The origin of the Dragon Boat Festival

 Dragon Boat Festival

The fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar is the Dragon Boat Festival every year. The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the four traditional festivals in my country. There are many theories about its origin:

1. The theory of commemorating characters mainly includes: 1. The theory of commemorating Qu Yuan. The most widely spread is to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan. The fish and shrimps ate his body, and in order not to starve his soul in the river, people wrapped the food in rice dumpling leaves and threw it into the river, and then formed the custom of eating rice dumplings in the Dragon Boat Festival. , tie colorful ropes, hang wormwood, paint and drink realgar wine, etc.

2. In commemoration of Wu Zixu: Wu Zixu cherished his family and country, but was framed by treacherous officials. He died by slaying himself to prove his innocence. His body was thrown into the river on May 5th, so there are rumors that the Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate Wu Zixu.

3. Commemorating the filial daughter Cao E said that according to legend, Cao E’s father drowned in the river and did not see his body for several days. At that time, the filial daughter Cao E was only 14 years old and cried along the river day and night. After seventeen days, he also threw himself into the river on May 5th, and five days later, he took out his father’s body, which was passed down as a myth. Therefore, it is said that the Dragon Boat Festival is also the day to commemorate the filial daughter Cao E.

4. In commemoration of Jie Zitui, it is said that Jie Zitui is the protagonist of the legend about the origin of the Cold Food Festival and the Ching Ming Festival, but some people think that the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival is related to Jie Zitui. According to Cai Yong’s qin music book “Qin Cao” in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate the sage Jie Zitui.

5. Originating from the taboo of the evil month and evil day on May 5th, the ancients in the northern Han Dynasty believed that May 5th was “evil month and evil day”, and there was a custom of “not lifting the son of May”, that is, May 5th No matter whether the baby is male or female, it cannot be brought up to adulthood. Once it is raised, the male will harm the father and the female will harm the mother. Therefore, related cultural activities have emerged, forming quite characteristic “avoiding the five poisons” and “avoiding the Dragon Boat Festival”. custom.

6. The theory of the summer solstice. Mr. Huang Shi was the first to advocate the theory of the summer solstice. In 1963, he proposed in the book “Dragon Boat Rituals and Customs History” that the Dragon Boat Festival originated in ancient times like a trickle of water. Song Na Baichuan forms lakes and seas.

7. The theory of bathing with orchids, according to the “Book of Rites” compiled by Dai Sheng, a scholar of etiquette in the Western Han Dynasty, said that there was a custom of “bathing with orchids” in the Zhou Dynasty; the ancients picked orchids in May, and it was popular to bathe with orchid soup for detoxification The custom.

8. Goujian said that Goujian practiced the navy. Gao Cheng of the Song Dynasty published an article in “The Source of Things” that the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the fact that Goujian, the king of Yue, practiced the navy every day in the Spring and Autumn Period.

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