In China, the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated in a grand way, and there are various activities to celebrate it. Common activities are as follows:
Dragon boat race:
Dragon boat race is the main custom of Dragon Boat Festival. According to legend, people who originated in the ancient State of Chu were reluctant to part with the death of the sage Qu Yuan, and many people rowed boats to save people. They rushed to catch up with each other and disappeared at Dongting Lake. After that, I will row a dragon boat on May 5th 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.
In fact, the "Dragon Boat Race" existed as early as the Warring States Period. Carving dragon-shaped canoes in drums and playing race games are semi-religious and semi-entertaining programs to entertain gods and people in the ceremony.
Later, people everywhere not only commemorated Qu Yuan, but also gave different meanings to dragon boat racing.
Dragon boat rowing in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is to commemorate Qiu Jin, a local-born modern female revolutionary. The night dragon boat is decorated with lights and shuttles, and the scene is moving and interesting. The Miao people in Guizhou hold the Dragon Boat Festival from May 25th to 28th of the lunar calendar to celebrate the success of transplanting rice and wish a bumper harvest. Yunnan Dai compatriots competed in dragon boat races at the Water-splashing Festival to commemorate the ancient hero Yan Hongwo. Different nationalities and regions have different legends about dragon boat rowing. To this day, dragon boat races with different characteristics are held every year in many areas near rivers and lakes in the south.
In the 29th year of Qing Qianlong (1736), Taiwan Province Province began to hold dragon boat races. At that time, Jiang, the chief executive of Taiwan Province Province, held a friendly match in Fukeji Half Moon Pool in Tainan City. Now, Taiwan Province Province holds a dragon boat race on May 5th every year. In Hong Kong, races are also held.
In addition, dragon boat racing was first introduced to neighboring countries such as Japan, Vietnam and Britain. From 65438 to 0980, the dragon boat race was included in the national sports competition in China, and the "Qu Yuan Cup" dragon boat race was held every year. 1991June 16 (the fifth day of the fifth lunar month), the first international dragon boat festival was held in Yueyang, China, Qu Yuan's second hometown. Holding the "Dragon Head Festival" before the competition not only retains the traditional ceremony, but also injects new modern factors. The "dragon head" was carried into Quzi Temple. After the athletes painted the dragon head red (tied with a red ribbon), the priest read out the sacrificial ceremony and "lit up" the dragon head. Then, all the people who participated in the Dragon Boat Festival bowed three times, and the faucet was carried to the Guluo River. This time, more than 600,000 people often participate in competitions, fairs and get-together activities, which is unprecedented. Since then, Hunan has regularly held the International Dragon Boat Festival. Dragon boat races will be widely spread all over the world.
Eat zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival.
Eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival is another traditional custom of China people. Zongzi, also known as "millet" and "Zongzi". It has a long history and various patterns.
According to records, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, millet was wrapped into horns by leaves of zinia latifolia, which was called "horny millet". Rice packed in bamboo tubes is sealed and baked, which is called "tube zongzi". At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, millet soaked in plant ash water. Because the water contains alkali, the millet is wrapped in leaves into a quadrilateral, and when cooked, it becomes Guangdong sour rice dumplings.
In Jin Dynasty, Zongzi was officially designated as Dragon Boat Festival food. At this time, in addition to glutinous rice, jiaozi also added Alpinia oxyphylla, and the boiled jiaozi was called "Yizhi jiaozi". According to the "Yueyang Local Records" written by Zhou people, "It is customary to wrap the millet with leaves, cook it and cook it thoroughly. From May 5 to the solstice in summer, there is a jiaozi and a millet. " During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, miscellaneous zongzi appeared. Rice is mixed with animal meat, chestnuts, red dates, red beans and so on. And there are more and more varieties. Zongzi is also used as a gift for communication.
