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Origin, Customs, Characteristics and Background of Dragon Boat Festival

the introduction of the 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. Ending means "beginning" and "beginning", and the fifth day can be called ending five. In the lunar calendar, the earthly branch marks the moon, the shade is built in the first month, February is the base, and May to May is noon, so May is called noon month, and "five" is connected with "noon", and "five" is also a positive number, so in some places, the Dragon Boat Festival is also called May Festival, Ai Festival and Summer Festival. According to historical records, the word "Dragon Boat Festival" first appeared in the local custom of Jin people and Zhou Dynasty: "Dragon Boat Festival in midsummer, cooking millet." Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional festival for people of all ethnic groups in China. The essential activities on this day gradually evolved into eating zongzi, dragon boat racing, hanging calamus, wormwood, mugwort, smoked Atractylodes macrocephala, angelica dahurica and drinking realgar wine. It is said that eating zongzi and dragon boat racing is to commemorate Qu Yuan, so after liberation, the Dragon Boat Festival was named "Poet's Day" to commemorate Qu Yuan. As for hanging calamus, wormwood leaves, smoked atractylodes rhizome and angelica dahurica, drinking realgar wine is said to ward off evil spirits.

Today, the Dragon Boat Festival is still a very popular grand festival among the people of China. Since 2008, Dragon Boat Festival has been a national legal holiday. The state attaches great importance to the protection of intangible cultural heritage. 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.

At present, the familiar activities of the Dragon Boat Festival are: eating zongzi, making zongzi, eating duck eggs, racing dragon boats, depicting realgar, inserting wormwood, wearing sachets, climbing mountains, hanging gourds and making zongzi.

[Edit this paragraph] The origin of Dragon Boat Festival

About the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, to sum up, there are roughly the following statements: Qu Yuan

The Dragon Boat Festival in China was originally a festival for offering sacrifices to river gods and begging for a bumper harvest before Qu Yuan appeared. Because there is a saying of "Dragon Boat Festival water" in the Yangtze River basin so far, that is, there will be floods caused by heavy rain around the Dragon Boat Festival. The ancients believed that the flood was the result of the anger of the river god. In order to prevent the flood of Dragon Boat Festival from washing away the seedlings, a series of sacrificial activities were held, hoping that the river god would be happy and the crops would be plentiful. In addition, this time is generally the ploughing and transplanting season for farming, and it is often soaked in water. Drinking yellow wine can effectively remove rheumatism. According to legend, yellow rice wine is a gift from the gods, and the habit of drinking yellow rice wine has gradually formed during this time. These were not formed to commemorate Qu Yuan, that is, before Qu Yuan threw himself into the river, China had the saying of Dragon Boat Festival. Qu Yuan threw himself into the river, which made people remember this day more, and also increased the celebration methods such as eating zongzi, dragon boat racing and hanging mugwort leaves.

In memory of Qu Yuan, this theory originated from the records of Wu Jun's "The Peace of Continuation of Qi" in the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty and "The Chronicle of Jingchu" in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. It is said that Qu Yuan threw himself into the river on the fifth day of May. Trapped by dragons after death, the world mourned. He throws colorful silk zongzi into the water every day to drive away the dragon. It is also said that after Qu Yuan threw himself into the Miluo River, the local people immediately rowed for rescue, and all the way to Dongting Lake, but Qu Yuan's body was not found. It was raining at that time, and the boats on the lake gathered at the pavilion on the shore. When people learned that it was to salvage the sage Dr. Qu, they went out in the rain and rushed into the vast Dongting Lake. In order to mourn, people rowed on the river, and later it gradually developed into a dragon boat race. Eating zongzi and racing dragon boats on the Dragon Boat Festival seems to be related to commemorating Qu Yuan, as evidenced by Wen Xiu's poem "Dragon Boat Festival" in the Tang Dynasty: "The festival is divided into Dragon Boat Festival, and it is rumored that it is Qu Yuan. It is ridiculous that the Chu River is empty and cannot be washed directly. "

