The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanyang Festival and Chung Wu Festival, is said to be the day when Qu Yuan, a great poet in ancient China, threw himself into the Guluojiang River to be martyred. For more than two thousand years, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month has become a traditional festival to commemorate Qu Yuan.
According to historical records, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 278 BC, Qu Yuan, a doctor and patriotic poet of the State of Chu, was filled with grief and indignation after hearing the news that Qin Jun had breached the capital of the State of Chu, and his heart ached, so he resolutely wrote Huai Sha. He threw himself into the Miluo River and died. People along the river have led boats to race to salvage, evoking souls along the water and throwing zongzi into the river to prevent fish and shrimp from eating into his body.
Today, the Dragon Boat Festival is still a festival that our people attach great importance to. On May 20th, 2006, this folk custom was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. Dragon Boat Festival is now a legal holiday in China.
Customs related to the Dragon Boat Festival:
The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the traditional Dragon Boat Festival in China. Besides eating zongzi, there are also customs such as dragon boat racing, hanging wormwood and tying colorful silk thread.
1 Zongzi
Zongzi, whose first name is "Tongzong", is made of sticky rice in a bamboo tube and cooked with plant ash juice. It is a seasonal agricultural product that can be used for a long time. It is officially a seasonal food. According to historical records, Zongzi was officially designated as Dragon Boat Festival food in the Jin Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, the rice used for zongzi was "white as jade", and its shape also appeared rhombic and conical, which became a holiday or folk snack.
2. Dragon boat race
Dragon boat race is an important custom activity of Dragon Boat Festival. Rowing a dragon boat in a race is to "take advantage of it" and see who can row the fastest. In the process of "beating the box and melting the song", the dragon boats on the water are like "flying against the wind and flying with shadows." In order to increase the appreciation and reach the end of the dragon boat race, the dragon boat rowers have to "turn over" into the water. Grab the buoy set in the water.
3. Hang wormwood
The ancient folk custom thought that May was unlucky, and the folk proverb said, "Be good at the first month, and hate May." At this time, after the festival, it gradually began to be rainy and humid, and people were prone to get sick. In addition, snakes and insects multiplied and easily bit people. In order to get rid of filth and drive away poison, before and after the Dragon Boat Festival, ancient people hung leaves of fallen cattails and mugwort leaves on the doors, which were called "Ai Hu" to drive away poisonous insects.