In the Tang Dynasty, the rice used for zongzi was "white as jade", and its shape appeared conical and rhombic. There is a record of "Da Tang Zongzi" in Japanese literature. There was a kind of "candied zongzi" in the Song Dynasty, that is, fruit was put into zongzi. The poet Su Dongpo has a poem "See Yangmei in Zongzi". At this time, there were also advertisements for building pavilions and wooden chariots and horses with zongzi, indicating that eating zongzi was very fashionable in the Song Dynasty. In the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the wrapping material of zongzi changed from leaves to leaves. Later, zongzi wrapped in reed leaves appeared, and additional materials such as bean paste, pork, pine nuts, dates and walnuts appeared, and the varieties were more colorful.
To this day, at the beginning of May every year, people in China have to soak glutinous rice, wash zongzi leaves and wrap zongzi, with more varieties of colors. From the perspective of stuffing, there are many dates in the north, such as jiaozi; There are many kinds of fillings in the south, such as red bean paste, fresh meat, ham and egg yolk, among which Zhejiang Jiaxing Zongzi is the representative. The custom of eating zongzi has been popular in China for thousands of years and spread to South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian countries.
Pei Xiang Bao:
Children wear sachets on the Dragon Boat Festival, which is said to mean to ward off evil spirits and plague. Actually, it is used to decorate the inner head. 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, all kinds of exquisite and lovely.
Acorus calamus:
There is a folk proverb that says, "Willows are inserted in Qingming Festival, and Ai is inserted in Dragon Boat Festival". On the Dragon Boat Festival, people regard inserting wormwood and calamus as one of the important contents. Every family sweeps the court, puts calamus and moxa sticks between their eyebrows and hangs them in the class. Acorus calamus, Folium Artemisiae Argyi, Liu Hua, Garlic and Dragon Boat Flower are made into human or tiger shapes, which are called Ai Ren and Ai Hu. It is made into garlands and decorations, beautiful and fragrant, and women compete to wear it to ward off evil spirits.
Artemisia argyi, also known as Artemisia argyi and Artemisia argyi. Its stems and leaves contain volatile aromatic oils. Its unique fragrance can repel mosquitoes, flies, insects and ants and purify the air. Chinese medicine uses wormwood as medicine, which has the functions of nourishing qi and blood, warming uterus and dispelling cold and dampness. Processing Artemisia argyi leaves into "moxa wool" is an important medicinal material for moxibustion treatment.
Acorus calamus is a perennial aquatic herb, and its long and narrow leaves also contain volatile aromatic oil, which is a good medicine for refreshing, strengthening bones, eliminating stagnation, killing insects and sterilizing.
It can be seen that the ancients inserted wormwood leaves and calamus to have a certain disease prevention effect. Dragon Boat Festival is also a "health festival" handed down from ancient times. On this day, people sweep the courtyard, hang branches of Artemisia argyi, hang calamus, sprinkle realgar wine, drink realgar wine, stir up turbidity to remove rot, sterilize and prevent glass. These activities also reflect the fine traditions of the Chinese nation. It is a common custom for all countries and ethnic groups in China to collect herbs on the Dragon Boat Festival.
Before the legend of Qu Yuan was widely circulated, the custom of Dragon Boat Festival still followed the taboo of evil days, with health care and avoiding epidemic as the main principles.
Folium Artemisiae Argyi, Rhizoma Acori Graminei and garlic;
Ai, Acorus calamus and garlic are called "Three Friends of Dragon Boat Festival". In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Dragon Boat Festival was also called "Mulan Festival", and Jingchu had the custom of picking Ai. To pick wormwood, you should start before the cock crows. Choose the most humanoid wormwood and take it back and hang it on the door. Some even tie wormwood into the shape of a tiger, and then stick wormwood leaves on it. Folium Artemisiae Argyi and Rhizoma Acori Graminei contain aromatic oil, which has the same bactericidal effect as garlic. During the Dragon Boat Festival, the summer solstice is approaching, which is the time when cold and heat alternate. Attention should be paid to everything from diet to dressing and action. There is a proverb in Baoshan County: "If you don't eat Zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival, you can't send cold clothes;" After eating the Dragon Boat Festival Zongzi, freeze it three times. "In ancient times, people lacked scientific concepts and mistakenly thought that all diseases were evil spirits. Therefore, on the Dragon Boat Festival, people use calamus as the sword, wormwood as the whip and garlic as the hammer, which are also called "three weapons", thinking that they can repel snakes, insects and germs and eliminate evil spirits.
