Historical stories about the Dragon Boat Festival

1. In memory of the great poet Qu Yuan

Qu Yuan was a native of the Chu state during the Warring States Period. At the age of twenty-two, he was already serving as Zuotu and Sanban Dafu, assisting King Huai of Chu. At that time, King Huai of Chu was slandered by treacherous ministers and did not accept Qu Yuan's proposal to unite Qi to resist Qin. He was deceived by the lobbyist Zhang Yi and put under house arrest in the Qin State, forcing him to cede territory and dedicate the city. He later became ill due to worry and died in the Qin State soon after. .

When Qu Yuan found out, he was so sad and angry that he wrote to King Qingxiang to avenge King Huai. However, King Qingxiang favored traitors and did not want to recover, so he demoted Qu Yuan and exiled him to the south of the Yangtze River. Later, the Chu State was captured by the Qin State and perished. Qu Yuan's desire to save the country was shattered, and in a state of extreme sorrow, anger and grief, he threw himself into the turbulent Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 278 BC (when Qu Yuan was sixty-two years old).

After hearing the news, the people of Chu State rowed boats to chase him, but when they reached Dongting Lake, Qu Yuan was nowhere to be seen. This became the beginning of the dragon boat race every year on this day. After that, people threw rice into the river to worship him at this time every year. However, because the rice that people sacrificed to Qu Yuan was eaten by the dragons on the river, people later used rice dumpling leaves, reed leaves and colorful silk to wrap the rice dumplings. Since then, it has been passed down through the generations and evolved into the custom of eating zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival.

2. Anniversary of Wu Zixu’s death

Wu Zixu was a member of the Chu State, and his father and brother were both killed by the King of Chu. Later, Wu Zixu abandoned the secret and turned to the bright side, and rushed to the state of Wu to help Wu conquer Chu. After fighting, he entered Yingcheng, the capital of Chu. At that time, King Ping of Chu was dead, so Wu Zixu dug up the grave and whipped the corpse three hundred times to avenge the death of his father and brother. After the death of King Helu of Wu, his son Fucha succeeded to the throne. The Wu army had high morale and won every battle. The country of Yue was defeated. King Goujian of Yue asked for peace, and Fucha agreed. Wu Zixu suggested that the Yue Kingdom should be completely eliminated, but Fu Chai refused to listen, and the Wu State slaughtered him. He was bribed by the Yue Kingdom and framed Wu Zixu with slanderous words. Fu Chai believed it and gave Wu Zixu a sword, and Wu Zixu died with it. Wu 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." He then committed suicide and died. His husband heard about it. Yan was so angry that he ordered Wu 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 a day to commemorate Wu Zixu.

3. Commemorating the memory of the filial daughter Cao E of the Eastern Han Dynasty who died saving her father by throwing herself into the river

Cao E was a native of Shangyu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Her father drowned in the river and his body was not seen for several days. Only fourteen years old, he cried along the river day and night. Seventeen days later, he also threw himself into the river on May 5th. Five days later, he took out his father's body. This was passed down as a myth, and then passed down to the county governor, who ordered Du Shang to erect a monument for it and let his disciples write speeches to praise it. The tomb of the filial daughter Cao E is located in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province today. It is later said that the stele of Cao E was written by King Yi of the Jin Dynasty. In order to commemorate Cao E's filial piety, later generations built the Cao E temple where Cao E threw herself into the river. The village and town where she lived was renamed Cao E town, and the place where Cao E died for her father was named Cao E river.

4. Commemorating the modern revolutionary female poet Qiu Jin

Qiu Jin died for her country on June 5th. Later generations admired her poems and mourned her heroic deeds, so they merged with the Poet's Day A commemoration was held, and the Poet's Day was also designated as the Dragon Boat Festival in memory of the patriotic poet Qu Yuan. Qiu Jin, also known as Ruiqing Jingxiong, also known as Jianhu Nvxia, also known as Yugu, was born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province. She was good at poetry, lyrics, songs, and rhymes when she was young, and she also liked riding horses and fencing. She was known as Hua Mulan and Qin Liangyu in the world. He participated in the revolution at the age of 28 and had a great influence. He planned an uprising and was arrested by the Qing soldiers during a meeting. He was unyielding and died heroically in Xuanhengkou, Shaoxing on June 5, the 33rd year of Guangxu.