Listen to this articleThe Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the Dragon Boat Festival, Chongwu Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Zhengyang Festival, and Tianzhong Festival, originated from the worship of celestial phenomena and evolved from the ancient dragon Festival. In the midsummer Dragon Boat Festival, the black dragon mound soars to the south. This is the auspicious day for the dragon flying to the sky, just like the sentence in the fifth line of the book of changes, Qian Gua: “the Dragonflies in the sky”. The Dragon Star in the Dragon Boat Festival sun is both “win” and “support”, which is a symbol of auspiciousness. Its origin covers the Ancient Astrology culture, humanistic philosophy, and other aspects, and contains profound cultural connotation; in the inheritance and development, a variety of folk customs blend, and the festival content is rich. Roasting dragon boats and eating zongzi are two ceremonies of the Dragon Boat Festival. These two rituals have been handed down in China since ancient times.
Dragon Boat Festival, Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, and Mid Autumn Festival are also known as China’s four traditional festivals. The Dragon Boat Festival culture has a wide influence in the world, and some countries and regions in the world also have activities to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. In May 2006, the State Council listed it in the first batch of the national intangible cultural heritage list; since 2008, it has been listed as a national statutory Festival. In September 2009, UNESCO officially approved its inclusion in the list of representative works of human intangible cultural heritage. The Dragon Boat Festival became the first festival in China to be included in the list of world intangible cultural heritage.
Folk customs
Traditional folklore
The Dragon Boat Festival is a very popular folk festival in China. The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional custom of the Chinese nation since ancient times. Due to the vast area and many stories and legends, not only many different festival names have been produced, but there are also many different festival names in various places. Different customs. The Midsummer Dragon Boat Festival is an auspicious day when the flying dragon is in the sky. Sacrificing the dragon in the form of a dragon boat is an important etiquette theme of the Dragon Boat Festival. This custom is still popular in the southern coastal areas of my country. Besides, a series of Dragon Boat Festival customs are derived from the number of Yin and Yang techniques and the seasons. According to the number of yin and yang, noon is yang, and heavy noon is Shenyang. The ancients regarded the midday of the Dragon Boat Festival and the three-day noon to be heavy, which was regarded as the extremely sunny hour, which was the most effective for warding off evil. The ancients also regarded the Dragon Boat Festival as an auspicious year that coincides with the summer solstice, which is called the “Dragon Flower Fair”. Summer is the time when yin and yang conflict. Yang moves above and yin forces below. The midday moon is pure and righteous, which is feared by evil. Summer is also a season to eradicate the plague. The midsummer Dragon Boat Festival is full of sun, and everything is in full bloom. It is the most medicinal day of herbal medicine in a year. The herbs collected at the Dragon Boat Festival are the most effective and effective. Because the pure yang and righteousness of the world on the Dragon Boat Festival is the most beneficial to ward off evil and the magical properties of herbs on this day, many Dragon Boat customs inherited since ancient times have the contents of warding off evils and curing diseases, such as hanging wormwood, noon water, and soaking dragon boats. Water, tying five-color silk thread to ward off evil spirits, washing herbal water, fumigating atractylodes for curing diseases and preventing epidemics, etc.
The Chinese culture has a long history and is broad and profound. Ancient festivals are an important carrier of traditional culture. The formation of ancient festivals contains profound cultural connotations. Ancient festivals emphasize belief in ancestor gods and ritual activities. The belief in ancestor gods is the core of ancient traditional festivals. Regarding the blessings of the Dragon Boat Festival, most folklorists believe that it was after the Dragon Boat Festival that the legendary historical figures were attached to the festival, giving the festival other meanings, but these meanings are only part of the Dragon Boat Festival. Many ancient poets describe the festive atmosphere of the Dragon Boat Festival. Since ancient times, the Dragon Boat Festival has been a festive day for eating rice dumplings and grilling dragon boats. The lively dragon boat performances and joyous food banquets during the ancient Dragon Boat Festival are all manifestations of the festival. “
Among the traditional festivals, there are many and complicated folk customs, or only the Dragon Boat Festival energy saving and the Spring Festival can be compared. There are etiquette themes such as blessing and disaster elimination, which entrust people’s desire to welcome prosperity, ward off evil and eliminate disasters. The Dragon Boat Festival has mixed a variety of folk customs in the historical development and evolution. There are many Dragon Boat customs, diverse forms, colorful content, lively and festive. There are differences in custom content or details due to different regional cultures across the country. The customs of the Dragon Boat Festival mainly include grilling a dragon boat, offering dragons, picking herbs, hanging wormwood and calamus, worshiping gods and ancestors, washing herbal water, drinking water at noon, soaking dragon boat water, eating rice dumplings, putting paper kites, watching dragon boats, tying five-color silk threads, and scenting Atractylodes, wearing sachet and so on. The activity of picking dragon boats is very popular in the coastal areas of southern China. After being spread abroad, it has been loved by people from all over the world and formed an international competition. The custom of eating rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival has prevailed throughout China since ancient times. It has become one of the most influential and widely covered folks eating customs of the Chinese nation. During the Dragon Boat Festival, the performance of traditional folk activities can not only enrich the spiritual and cultural life of the masses but also inherit and promote traditional culture. The Dragon Boat Festival culture has extensive influence in the world, and some countries and regions in the world also have activities to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.
Various traditional folk activities
(1) Dragon Boat
Dragon Boat picking is an important activity of the Dragon Boat Festival. It is also a relic of ancient dragon totem worship. According to the first excavation report of the Hemudu site, as early as 7000 years ago, the ancient ancestors had made canoes with single wood and rowed with wooden oars. The earliest “Dragon Boat Race” figure in China was found in Jia village, Yunlong Town, Yinzhou District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. Dragon boat was originally a dragon-shaped canoe carved on a single canoe and later developed into a dragon-shaped boat made of wood.
(2) Hanging wormwood and Acorus calamus
In the Dragon Boat Festival, there are many kinds of flowers and plants that can drive away evil and diseases, which have a long history. People take Artemisia Argy and Acorus calamus as one of the important contents of the Dragon Boat Festival. Such as hanging wormwood in the door, “Jingchu chronicle of the age of the year”: “collecting wormwood as a person, hanging on the door, with poison gas.” This is because moxa is an important medicinal plant, it can also be made into moxa velvet to treat diseases, moxibustion points, and insect repellent. In May, Artemisia Argy oil is the most abundant, so it has the best effect, and people are competing for it. A few wormwood plants are often hung at the door of the house. Due to the special fragrance of wormwood, people use it to drive away diseases, prevent mosquitoes and ward off evil spirits.
(3) Eating rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival
Zongzi, also known as “zongzi”, is mainly made of glutinous rice and stuffing. It is wrapped with Ruo leaf (or new leaf). It has various shapes, such as sharp angle shape, four angle shape, etc. Zongzi has a long history. It was originally used as a sacrifice to ancestors. After it was introduced into the north, it used millet (millet produced in the North) to make Zong, which was called “jiao shu”. Due to the different eating habits of different places, zongzi has formed a north-south flavor; from the taste point of view, there are two kinds of zongzi: salty zongzi and sweet zongzi. The custom of eating rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival has been popular in China for thousands of years. It has become one of the most influential and widespread folk eating customs of the Chinese nation and has spread to Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asian countries.
(4) Putting paper kite
Zhiyuan is a kind of air-powered aircraft, which pastes paper or silk on the framework of bamboo strips, pulls a long line tied to it, and can be put into the sky under the wind. In southern China, the Dragon Boat Festival is called “putting disaster” for children to put paper kites.