During the Spring and Autumn Period, after the death of Wu Zixu, a loyal minister of the State of Wu, he became Shen Tao, and the world mourned and sacrificed, so there was the Dragon Boat Festival. This legend is widely circulated in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Wu Zixu, a famous Chu national, and his father and brother were all killed by the King of Chu. Later, Zixu defected to the State of Wu, helped the State of Wu to conquer Chu, and entered the State 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 neighbors, "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 and destroy Wu." Then he killed himself. Fu Cha was furious after hearing this. On May 5th, he wrapped Zixu's body 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.

Dragon Boat Festival, this statement comes from Wen Yiduo's Dragon Boat Festival Examination and Dragon Boat Festival History Education. He believed that the fifth day of May was the day when the "Dragon" tribe in ancient wuyue held totem sacrifices. The main reason is: (1) Eating zongzi and dragon boat racing are the two most important activities of the Dragon Boat Festival, both of which are related to dragons. Zongzi thrown into the water is often stolen by dragons, and dragon boat races. (2) The relationship between race crossing and ancient wuyue is particularly deep. Besides, Wuyue people have the custom of tattooing constantly to look like a dragon. (3) The ancient folk custom of "tying the arm with colored silk" on the fifth day of May should be a relic of the tattoo custom of "Like a dragon".

On that day, 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, on this day, evil spirits were in power, and the five poisons were out of the body at the same time. According to the Book of Rites, the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the orchid bath in the Zhou Dynasty. Midsummer in Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals stipulates that people should abstain from sex and fast in May. "Xia Zheng Xiao" records: "Store medicine this day to get rid of poisonous gas." It is recorded in "Da Dai Li" that "the livestock orchid takes a bath on May 5", and there are many legends that the fifth day is the taboo day for bathing to exorcise evil spirits. The famous Meng Changjun in Historical Records and Biography of Meng Changjun was born on May 5th. His father asked his mother not to have him, thinking that "a child born in May is longer than a family, which is not good for parents." "Custom Pass" was lost. "It is said that on May 5th, a child was born, and the male harmed his father and the female harmed his mother". Wang Chong, the author of Lun Heng, also described: "The first month and May are taboos; Kill your father and your mother in May of the first month. " Wang Zhene, a general of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was born on the fifth day of May. His grandfather named him "Zhen Xie". Evonne and Song Huizong were born on the fifth day of May, and were fostered outside the palace since childhood. It can be seen that it is a common phenomenon to regard the fifth day of May as an evil day in ancient times. It can be seen that this day has been an unlucky day since the pre-Qin period. In this way, it is logical to insert calamus and mugwort leaves to exorcise ghosts, smoke atractylodes rhizome and angelica dahurica and drink realgar wine to avoid the epidemic on this day. Moreover, people also avoid the taboo of "Dragon Boat Festival" and call it "Dragon Boat Festival".

With regard to the summer solstice, Liu Deqian, who holds this view, put forward three main reasons and an interesting talk about the traditional festivals in China in Dragon Boat Festival: (1) The authoritative book "Sui Ji of Jingchu" did not mention the festival custom of eating zongzi on the fifth day of May, but wrote it in "Summer solstice". As for the race, Du Taiqing's Jade Candle Collection in Sui Dynasty listed it as an entertainment activity from summer to the sun, which shows that it is not necessarily to salvage Qu Yuan, a great poet who threw himself into the river. (2) Some contents in the custom of Dragon Boat Festival, such as "stepping on a hundred herbs", "fighting a hundred herbs" and "picking herbs", have nothing to do with Qu Yuan. (3) The first explanation of the Dragon Boat Festival in Ji Huali is: "The sun shines, and the Dragon Boat Festival is in midsummer, so it can also be called midsummer festival. Therefore, the earliest origin of the Dragon Boat Festival is the summer solstice. There are many controversies, and the theory of commemorating Qu Yuan has the most extensive influence. Because of Qu Yuan's outstanding personality and art, people are willing to attribute this anniversary to him.

