Duanwu Festival, also known as Duanyang Festival, Chongwu Festival, Tianzhong Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, etc., is a folk festival that combines praying for blessings and good luck, worshipping ancestors, and savoring food. About the Dragon Boat Festival legend story, I think the most widely circulated than the great patriotic poet Qu Yuan's legend; followed by commemorating the loyal minister Wu Zixu's legend; there is also said to commemorate the filial piety of Cao E's legend.

? The legend of the Dragon Boat Festival?

?1. In honor of Qu Yuan?

In about 340 B.C., China's famous patriotic poet Qu Yuan was born in a noble family in the state of Chu, and he was not only learned, but also had a heart for the world. When he served as a minister in the state of Chu, he was always putting himself in the shoes of the state's national interests. Qu Yuan vigorously advocated reforms internally and reorganization of officials; externally, he united with Qi to ****together to counterbalance Qin. However, Qu Yuan's reform measures infringed on the interests of the aristocracy of Chu, and he was retaliated against by the aristocracy of Chu. They falsely accused and discredited Qu Yuan in front of King Huai of Chu, which led to his gradual estrangement from Qu Yuan, who was driven out of Ying and exiled to a remote area. In response to this, Qu Yuan wrote in Li Sao (离骚), a famous line in the ancient times, "All women are jealous of Yu's moth-eyebrows, and silences are saying that Yu is good at prostitution," expressing his contempt and disdain for the little people who falsely accused him.

While he was in exile, he could not let go of his motherland and hoped to be recalled by the king of Chu one day to serve his country again. After the capital of Chu was overrun by the Qin army, Qu Yuan realized that he had no way to serve his country, so he jumped into the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth month to kill himself. Qu Yuan used his life to write a story that has been celebrated throughout the ages. In order to commemorate Qu Yuan, people ate zongzi and raced dragon boats on the fifth day of the fifth month to express their praise for Qu Yuan's noble patriotic spirit, which later developed into the Dragon Boat Festival.

?2. In honor of Wu Zixu?

Wu Zixu was born in 559 B.C., a native of Chu, and was a great physician of the state of Wu during the Spring and Autumn Period. His father, Wu She, was the teacher of King Ping of Chu, Zi Jian, but he was killed by order of King Ping of Chu due to slander. Wu Zixu fled to the state of Wu on his own and was displaced along the way. Luckily, he met Duke Ziguang of Wu and helped him to ascend to the throne of Wu, who was later King Helu of Wu. After King Helu of Wu assumed the throne, he continued to reuse Wu Zixu, and Wu Zixu used all his talents to help the development of the state of Wu. First, he advised King Helu of Wu to build a capital city, set up guards in the city, fill up the granary with food, and smelt weapons and forge armor. Wu Zixu himself chose the site and planned the construction of Wu's capital city, which is now Suzhou.

During the reign of King Helu of Wu, Wu Zixu gained his trust and faithfully helped him to develop and strengthen the state of Wu. He introduced Sun Wu, a famous military man, to the king of Wu to train his soldiers, and Wu Zixu, in collaboration with Sun Wu, led the army of Wu to defeat the army of Chu and broke through the capital city of Chu, Ying Du, and dug up the tomb of the king of Chu, and whipped the body of the king of Chu three hundred times in order to take revenge for the killing of his father. The state of Wu reached the peak of its power by virtue of the eloquence of Wu Zixu and others, who broke through Jing and Chu in the west and shook Qi and Lu in the north.

After the death of King Helu of Wu, King Fu-chai of Wu assumed the throne. Wu Zixu continued to assist Wu in defeating the invading Yue state. However, Wu ZiXu was so proud of his achievements that he listened to the slanderous words of Bo great fortune and left the Yue state with a chance of respite. He wrongly judged that Wu ZiXu wanted to overthrow the state of Wu with the help of Qi, and ordered Wu ZiXu to commit suicide. Before his death, Wu Zixu sadly told his guests, "After my death, gouge out my eyeballs and hang them above the east city gate; I want to see with my own eyes how the kingdom of Wu fell!" However, upon learning this news, King Fu-chai of Wu was so enraged that he ordered Wu Zixu's body to be thrown into the Qiantang River on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, after wrapping it in scops owl leather.

When Wu was defeated by Yue, King Fu-chai was so ashamed that he thought he could not face Wu Zixu in the netherworld after his death, so he pulled out his sword and cut his own throat after covering his eyes with a white cloth. In honor of Wu Zixu, the people of Wu held a dragon boat race on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar every year to welcome the king of Wu.

?3. To honor the memory of Cao E, a woman of filial piety.

The third legend of the Dragon Boat Festival commemorates a filial daughter, Cao E, who rescued her father from the river in the Eastern Han Dynasty (23-220 AD). Qiao Yi was a native of Sanyu in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and her father drowned in the river, his remains missing for several days. At that time, the filial daughter Qiao Yi was only 14 years old and cried by the river. night. 17 days later, he was thrown into the river on May 5, and his father's body was removed five days later. The incident spread as a myth and was passed on to the current governor, who ordered Toussaint to erect a monument in his honor, and in so doing praised his disciple, Handan Chun. Therefore, it is rumored that the Dragon Boat Festival is also a day to commemorate filial piety and joy.

? Duanwu customs?

1. Hanging Mugwort

Duanwu is the first festival after the beginning of summer, the temperature rises, it is the period of disease, so many years ago people tend to hang a few plants of Mugwort outside their homes, due to the special scent of the Mugwort, people use it to drive away diseases, mosquito prevention, and ward off evil spirits.

2. Dragon Boat Festival eat zongzi

Every year at the beginning of May, the Chinese people have to soak glutinous rice, wash zongzi leaves, package zongzi, and its color varieties are more varied. From the filling point of view, the north more packages of small jujube Beijing jujube dumplings; the south has bean paste, fresh meat, ham, egg yolk and other fillings, which is represented by the Zhejiang Jiaxing zongzi. Eat zongzi custom, for thousands of years, in China prevailed, and spread to North Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian countries.

Duanwu is a traditional Chinese festival with a long history and cultural heritage. Over the Dragon Boat Festival is the traditional habits of the Chinese people for more than two thousand years, 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 different customs around.