In Jiangnan, drinking calamus wine on Dragon Boat Festival is a custom, so its medicinal effect is more direct. Usually, Acorus calamus is chopped before the festival, mixed with realgar, soaked in wine, and can be drunk on holidays.
Write a spell:
In addition to exorcising ghosts with "three friends of Dragon Boat Festival" such as Ai, Acorus calamus and garlic, there is also an important method of exorcising ghosts, that is, hanging spells indoors to ward off evil spirits. Hang exorcism symbols and some strict rituals. If required, it must be written at sunrise or noon on the Dragon Boat Festival. Writing materials must be made of raw Zhu, and saltpeter must be placed in inkstones and among writing people. The more popular spells are: "On the fifth day of May, the red mouth and white tongue disappear" and so on. Shanghainese are used to hanging Zhong Kui at the gate of Dragon Boat Festival, which is the continuation and evolution of this custom of exorcism. In addition, similar to this custom, there is realgar wine on the child's forehead. On the morning of the festival, women put mugwort on children's ears and calamus on their heads, and then write a "king" on their foreheads with realgar wine. It is said that this can make all ghosts afraid and save their lives.
Drink realgar wine:
China Jiangnan folk Dragon Boat Festival has the custom of eating "Huang Wu". "Huang Wu" refers to eel, yellow croaker, cucumber, salted egg yolk and realgar wine. Legend has it that in The Legend of the White Snake, the White Snake drinks realgar wine, showing its original shape. Therefore, people think that poisonous insects such as snakes, scorpions and centipedes can be cracked with realgar wine, and drinking realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival can exorcise evil spirits and detoxify and maintain good health.
Hanging purse-string colored silk thread:
Ying Shao's "Custom Pass" records: "On May 5, Sun tied his arm with colorful silks, named" Long life, one to continue life, one to fight for soldiers, one to fight for five colors, and one to fight for soldiers and ghosts, so that people would not get sick. "
In ancient China, five colors were worshipped, which were auspicious colors. Therefore, in the early morning of the festival, the first important thing for adults after getting up is to tie five-color lines on their wrists, ankles and necks. Children are not allowed to talk when tying the thread. The five-color line cannot be broken or discarded at will, and can only be thrown into the river when it rains heavily in summer or takes a shower for the first time. It is said that children wearing five-color thread can avoid the harm of snakes and scorpions; Throwing it into the river is to let the river wash away plagues and diseases and make children safe and healthy.
Chen Shiliang's Chronicle of Years Old quoted Miscellaneous Notes of Years Old as saying, "The Dragon Boat Festival is red and white, like a bag, with colored lines running through it and shaped like a flower." Another kind of "mussel powder bell": "On the fifth day, mussel powder is placed in silk and decorated with cotton, if there are several beads. Let the children take it to absorb sweat. " The things in these carry-on bags have changed several times, from sweat-absorbing mussel powder, amulets to ward off evil spirits, copper coins and realgar powder to sachets filled with spices, and their production has become increasingly exquisite, becoming a unique folk art of the Dragon Boat Festival.
Dragon boat race:
As for the dragon boat race, the written record began 500 years ago with "He Xu" written by Wu Jun of Liang Dynasty. Later, written records about dragon boat races can be found in many records. Among thousands of local chronicles in China, * * * has 227 records of dragon boat races. There is a saying about rowing and racing dragon boats on the Dragon Boat Festival that "the masses set out by boat and rushed to save Qu Yuan." And "a loud cry of drum music scared away the dragon."