In memory of the poetess Qiu Jin, Qiu Ruixiong, No.1 Jianhuxia, Xiao Gu, a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, was good at writing poems, lyrics, songs and poems when she was young, and she liked riding horses and fencing, so she was named Mulan and Qin Liangyu. Joining the revolution at the age of 28 had a great influence. He was arrested by Qing soldiers when planning an uprising, and died heroically in Xuanhengkou, Shaoxing on June 5, Guangxu thirty-three years ago. In order to praise her poems and mourn her heroic deeds, later generations merged with the Poets' Day to commemorate her, and designated the Poets' Day as the Dragon Boat Festival to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.

[Edit this paragraph] Dragon Boat Festival custom

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 uses calamus, Folium Artemisiae Argyi, pomegranate flower, garlic, Folium Artemisiae Argyi and dragon boat flower to make 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.

Drink realgar wine: Realgar is a mineral containing arsenic trioxide, which is mixed with wine for drinking. That is to say, the realgar wine with repellent and detoxification is applied to the child's head and forehead. Ears, nose, hands, feet and heart. Sprinkle the wall and ask, attack the law with poison. The story of "Legend of the White Snake" circulated among the people is to cure the snake's poison with realgar wine, and now the true colors of the white snake are revealed. This kind of learning is very popular among people in the Yangtze River valley.

Wandering all diseases: it is a popular custom of Dragon Boat Festival in Guizhou. Men, women and children go out to play and wear new clothes. At noon 1 o, the roads, mountains and trees are crowded with people, holding flowers and plants, and they are happy. Go home at night to cook flowers and take a bath. Old people call it "a tour of all diseases" and "a wash of all diseases". People who don't go out for a walk and don't wash all their illnesses will not be lucky all year round.

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

[Edit this paragraph] The legendary Zhong Kui

Zhong Kui (animated image on the right)

Name: Brother Ben

Magic: It is said that he is the ugliest of the ancient gods in China. And always associate with the evil spirits of the underworld. But people didn't reject him because of it. Every New Year's Day, people hang up his portrait to ward off evil spirits. This custom has lasted 1000 years since the Tang Dynasty.

[Edit this paragraph] Customs around the Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival is a very popular traditional festival in China. There are many different customs and habits all over the country to celebrate this festival. Everyone prays for peace and security in various ways to avoid evil spirits.

Anhui province

Hefei, Anhui: inserting wormwood to attract wealth and ward off evil spirits during the Dragon Boat Festival.

When the Dragon Boat Festival comes, citizens in Hefei, Anhui Province, according to traditional customs, bought wormwood and put it on the door to attract blessings and drive away evil spirits. In a vegetable market on Huaihe Road in Hefei, a lady bought some sticks of wormwood and was going home to cook. She said that according to tradition, wormwood should be hung on the door to ward off evil spirits during the Dragon Boat Festival. On the roadside of Hefei Chenghuangmiao Market, Uncle Wang, who lives in the suburbs, pushes a tricycle to sell wormwood. His wormwood was collected from a nearby mountain, and several branches and other grass leaves were tied into a neat bundle to sell, four bundles of which cost one yuan. Wormwood gives off a special fragrance, and people come forward to buy it from time to time.

Wormwood is a perennial herb with alternate leaves, deep pinnate, green surface, thick white hairs on the leaves and special fragrance on the stems and leaves. In ancient China, wormwood was used as medicine. The moxibustion method of acupuncture was to put wormwood on the acupoint and cauterize it to treat diseases. Therefore, the ancients believed that wormwood could attract wealth and ward off evil spirits. It is recorded in an ancient book in China: "When chickens don't crow, people who collect wormwood like humans take it and use moxibustion to collect it, and the effect is very good. It is the day when Ai Cai became a man and hung on the door, which can poison gas. " In ancient times, it was thought that after the Dragon Boat Festival, the weather began to get hot, mosquitoes bred, and infectious diseases were prone to occur. So on this day, five kinds of plants, such as Acorus calamus, wormwood, pomegranate flower, garlic and Shandan, were used to drive away all kinds of poisons.

