The Dragon Boat Festival on May 5th is in memory of the great poet Qu Yuan.
Dragon Boat Festival
The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanyang Festival, Noon Festival, May Festival, Ai Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Chung Noon Festival, Noon Festival and Summer Festival. Although the names are different, the customs of people everywhere are the same. Dragon Boat Festival is an old custom in China for more than two thousand years. On this day, every household hangs clocks and statues, hangs mugwort leaves and calamus, races dragon boats, eats zongzi, drinks realgar wine, swims all diseases, wears sachets and prepares sacrifices.
The first significance of the Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate Qu Yuan, a great national poet in history. Qu Yuan, Ming Ping, was a native of Chu in the Warring States Period. Born in the seventh day of the first month of Wu Wang calendar in Chu Wei, or in the twenty-seventh year, he died in the ninth year of King Xiang of Chu.
The second meaning of Dragon Boat Festival is the anniversary of Wu Zixu's death. Wu Zixu, a famous Chu national, and his father and brother were all killed by the King of Chu. Later, Zixu abandoned the dark and went to Wu to help Wu to attack Chu, and entered the capital city of Chu in the Five Wars. At that time, King Chu Ping was already dead. Zixu dug a grave and whipped 300 bodies to avenge his father's murder. After the death of He Lu, the king of Wu, his son Fu Cha succeeded to the throne. Wu Jun's morale was high and he was defeated by Yue. Gou Jian, the King of Yue, made peace, and Fu Cha agreed. Zi Xu suggested the complete elimination of Yue, but Fu Cha didn't listen. Wu was massacred and bought by the state of Yue. He was framed by slanderers. Fu Cha believed him and gave him a sword. Zi Xu died. Zixu, a loyal minister, feels like death. Before he died, he said to his neighbor, "After I die, I will gouge out my eyes and hang them on the east gate of Jason Wu, watching the Vietnamese army enter the city to destroy Wu." Hearing this, Fu Cha was furious. On May 5th, he wrapped the body of Zixu in leather and threw it into the river. Therefore, it is said that the Dragon Boat Festival is also a day to commemorate Wu Zixu.
The third significance of the Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate Cao E, the filial daughter of the Eastern Han Dynasty, who saved her drowning father. Cao E was a native of Shangyu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Her father drowned in the river and didn't see her body for several days. At that time, Cao E, the filial daughter, was only fourteen years old, crying day and night by the river. 17 days later, he also threw himself into the river on May 5, and fished out his father's body five days later. This was passed down as a myth, and then to the governor of the county government, who made it a monument for disciple Han Danchun to make a eulogy. The tomb of the filial daughter is in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province today, and there is a monument made by Jin. Later, in order to commemorate Cao E's filial piety, Cao E Temple was built where Cao E threw himself into the river. The village where she lived was renamed Cao E Town, and the place where Cao E died was named Cao E River.
The fourth significance of the Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate Qiu Jin, a modern revolutionary poetess. Qiu Jin was martyred on June 5th. Later generations admired his poems and mourned his heroic deeds. It was held to commemorate the Poets' Day, and the Poets' Day was designated as the Dragon Boat Festival to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan. Qiu Jin was born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang. When she was young, she was good at poetry and lyrics, and she liked riding and fencing. She is called Mulan and Qin Liangyu. Joining the revolution at the age of 28 had a great influence. He planned an uprising. He was arrested by the Qing soldiers at the meeting and persevered. Guangxu died heroically in Xuanhengkou, Shaoxing on June 5th, thirty-three years ago.
Wall clock: Zhong Kui catches ghosts, which is the custom of Dragon Boat Festival. In the Jianghuai area, bells and statues are hung in every household to ward off evil spirits. Emperor Kaiyuan of Tang Dynasty returned to the palace after giving a lecture in Lishan, and malaria was rampant. He dreamed that two ghosts, one big and one small, were running around the temple wearing red crotch pants and stealing Yang Guifei's sachet and the jade emperor of the Ming Dynasty. GREAT GHOST, wearing a blue robe and a blue hat, caught the child, gouged out his eyes and swallowed it in one gulp. When asked by the Ming emperor, GREAT GHOST said: My surname is Zhong Kui, that is to say, I am the best martial artist. I am willing to exorcise evil spirits for your majesty. When the Ming emperor woke up, malaria was cured. So I asked Wu Daozi, the painter, to draw a portrait of Zhong Kui catching ghosts according to what I saw in my dream, and ordered all the people to post it on the Dragon Boat Festival to exorcise evil spirits.
Folium Artemisiae Argyi hangs calamus: On the Dragon Boat Festival, every household makes calamus, Folium Artemisiae Argyi, pomegranate flower, garlic and dragon boat flower into human figures, which are called Ai people. Hanging mugwort leaves in the hall, cutting them into tiger shapes or ribbons, and sticking mugwort leaves on them, women compete to wear them to ward off evil spirits. Using calamus as a sword and inserting it on the lintel has the magical effect of exorcising ghosts.
Dragon Boat Race: At that time, Chu people were reluctant to part with the death of the sage Qu Yuan, so many people rowed and chased to save people. They rushed to catch up, but when they arrived at Dongting Lake, there was no trace, because that was the origin of dragon boat racing, and then they rowed dragon boats on May 5 every year to commemorate it. Rowing a dragon boat to disperse the fish in the river so as not to eat Qu Yuan's body. The habit of competition prevailed in wuyue and Chu. Dragon Boat Race started in Taiwan Province Province in the 29th year of Qing Qianlong. At that time, Jiang, the chief executive of Taiwan Province Province, held a friendly match in Hexi Half Moon Pool in Tainan City. Now, Taiwan Province Province holds a dragon boat race on May 5th every year. There are boat races in Hong Kong. Recently, the British have followed China's example by organizing ghost teams and holding competitions.
Eating zongzi: People in Jingchu boiled glutinous rice or steamed zongzi cakes and threw them into the river to offer sacrifices to Qu Yuan on May 5th, so they threw the glutinous rice in bamboo tubes for fear of being eaten by fish. Later, they gradually replaced the bamboo tube with rice wrapped in zongzi leaves.
Drinking realgar wine: This custom is very popular among people in the Yangtze River valley.
Wandering all diseases: This custom prevails in the Dragon Boat Festival custom in Guizhou.
Wearing sachets: Children wear sachets during the Dragon Boat Festival, which not only means to ward off evil spirits and drive away epidemics, but also has decorative styles on the front. The sachet contains cinnabar, realgar and fragrant medicine, wrapped in silk cloth, and the fragrance is overflowing, and then tied into a rope with five-color silk thread to make a string of different shapes, exquisite and eye-catching