Over the Dragon Boat Festival, is more than two thousand years of traditional habits, due to the vast area, many ethnic groups, coupled with many stories and legends, so not only produced a number of different names of the festival, but also has a different custom around. Its content is mainly: the daughter back to his mother's home, hanging Zhong Kui statue, welcome the ghost ship, avoiding the afternoon, posting the afternoon leaf charm, hanging calamus, mugwort, touring the disease, Pei Xiangbao, ready to sacrifice sweet, dragon boat race, than the martial arts, batting, swinging, to the children painted with xionghuang, drinking xionghuang liquor, calamus wine, eat five poisonous cakes, salted eggs, zongzi and seasonal fruits, and so on, some activities such as dragon boat racing, etc., has got new development, break through the time, geographical boundaries, and become an international sporting event. international sporting events.
The origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, said a lot of things, such as: commemorate Qu Yuan said; commemorate Wu Zixu said; commemorate Cao E said; from the three generations of the summer solstice festival said; the evil month of the evil day to drive to avoid that Wu Yue national totem sacrifices said and so on. Each of the above said, each of its origin. According to scholars Mr. Wen Yiduo's "Dragon Boat Festival" and "Dragon Boat Festival of the history of education" listed more than a hundred ancient records and expert archaeological evidence, the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, is the ancient southern Wu Yue nation held a totem sacrifice of the festival, earlier than Qu Yuan. However, for thousands of years, Qu Yuan's patriotic spirit and touching poems have been widely and y rooted in people's hearts, so people "cherish and mourn, and the world discusses its words to pass them on", therefore, the commemoration of Qu Yuan's words has the widest and deepest influence, and occupies a mainstream position. In the field of folk culture, the people of the Dragon Boat Festival Dragon Boat Race and eat rice dumplings, etc., are associated with the commemoration of Qu Yuan.
To this day, the Dragon Boat Festival is still a very prevalent and grand festival in the hearts of the people.
The more common activities take the following forms:
Dragon Boat Racing:
It is the main custom of the Dragon Boat Festival. Legend has it that it originated in ancient times when the people of Chu could not bear to see the wise minister Qu Yuan throw himself into the river to die, and many people rowed after him to save him. They scrambled and chased him to Dongting Lake when he disappeared. After that, they rowed dragon boats on May 5 every year to commemorate it. The dragon boat was used to disperse the fish in the river, so that the fish would not eat Qu Yuan's body. The practice of racing, prevalent in Wu, Yue, Chu.
In fact, "dragon boat racing" as early as the Warring States period. In the sound of drums, rowing a canoe carved into the shape of a dragon, to do the game of racing, to entertain the gods and people, is a half-religious, half-entertainment program in the rituals.
Later, in addition to commemorating Qu Yuan, people around the world also put a different symbolism.
Duanwu food dumplings
Duanwu Festival to eat dumplings, which is another traditional custom of the Chinese people. Zongzi, also known as "corn", "tube dumplings". It has a long history, a variety of patterns.
According to records, as early as in the Spring and Autumn period, with Zizania leaves (wild rice leaves) wrapped in millet into a horn-shaped, called "corner of millet"; bamboo tube with rice sealed and baked, called "tube dumplings". The end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, to grass ash water soaked in millet, because the water contains alkali, with Mushroom leaves wrapped in millet into a quadrangular shape, cooked, became the Guangdong alkaline water dumplings.
Jin Dynasty, dumplings were officially designated as Dragon Boat Festival food. At this time, the package of raw materials in addition to glutinous rice, but also add the Chinese medicine Yi Zhi Ren, cooked zongzi called "Yi Zhi Zong". Zhou Zhou, "Yueyang customs and local records" recorded: "Commonly wrapped in millet with Aizome leaves, ...... cooked, and rotten, in the fifth of May to the summer solstice to eat, a zong, a millet." North and South Dynasty period, the emergence of mixed rice dumplings. Rice mixed with animal and poultry meat, chestnuts, jujubes, adzuki beans, etc., more varieties. Zongzi also used as a gift for interaction.
To the Tang Dynasty, rice dumplings, has been "white as jade", the shape of its conical, diamond-shaped. Japanese literature recorded in the "Tang dumplings". Song Dynasty, there has been "candied rice dumplings", that is, fruit into the dumplings. Poet Su Dongpo has "in the dumplings see prunes" poem. At this time also appeared with zongzi piled up into buildings, pavilions, wooden cars, cows and horses for the advertisement, indicating that the Song Dynasty to eat zongzi has been very fashionable. Yuan, Ming period, zongzi parcel material has changed from zongmu leaf for Ruo leaf, and later appeared with reed leaf package zongzi, additional material has appeared bean paste, pork, pine nuts, jujube, walnuts and so on, varieties are more colorful.
Till today, the beginning of May every year, the Chinese people have to dip the glutinous rice, wash zongzi leaves, package zongzi, its more colorful varieties. From the filling point of view, the north more packages of small jujube Beijing jujube zong; the south has bean paste, fresh meat, ham, egg yolk and other fillings, which is represented by Zhejiang Jiaxing zongzi. The custom of eating rice dumplings, for thousands of years, in China prevailed, and spread to North Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian countries.