Shexian County, Anhui Province: Jumping the door to catch ghosts during the Dragon Boat Festival.

Shexian County, located in the south of Anhui Province, not only has the customs of eating zongzi, hanging wormwood and dancing dragon boats every year, but also has a unique Zhong Kui dance to catch ghosts. Zhong Kui kids hold signs of "Zhong Jinshi's Tour", "Silence" and "Avoidance", Zhong Kui holds a sword and an umbrella, and kids hold wine bowls and other folk performances.

It is understood that Zhong Kui dancing is one of the folk ways to ward off evil spirits. In the past, many villages in Shexian performed Zhong Kui on the Dragon Boat Festival. Zhong Kui's tour is limited to his own village, and he has to visit the intersection of the village head and the street to show the thoroughness of exorcism. Those who are prepared to pick up Zhong Kui in advance will set off firecrackers to cheer Zhong Kui up and pray for exorcism. Amid firecrackers, there was dust everywhere and the atmosphere was dignified. According to some data, in the works of China poets in the Qing Dynasty, there are poems chanting Zhong Kui during the Dragon Boat Festival. Perhaps it is because the weather is hot and humid at this time, many people are sick, and the plague is easy to spread, so Zhong Kui is invited to exorcise evil spirits and catch ghosts.

Hebei Province

Avoid drilling wells during the Dragon Boat Festival, and often pre-pump before the festival. It is said to avoid well poisoning. On Dragon Boat Festival, street vendors also sell cherry mulberries. It is said that they eat cherry mulberries on the Dragon Boat Festival and don't eat flies by mistake all year round.

Shandong and Northeast China

Have a drink early in the Dragon Boat Festival. It is said that it can ward off evil spirits. Rizhao Dragon Boat Festival wraps five-color lines around children, and they have to wear them to the first rain after the festival before they are untied and thrown into the rain.

Shanxi

On the Dragon Boat Festival, men and women wear mugwort leaves, which is called "getting rid of diseases", and children tie a hundred ropes around their necks. It is said that this is "tying dragons for Qu Yuan".

Jiangsu Province

On the Dragon Boat Festival, no matter how rich or poor, everyone should buy grouper (commonly known as mandarin fish) to cook. There is also a saying called "when pants, buy yellow croaker". On the Dragon Boat Festival in Nanjing, the family used a box of clear water, with a little realgar, two goose eyes and a topaz. The whole family washes their eyes with this kind of water, which is called "breaking the eyes of fire". It is said that it can protect them from eye diseases for a year.

Sichuan Province

There is a custom of "going out on the Dragon Boat Festival". Four people use two bamboo poles to lift the wide table covered with red carpet. A Taoist priest riding a tiger weaves bamboo sticks on the carpet. Beating gongs and drums, marching in the street. In ancient times, there was a custom of "typing" on the Dragon Boat Festival in western Sichuan. On that day, Chengdu people bought plums and threw them in the southeast corner of the city, attracting tens of thousands of spectators.

Guangdong

Every year around the Dragon Boat Festival, many parents have the habit of taking their children to the river to soak in "dragon boat water" in order to pray for their children's good health and grow up quickly.

Taiwan Province Province, China

On the Dragon Boat Festival, every household also has the custom of playing "noon water". Noon water refers to the water that is drilled at noon on the Dragon Boat Festival. It is said that the water used to make tea and wine at noon is particularly mellow, and drinking raw water even has a miraculous effect on treating diseases. There is a proverb: "Wash your eyes at noon, and you will be as bright as a bird." He also said, "It is better to take a sip of water at noon and take tonic for three years."

