inserted at the door to ward off evil spirits. Therefore, the alchemist called it "water sword", and later the custom extended to "general sword", which can cut off all evil. In the Qing Dynasty, Gu Tieqing recorded in Jia Qinglu that "chopping Pu as a sword, chopping Peng as a whip, and hanging peach stalks and garlic on the bed are all used to exorcise ghosts". However, in the local records of the Jin Dynasty, "I mourn for the tiger, or cut the ribbon for the tiger, with leaves of mourning attached, and I strive to cut it. In the future, it will be calamus, or it will look like a human figure or a small sword, called Pujian, to drive away evil spirits. "
Wormwood represents a hundred blessings and is a kind of herbal medicine that can cure diseases. Inserting it at the door can make you healthy. In ancient China, it has always been a medicinal plant. Moxibustion in acupuncture uses wormwood as the main component and burns it at acupoints to treat diseases. The legend that wormwood can exorcise evil spirits has been circulating for a long time, mainly because it has the function of medicine. For example, it is recorded in Zong Yi's Chronicle of Jingchu that when Japanese chickens don't crow, people who take wormwood like humans take it and receive it with moxibustion, which is very effective. That is, the day when Ai was taken in human form and hung on the door, it could poison gas. Most people also have the custom of planting wormwood before and after the house for good luck. In Taiwan Province Province, folks also put up "afternoon couplets" on the Dragon Boat Festival, which have the same function as amulets. Some afternoon couplets have a saying: "Holding an Aiqi attracts a hundred blessings, and hanging a sword kills a thousand evils". The folk significance of fig branches can strengthen the body. "It is braver to insert figs than dragons, and it is braver to insert mugwort leaves." . There are also places that are used to hanging pomegranate, garlic or Shandan, and using garlic to eliminate evil and treat insect poison; Shandan prescription cures madness, pomegranate flowers hang doors to avoid Huang Chao. Pomegranate flower is the flower of this season, and it also has the function of treating diseases. Pomegranate peel is a common Chinese medicine. There is also a story about the relationship between pomegranate flower and Huang Chao. During the rebellion in Huang Chao, Huang Chao once approached a village and happened to see a woman with a big child on her back and a child in her hand. Huang Chao was curious and asked why. Women don't know Huang Chao, just say that because Huang Chao came and killed her uncle's family, this is the only remaining lifeline, so if she can't attend to both of them, she will sacrifice her own flesh and blood to save her uncle's flesh and blood. Huang Chao was deeply moved and told the woman that as long as pomegranate flowers were hung on the door, the disaster in Huang Chao could be avoided.
(4) Hanging Bell Statue
Because folklore is about catching ghosts, Zhong Kui seems to have the ability to make ghosts. It is said that Emperor Tang Ming dreamed that a GREAT GHOST and a little demon were stealing food, and GREAT GHOST caught it and ate it. Don asked, "Who are you? GREAT GHOST said, "My name is Zhong Kui, and I am a scholar in Zhong Nanshan. I didn't pass the exam because of my ugly hat, so I committed suicide. Now I swear to rid the world of evil for your majesty. "Ming Taizu woke up and asked the painter Wu Daozi to paint Zhong Kui as he saw in his dream. It turned out that the statue of Zhong Kui was hung at the end of the year, and Wen Zhiming, a painter in the Ming Dynasty, painted Zhong Kui in the Cold Forest. Hanging a statue of Zhong Kui on the Dragon Boat Festival may be a custom in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, but it is rare in Taiwan Province Province.
(5) Dragon Boat Race
In ancient times, people raced to row boats because Qu Yuan threw himself into the river to save Qu Yuan. Modern Times is an activity that best embodies team spirit. In addition, the main rivers in all cities in the province hold dragon boat rowing competitions every year, and domestic wireless TV stations broadcast the grand occasion of the competitions. In recent years, it has gradually developed into an international invitational tournament. The reason why the dragon boat race is loved by foreign friends is that it is a sport that needs the tacit understanding of strength and beauty, which is different from the popular kayaking or eight-person rowing abroad. Dragon boat races are similar everywhere. It is worth mentioning that the dragon boat race in Erlong Village of yilan county is not famous because their dragon boats are longer or more beautiful than those in other places, but because there are only two teams-Qiwulan in Upper Erlong Village and Zhouzaiwei in Lower Erlong Village. They each have a dragon boat with a Tai Chi pattern, but Qiwulan has a green background and Zhou Zaiwei has a red background. The rules of the competition are that the residents of both villages are players, and they compete in Erlongxi dozens of times (from afternoon to dusk). When the team members are tired, they will immediately change to the people in the same village, and the team that wins more will win.