Origin of the festival

1. Commemorating Qu Yuan

This theory first came from "Xu Qi Xie Ji" by Wu Jun of the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty and "Jingchu Sui" by Zong Mao of the Southern Dynasty. Time Chronicles". It is said that after Qu Yuan threw himself into the Miluo River, local people immediately rowed boats to rescue him after hearing the news. They went all the way to Dongting Lake, but never saw Qu Yuan's body. At that time, it happened to be a rainy day, and the boats on the lake gathered together at the pavilion on the shore. When people learned that the purpose was to salvage the virtuous minister Qu, they set out again in the rain and rushed into the vast Dongting Lake. In order to express their grief, people went boating on the rivers, and then it gradually developed into dragon boat racing. The people were afraid that the fish in the river would eat his body, so they went home and brought rice balls and threw them into the river to prevent the fish and shrimp from destroying Qu Yuan's body. Later, it became a custom to eat rice dumplings. It seems that eating rice dumplings and racing dragon boats on the Dragon Boat Festival are related to the commemoration of Qu Yuan. There is a poem "Dragon Boat Festival" by Wenxiu of the Tang Dynasty as evidence: "Who said that the festival is divided into Dragon Boat Festival? It has been rumored to be Qu Yuan through the ages. It is ridiculous that the Chu River is so vague that it cannot be washed straight. "I am wronged."

2. In memory of the filial daughter Cao E

This sentence comes from the "Cao E Monument" of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Cao E was a native of Shangyu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Her father drowned in the river and her body was not seen for several days. At that time, her filial daughter Cao E was only fourteen years old and cried along the river day and night. After seventeen days, he threw himself into the river on May 5th and took out his father's body five days later.

3. Welcome the God of Waves

In the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu Zixu, a loyal minister of Wu State, died unjustly and turned into the God of Waves. People mourned and offered sacrifices to him, so there is the Dragon Boat Festival. This legend is widely circulated in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Wu Zixu was a member of the Chu State. His father and brother were both killed by the King of Chu. Later, Zixu defected to the State of Wu and helped Wu conquer Chu. After five battles, he entered Yingcheng, the capital of Chu. At that time, King Ping of Chu was dead, so Zixu dug up the grave and whipped three hundred corpses to avenge the death of his father and brother. After King Helu of Wu died, his grandson Fucha succeeded to the throne. The Wu army had high morale and was victorious in every battle. The country of Yue was defeated. King Goujian of Yue asked for peace, and Fucha agreed to it. Zixu suggested that the Yue Kingdom should be completely eliminated, but Fu Chai refused to listen. The governor of Wu State was bribed by Yue Kingdom and framed Zixu with slanderous words. Fu Chai believed it and gave Zixu a sword, and Zixu died with it. Zixu was a loyal man and regarded death as home. Before he died, he said to his neighbors: "After I die, dig out my eyes and hang them on the east gate of Wu Jing to watch the Yue army enter the city and destroy Wu." Then he committed suicide and died. After hearing this, he was furious and ordered Zixu's body to be packed in leather and thrown into the river on May 5th. Therefore, it is said that the Dragon Boat Festival is also the day to commemorate Wu Zixu.

4. Dragon Festival

This statement comes from Wen Yiduo's "Dragon Boat Test" and "Dragon Boat Festival Historical Education". He believes that the fifth day of May is the day when the "dragon" tribe in the ancient Wuyue region held totem sacrifices. The main reasons are: (1) The two most important activities of the Dragon Boat Festival, eating rice dumplings and racing boats, are both related to dragons. Zongzi thrown into the water are often stolen by dragons, while dragon boats are used for the ferry races. (2) The ferry race is particularly closely related to the ancient Wuyue region, and the people of Wuyue also have the custom of cutting off their hair and getting tattoos "to look like dragons". (3) In ancient times, there was a folk custom of "tying arms with colorful silk" on the fifth day of May. This should be a relic of the "dragon son-like" tattoo custom.