Yunnan Province

People there celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival and eat peanuts, peaches and plums. But the meaning of these foods is different from that of southerners. Eating peanuts represents longevity, and eating plums symbolizes offspring reproduction. Some people think it can prevent heatstroke.

Zhejiang Province

I am used to eating zongzi and bump into cooked duck eggs.

universal

Lifting gourds: It is a traditional custom to lift gourds during the Dragon Boat Festival. Children and adults wear a gourd to ward off evil spirits. Wearing the gourd of "Fulu" in traditional culture can turn hostility into friendship and enhance the atmosphere of happiness.

Of course, eating zongzi, drinking realgar wine, wearing sachets and racing dragon boats are more common, which are very popular customs in the Dragon Boat Festival.

[Edit this paragraph] Nickname of Dragon Boat Festival

According to statistics, the name of Dragon Boat Festival is called the most among all traditional festivals in China, reaching more than 20, which is the festival with the most aliases. For example, there are Dragon Boat Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Duanyang Festival, Double Ninth Festival, Mid-Day Festival, Summer Festival, May Festival, Chang 'e Festival, Pujie Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Magnolia Festival, Zongzi Festival, Noon Festival, Daughter's Day, Dila Festival, Poet's Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Noon Festival and Lantern Festival.

Duanyang Festival, as recorded in Jingchu Chunqiu, is called Duanyang Festival because it climbs mountains in midsummer. It is midsummer when the sun is in the sky, and its first afternoon is a fine day when the sun goes down.

Mid-Autumn Festival, at noon, belongs to twelve branches. In the lunar calendar, May is noon, and five and five are homophonic, so the Dragon Boat Festival is also called the Mid-Autumn Festival or the Double Five Festival, and in some places it is also called the May Festival.

As for the Zhongtian Festival, the ancients thought that on May 5th, the sun was more important than people, so it was called "Zhongtian Festival".

Bathing Orchid Festival, Dragon Boat Festival is in midsummer, which is a season with frequent skin diseases. The ancients bathed and decontaminated with Cao Lan soup. The Great Dai Li in the Han Dynasty said, "Wash blue soup in the afternoon".

On the Brown Rice Festival, when the ancients ate brown rice on the Dragon Boat Festival, there was a competition to compare the length of each person's leaves, and the elders won, so it was also called the "Brown Rice Festival".

Daughter's Day, "Miscellaneous Notes" is listed by Ming and Shen: "May Daughter's Day is the Dragon Boat Festival, wearing mugwort leaves and five poisonous symbols. Ten thousand customs are decorated with little girls from the first day of May to the fifth day of May, and we do our best. Married women also have their own motherhood. Because it's called Daughter's Day. "

On the calamus festival, the ancients thought that "heavy noon" was a taboo day, and at this time, the five poisons were exhausted. Therefore, the custom of the Dragon Boat Festival is to drive away poison, such as hanging calamus and mugwort leaves on the door, so the Dragon Boat Festival is also called "Acorus Festival".

[Edit this paragraph] Dragon Boat Festival dispute

Jiangling Dragon Boat Festival

South Korea's successful application for the Dragon Boat Festival in Gangneung seems to have put an end to the dispute between China and South Korea, but whether China will continue to apply for the World Heritage and the protection of the traditional culture behind it is far from over.

In fact, the Dragon Boat Festival in Gangneung, South Korea is different from the Dragon Boat Festival in China. After South Korea's successful application, China can still apply for the Dragon Boat Festival. Therefore, there is no dispute between the two countries about South Korea's application for World Heritage and the concept of "winning".

The success of South Korea's application for World Heritage actually brings us a good enlightenment: they have injected modern elements into traditional cultural activities, successfully realized modern transformation and gained international recognition, which is of reference significance for China's heritage protection.

