For today’s Chinese people, the Dragon Boat Festival is a day to commemorate Qu Yuan. There is such a popular legend in China: Qu Yuan threw himself into the river. The people felt pity for Qu Yuan, rowed a dragon boat into the river to save Qu Yuan, and threw rice dumplings into the river for the fish to eat, so that the fish would not eat Qu Yuan. Let me introduce this legend in detail below, let’s take a look. The story in memory of Qu Yuan
According to the "Biography of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng" in "Historical Records", Qu Yuan was a minister of King Huai of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period. He advocated the promotion of talents and empowerment, enriched the country and strengthened the military, and advocated uniting Qi to resist Qin. However, he was strongly opposed by the nobleman Zilan and others. Qu Yuan was dismissed from his post, expelled from the capital, and exiled to the Yuan and Xiang rivers. In exile, he wrote immortal poems such as "Li Sao", "Heavenly Questions" and "Nine Songs", which were concerned about the country and the people. They were unique in style and had far-reaching influence (therefore, the Dragon Boat Festival is also called the Poet's Day).
In 278 BC, the Qin army captured Kyoto, the state of Chu. Seeing his motherland being invaded, Qu Yuan was heartbroken, but he still could not bear to abandon his motherland. On May 5, after writing his final work "Huaisha", he bouldered into the Miluo River and died, risking his own life. Composed a magnificent patriotic movement.
After Qu Yuan died, the people of Chu State were extremely sad and flocked to the Miluo River to pay their respects to Qu Yuan. The fishermen rowed their boats and fished for his true body back and forth on the river. A fisherman took out rice balls, eggs and other food prepared for Qu Yuan and threw them into the river "plop, plop", saying that when the fish, lobsters and crabs were full, they would not bite Dr. Qu's body. People followed suit after seeing it. An old doctor took a jar of realgar wine and poured it into the river, saying it was to stun dragons and water animals so as not to harm Doctor Qu. Later, for fear that the rice balls would be eaten by dragons, people came up with the idea of ??wrapping the rice with neem leaves and wrapping it with colored silk, which developed into rice dumplings.
Since then, on the fifth day of May every year, there has been the custom of dragon boat racing, eating rice dumplings, and drinking realgar wine to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan. Dragon Boat Festival customs
1. Dragon boat racing
It is said that after Qu Yuan's death, the people of Chu State mourned and flocked to the Miluo River to pay their respects to Qu Yuan. The fishermen rowed their boats up and down the river to look for his true identity. Nowadays, in the days before and after the Dragon Boat Festival, "dragon boat races" are held all over the country. Dragon boat racing, also known as dragon boat racing, has a history of more than 1,500 years in China and has been included in the national intangible cultural heritage list.
2. Eating rice dumplings
After Qu Yuan threw himself into the river, the Chu people searched hard for Qu Yuan along the river. They were afraid that the river fish would eat Qu Yuan, so they packed rice in bamboo tubes and threw it into the river to pay homage. This is the origin of China’s earliest rice dumplings, Tongzong. From this tradition, people throw rice dumplings into the river on the fifth day of May every year to commemorate Qu Yuan.
3. Hanging wormwood
During the Dragon Boat Festival, various flowers and plants that can drive away evil spirits and diseases have a long history. "Records of the Age of Jingchu": "Mugwort is picked as a human being and hung on the door to control the poisonous gas." This is because mugwort is a medicinal plant, which can be used to make moxa to treat diseases, moxibustion points, and to repel insects. Mugwort contains the most moxa oil in May. It is in the peak growth period at this time, so it has the best effect, so people rush to pick it. A few mugwort plants are often hung at the door of the house. Due to its special fragrance, people use it to drive away diseases, mosquitoes and evil spirits.
What is particularly special about the Dragon Boat Festival is the patriotic sentiment contained in it. The loyal and patriotic people represented by Qu Yuan inspired generations of Chinese people to work tirelessly for the development and progress of the country and nation.