5. Evil Sun

In the pre-Qin era, it was generally believed that May was a poisonous month and the fifth day was an evil day. According to legend, evil and evil were in power on this day, and the five poisons appeared simultaneously. According to the "Book of Rites", the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the orchid bathing in the Zhou Dynasty. The chapter "Midsummer's Notes" in "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" stipulates that people should abstain from sex and fast in May. "Xia Xiaozheng" records: "On this day, medicine is stored to remove poisonous gases." "Dadaili" records, "On May 5th, orchids are stored for bathing." There are many legends about bathing to ward off evil spirits and thinking that Chongwu is the day of death. "Historical Records: Biography of Mengchangjun" records that the famous Mengchangjun in history was born on May 5th. His father asked his mother not to give birth to him, believing that "if a child is born in the fifth month of the fifth month of the lunar month, he will be harmed by his parents." The lost text of "Customs" states, "It is said that if a child is born on May 5th, the male will harm the father, and the female will harm the mother." Wang Chong, the author of "Lunheng", also recorded: "It is taboo to raise the son of the first month and the fifth month; it is not allowed to kill the father and mother with the son of the first month and the fifth month." Wang Zhen'e, the general of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was born on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, and his grandfather named him " Suppress evil." Zhao Ji, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, was born on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month and was fostered outside the palace since childhood. It can be seen that in ancient times, it was a common phenomenon to regard the fifth day of May as an evil day. It can be seen that since the pre-Qin Dynasty, this day has been an unlucky day.

In this way, it is logical to plant calamus and mugwort leaves on this day to drive away ghosts, smoke atractylodes and angelica and drink realgar wine to ward off epidemics. And people also avoid the taboo of "Dragon Boat Festival" and call it "Dragon Boat Festival".

6. Summer Solstice

Liu Deqian, who holds this view, put forward three main reasons in "Another Story of the Origin of the Dragon Boat Festival" and "Interesting Talks about Traditional Chinese Festivals": (1) The authoritative book "The Chronicles of Jingchu" does not mention the festival custom of eating rice dumplings on the fifth day of May, but it writes that eating rice dumplings is included in the Summer Solstice Festival. As for the boat race, the "Jade Candle Book" written by Du Taiqing of the Sui Dynasty listed it as an entertainment activity on the summer solstice, which shows that it was not necessarily to salvage the great poet Qu Yuan who threw himself into the river. (2) Some contents in the Dragon Boat Festival customs, such as "stepping on hundreds of herbs", "fighting on hundreds of herbs", "collecting miscellaneous herbs", etc., actually have nothing to do with Qu Yuan. (3) The first explanation of the Dragon Boat Festival in "The Scenery of the Year" is: "The sun leaves are shining brightly, and the Dragon Boat Festival is in the middle of summer. Therefore, the Dragon Boat Festival can also be called the Tianzhong Festival. Therefore, the Dragon Boat Festival The earliest origin of the festival is the summer solstice, and the commemoration of Qu Yuan has the most widespread influence. People are also willing to attribute this anniversary to him.

7. In memory of the female poet Qiu Jin

Qiu Jin, nicknamed Ruiqing Jingxiong, also known as Jianhu Nvxia, also nicknamed Yugu, was born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province. She was good at poetry, lyrics, songs and rhymes when she was young, and also liked horse riding and fencing. He was known as Hua Mulan and Qin Liangyu when he was still alive. He participated in the revolution at the age of 28 and had a great impact. He was captured by the Qing soldiers when he was planning an uprising. He remained unyielding until death and died heroically in Xuanhengkou, Shaoxing on June 5, the 33rd year of Guangxu. Later generations admired her poems and mourned her heroic deeds, so they combined it with the Poet's Day to commemorate her, and the Poet's Day was designated as the Dragon Boat Festival in memory of the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.

8. The Dragon Boat Festival is a festival of the sun. There is another festival of the moon in China, which is the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is a festival to ward off evil spirits. In fact, in Qu Yuan. This festival existed before jumping into the river. It is a totem of fighting and marching against evil. There are many Dragon Boat Festival stories in China, such as the water overflowing the golden mountain, and the White Snake drinking realgar wine. This is one. It is a very ancient national festival. Qu Yuan chose to die for his country on the Dragon Boat Festival, which enhanced the humanistic spirit of the Dragon Boat Festival. Originally it was a festival for justice, which showed the totem worship of the dragon and was based on people's fear of nature; And Qu Yuan gave this festival a new meaning. "Li Sao" is a wonderful poem for thousands of years. "If there is no poem about the hardships of the river bank, how can there be a wonderful poem for thousands of years?" This ancient national habit has gained new meaning because of Qu Yuan. . Take today as an example, we now pay attention to a harmonious society, so every battle is for harmony. The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional festival for the Han people in our country. The essential activities on this day have gradually evolved into eating rice dumplings, racing dragon boats, and hanging calamus. It is said that eating rice dumplings and racing dragon boats are to commemorate Qu Yuan, so after liberation, the Dragon Boat Festival was named "Poet's Day" to commemorate Qu Yuan.