China Dragon Boat Festival

Four years ago, South Korean gangneung danoje festival was declared as a representative of oral and intangible heritage of mankind by UNESCO, and China has started the "Dragon Boat Festival" to declare the world intangible heritage. The representative of Hubei Province in China has submitted the application form for this project to the United Nations. At present, the "Dragon Boat Festival Heritage Application" has entered the initial evaluation stage. The heritage declared this time is named "China Dragon Boat Festival", which consists of four parts: the custom of Qu Yuan's hometown in Zigui County, Hubei Province, the "Cisse Shenzhou Club" in Huangshi City, the custom of the Dragon Boat Festival along the Miluo River in Guluo City, Hunan Province, and the custom of Suzhou Dragon Boat Festival in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province. The application materials are jointly packaged by the three provinces. On June 5th, 2008 to 10, entrusted by the Ministry of Culture, representatives of Hubei Province in China submitted the declaration form and related materials to UNESCO. It is reported that the "Dragon Boat Festival custom" in the above three provinces and four places was published as the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage in 2006.

The successful bid for the Korean Dragon Boat Festival in 2005 will not affect the bid for the China Dragon Boat Festival. Because in South Korea's declaration of "Dragon Boat Festival", the first sentence is "Dragon Boat Festival was originally a festival in China, which has spread to South Korea for more than 1500 years". South Korean "gangneung danoje festival" began with the brewing of sacred wine. Folk activities include official and slave masquerade, agricultural music competition, Ode of Heshan, tug-of-war, wrestling, swinging, China poetry creation competition, archery, pot throwing and so on. , mostly for public entertainment activities; The Dragon Boat Festival in China is mainly to commemorate the great poet Qu Yuan. Folk activities include eating zongzi, dragon boat racing, hanging calamus, wormwood leaves, smoked atractylodes rhizome, angelica dahurica, drinking realgar wine, and children wearing purses and carrying five poisons to ward off evil spirits. There are a set of folk activities in gangneung danoje festival, South Korea, which are both related and different from the Dragon Boat Festival in China. And "representative works of human oral heritage and intangible heritage" have "* * * enjoyment". For example, UNESCO has successively approved "Muqam in Iraq" and "Muqam in Azerbaijan" as intangible cultural heritage, and "Muqam in Xinjiang" declared by China the year before last has also been approved again.

The Dragon Boat Festival has a history of more than 2,500 years. Originated from the seasonal custom of expelling poison and evil spirits, various folk activities such as offering sacrifices to Qu Yuan, commemorating Wu Zixu, planting mugwort leaves, hanging calamus, eating zongzi and racing dragon boats were carried out. Activities vary slightly from place to place, especially in Zigui County and Huangshi City, Hubei Province. This is also the reason why Hubei is the subject of the "Dragon Boat Festival". According to relevant regulations, each country is only allowed to declare one "non-legacy" project to the United Nations every year. Dragon Boat Festival officially became a national holiday for the first time in 2008, and it was also the only world "heritage" project in China last year. Previously, China's Kunqu Opera, Guqin Art, Xinjiang Uyghur Muqam Art, Mongolian long-tune folk songs and other four intangible cultural heritages have been selected by UNESCO as masterpieces of human oral and intangible heritage.

The surname of Dragon Boat Festival is Qu and Wu?

Is the surname of Dragon Boat Festival "Wu" or "Qu"? The "Dragon Boat Festival" in Suzhou triggered a controversy about the origin of the festival.

The Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month is coming. It used to be known that the Dragon Boat Festival was to commemorate the great patriotic poet Qu Yuan. In fact, the Dragon Boat Festival was originally held in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces to commemorate Wu Zixu, a doctor of the State of Wu in the Spring and Autumn Period. At the beginning of this year, Suzhou Dragon Boat Festival, which is said to be the birthplace of Wu Zixu, entered the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative lists. This year, Suzhou will officially hold a large-scale sacrificial ceremony for Wu Zixu. This large-scale public sacrifice once again pushed the dispute between "Wu Zixu" and "Qu Yuan" on the Dragon Boat Festival to the forefront.

Shen Baofeng, a famous cultural scholar and songwriter, said that the surname of "Wu" and "Qu" is not the key, but the "cultural enjoyment" of China folk customs is the most important. Dragon Boat Festival was born in memory of the great patriotic poet Qu Yuan, which has been deeply rooted in people's hearts and widely accepted by the people of China. Subverting this knowledge will inevitably be criticized. Dragon Boat Festival, as a folk custom, has been fixed in the minds of China people as a cultural symbol for more than two thousand years since it came into being. Because of the marriage with Qu Yuan, people used to call it Poet's Day. People commemorate Qu Yuan on the Dragon Boat Festival, not only to remember Qu Yuan's patriotic feelings, but also to express their yearning for his outstanding contribution to China culture. Every Dragon Boat Festival, China people will remember Qu Yuan, the first great patriotic poet in China. He is recognized by the United Nations as one of the greatest world cultural celebrities in China history, and thus cherishes his noble personality: he is unwilling to go with the tide of the secular world-"I can't change my mind and follow the secular world, and I will die of poverty"; Deeply sympathize with the people's arms-"I take a long breath to cover up my tears and mourn the hardships of people's lives"; Unremitting pursuit of ideals-"The road is long, but it's Xiu Yuan, so I'll go up and down for it".

Suzhou Dragon Boat Festival large-scale public sacrifice "Wu Zixu"

May 3 1 day is the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. In Baihuazhou Square outside the ancient ruins, Suzhou will hold the Dragon Boat Festival celebration and Wu Zixu sacrificial ceremony. The ancient city wall built in Wu Zixu more than 2,500 years ago is still well preserved. At present, the content of the public sacrifice is being further determined.

A deputy director of the Propaganda Department of Canglang District Committee of Suzhou City said, "In addition to reading sacrificial ceremonies, performing songs and dances and rowing dragon boats, this public sacrifice will also show the Dragon Boat Festival of Suzhou people on the spot. This year is the first year that Suzhou Dragon Boat Festival successfully applied for national intangible projects. We want more people to understand and support it and make the Dragon Boat Festival close to the world cultural heritage. "

Wu Zixu was an outstanding politician and strategist in the Spring and Autumn Period. According to historical records, Fu Cha, the king of Wu, gave Wu Zixu a sword to kill himself for listening to slanders. Wu Zixu said to people before he died, "After I die, I will gouge out my eyes and hang them on the east gate to watch the Vietnamese army enter the city and destroy Wu." Fu Cha was furious and ordered Wu Zixu's body to be thrown into the river on May 5th. In order to commemorate Wu Zixu, Suzhou folk spontaneously formed a series of folk activities of the Dragon Boat Festival.

In July last year, after the Ministry of Culture began to declare the national intangible heritage, Suzhou experts suggested that Suzhou declare the Dragon Boat Festival, because there are conclusive records that the Dragon Boat Festival originated in wuyue and was formed to commemorate Wu Zixu, the originator of Suzhou's urban construction.

At the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Culture announced the list. Among the national 13 15 declared projects, it has been selected in the first batch of 50 1 national intangible cultural heritage list, and 16 has been selected in more than 20 declared projects in Suzhou, including the Dragon Boat Festival. On the declared list, "Suzhou Dragon Boat Festival Custom" was applied by Suzhou alone.

The Dragon Boat Festival commemorated five people.

However, the controversy about the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival has never stopped. Wen Yiduo, a famous scholar, believes that the Dragon Boat Festival is a totem festival held by Wuyue people in ancient southern China four or five thousand years ago. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the activities of offering sacrifices to Wu Zixu centered on Wu were combined with primitive customs.

Ge Chunyuan, a professor of history at Suzhou University of Science and Technology, said that with Wu Zixu, China's Dragon Boat Festival once commemorated five people: Cao Mo of the Eastern Han Dynasty was remembered as a filial daughter by later generations; Chen Lin of Guangxi loves the Li people, and the local people celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival to commemorate him. Gou Jian, the King of Yue, also first proposed to drill sailors by rowing dragon boats. Then there is Qu Yuan, who is recognized by the United Nations as one of the greatest world cultural celebrities in the history of China. Because Qu Yuan has been so famous for thousands of years, people gradually regard the Dragon Boat Festival as a festival to commemorate Qu Yuan.

"Suzhou should be one of the important birthplaces of the Dragon Boat Festival, and Wu Zixu, not Qu Yuan, is the first person to commemorate the Dragon Boat Festival. The difference between the two is about 200 years, "Ge Chunyuan said. Professor Ge believes that the dragon boat race originated in commemoration of Wu Zixu. His main basis is that Han Danchun in the Eastern Han Dynasty said in Cao E Monument that every year on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, people in Shangyu, Zhejiang Province should meet the waves and the so-called "Wu Jun".

However, Miluo City, Hunan Province is also striving to declare the Dragon Boat Festival project. Xu Weiming, deputy director of the Municipal Cultural Bureau, stressed: "The Dragon Boat Festival originated in Suzhou at the earliest, which does not mean that it is the most likely to apply for the World Heritage. Qu Yuan's influence is far-reaching and can't be ignored. As the first world cultural celebrity, it is a historical choice to dedicate this national festival to Qu Yuan, which has been strongly echoed by scholars and represents the voice of the people. "

Xu Weiming is also the curator of Quyuan Temple. According to him, according to the list of the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage recommended items, at present, the Dragon Boat Festival custom in Qu Yuan's hometown (Zigui County, Hubei Province), the Dragon Boat Festival custom along the Miluo River (Miluo City, Hunan Province) and the Dragon Boat Festival custom in Suzhou (Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province) have all entered here.

Expert: The surname "Wu" and "Qu" are not the key.

Cultural scientist Shen Baofeng said, "In fact, this Suzhou public sacrifice should be an inspiration and reminder to the National Dragon Boat Festival, telling China people not to forget their traditional festivals and the precious national spirit left by their ancestors." Professor Ge Chunyuan pointed out that there is no need to care too much about where the Dragon Boat Festival originated. The most important thing is how to inherit and carry forward. I just hope that the etiquette can be simpler and the scope of public participation can be larger.

When Suzhou Dragon Boat Festival entered the national intangible cultural heritage project, Gao Fumin, director of Suzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture and Broadcasting, once said that although 16 of the projects declared by the city have been included in the recommended list, the declaration is not an end, but a means. The purpose is to better protect and carry forward the excellent traditional culture of the nation. For example, among the projects declared in Suzhou, there are some folk-custom projects related to the Mid-Autumn Festival, such as Valentine's Day in China and Qu Hui in Tiger Hill.

In this regard, Xiao Fang, vice chairman of the Chinese Folklore Society, pointed out that no matter whether the surname is "Wu" or "Qu", more "catfish effect" will help more people understand the Dragon Boat Festival. Professor Xiao Fang believes that the Dragon Boat Festival is a good thing to commemorate Qu Yuan and Wu Zixu, and it is a caring thing for ordinary people to celebrate the festival according to local customs. It helps us to better understand the ins and outs of the Dragon Boat Festival and deepen our understanding of history.

Xiao Fang said: "Suzhou and Hunan are vying to apply for the Dragon Boat Festival. This is not a simple game. It gives people who participate in the city a sense of pride. The fundamental spirit behind it is the "cultural enjoyment" of China folk customs. This is the most important thing. "

[Edit this paragraph] Dragon Boat Festival food customs