Are the legends of Dragon Boat Festival and Chinese New Year traditional culture?

The legends of Dragon Boat Festival and Chinese New Year are of course traditional culture!

The Dragon Boat Festival (Dragon Boat Festival) falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month every year, and is also known as the Duanyang Festival, the Noon Day Festival, the May Festival, etc. "Dragon Boat Festival" is one of China's national statutory holidays and has been included in the World Intangible Cultural Heritage List. The Dragon Boat Festival originated in China. It was originally a festival for the Chinese people to cure diseases and prevent epidemics. Before the Spring and Autumn Period in the land of Wuyue, there was a custom of holding tribal totem sacrifices in the form of dragon boat racing on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Later, because the poet Qu Yuan died on this day, it became The Chinese people commemorate Qu Yuan's traditional festival; some areas also commemorate Wu Zixu and Cao E.

According to statistics, the Dragon Boat Festival has the most names among all traditional festivals in my country, with more than 20 names, which can be called the most popular holiday nicknames. Such as Dragon Boat Festival, Duanyang Festival, Chongwu Festival, Chongwu Festival, Tianzhong Festival, Summer Festival, May Festival, Chang Festival, Pu Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Bath Orchid Festival, Qu Yuan Day, Bath Orchid Festival, Wu Day Festival, Girl's Day, Di La Festival, Poet's Day, Dragon Day, Noon Day, Lantern Festival, Wudan Festival and so on.

The Origin of the Dragon Boat Festival

There are many theories about the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, among which the theory of commemorating Qu Yuan has the most widespread influence.

According to the "Biography of Qu Yuan Jia Sheng" in "Historical Records", Qu Yuan was a minister of King Huai of Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period. He advocated the promotion of talents and empowerment, enriched the country and strengthened the military, and advocated uniting Qi to resist Qin. However, he was strongly opposed by the nobleman Zilan and others. Qu Yuan was dismissed from his post, expelled from the capital, and exiled to the Yuan and Xiang rivers. In exile, he wrote immortal poems such as "Li Sao", "Heavenly Questions" and "Nine Songs", which were concerned about the country and the people. They were unique in style and had far-reaching influence (therefore, the Dragon Boat Festival is also called the Poet's Day). In 278 BC, the Qin army captured Kyoto, the state of Chu. Seeing his motherland being invaded, Qu Yuan was heartbroken, but he still could not bear to abandon his motherland. On May 5, after writing his final work "Huaisha", he bouldered into the Miluo River and died, risking his own life. Composed a magnificent patriotic movement.

It is said that after Qu Yuan died, the people of Chu State were extremely sad and flocked to the Miluo River to pay their respects to Qu Yuan. The fishermen rowed their boats and fished for his true body back and forth on the river. A fisherman took out the rice balls, eggs and other food prepared for Qu Yuan and threw them into the river "plop, plop", saying that when the fish, lobsters and crabs were full, they would not bite Dr. Qu's body. People followed suit after seeing it. An old doctor took a jar of realgar wine and poured it into the river, saying it was to stun dragons and water animals so as not to harm Doctor Qu. Later, for fear that the rice balls would be eaten by dragons, people came up with the idea of ??wrapping the rice with neem leaves and wrapping it with colored silk, which developed into rice dumplings.

Since then, on the fifth day of May every year, there has been the custom of dragon boat racing, eating rice dumplings, and drinking realgar wine to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.

The Spring Festival refers to the traditional Lunar New Year in the Chinese cultural circle, commonly known as "New Year's Day". The traditional names are New Year, New Year, and New Year, but it is also known as celebrating the New Year, celebrating the New Year, and celebrating the New Year. It is the most solemn traditional festival of the Chinese nation. During the Spring Festival, China's Han people and some ethnic minorities have to hold various celebration activities. These activities are mainly about worshiping ancestors, paying homage to ancestors, eradicating the old and bringing in the new, welcoming the new year, welcoming good luck, and praying for a good harvest. The forms are rich and colorful, with strong characteristics of various ethnic groups. Influenced by Chinese culture, some countries and ethnic groups belonging to the Chinese character cultural circle also have the custom of celebrating the Spring Festival. On the day of the Spring Festival, people try their best to go home and reunite with their relatives to express their eager expectations for the coming year and their best wishes for life in the new year. The Spring Festival is not only a festival, but also an important carrier for Chinese people to release their emotions and satisfy their psychological needs. It is the annual carnival and eternal spiritual pillar of the Chinese nation.

The Spring Festival refers to the traditional Lunar New Year in the Chinese cultural circle. The traditional names are New Year, New Year, and New Year, but it is also known as celebrating the new year, celebrating the new year, and celebrating the new year. In ancient times, the Spring Festival once specifically referred to the beginning of spring in solar terms, and was also regarded as the beginning of the year. Later, it was changed to the first day of the first lunar month as the New Year. Generally, the New Year does not end until at least the fifteenth day of the first lunar month (the Shangyuan Festival). The Spring Festival is commonly known as the "New Year's Day" and is the most solemn traditional festival of the Chinese nation. Before the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the dates of the Spring Festival in various dynasties were not consistent. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, At the beginning of the first year of Taichu, the first month of the Xia calendar (lunar calendar) was used as the beginning of the year, and the dates of the annual festivals were fixed. After the Revolution of 1911, the Gregorian calendar began to be used to calculate the year, and January 1 of the Gregorian calendar was called "New Year's Day" and the first month of the lunar calendar. The first day of the lunar month is the "Spring Festival".

The Spring Festival is an important carrier of the excellent traditions of Chinese national culture. It contains the wisdom and crystallization of Chinese national culture, embodies the life pursuit and emotional sustenance of the Chinese people, and inherits the social ethics of the Chinese people.

Spring Festival Legend: Staying up late on New Year's Eve

Staying up late on New Year's Eve is the custom of staying up late on the last night of the old year to welcome the arrival of the new year. It is also called New Year's Eve and stays up late, commonly known as "staying up late on New Year's Eve" Stay up until the new year." Looking into the origin of this custom, there is an interesting story circulated among the people:

In ancient times, there was a ferocious monster that lived scattered in the deep mountains and dense forests. People called them "Nian". It has a ferocious appearance and a ferocious nature. It specializes in eating birds, animals, and scale insects. It changes its taste every day, ranging from kowtowing insects to living people, making people talk about the "New Year". Later, people gradually grasped the activity pattern of "Nian". It would rush to crowded places to taste fresh food every three hundred and sixty-five days, and its appearance time would always be after dark, until the rooster crows and dawn. , they returned to the mountains and forests.

Having calculated the date when the "New Year" would be rampant, the people regarded this terrible night as a critical moment, called it "New Year's Eve", and came up with a whole set of ways to celebrate the New Year's Eve: every day. On this night, every household has prepared dinner in advance, turned off the fire and cleaned the stove, fastened all the chicken pens and cattle pens, sealed the front and back doors of the house, and ate the "New Year's Eve dinner" hiding in the house. The dinner has an unlucky meaning, so it is very sumptuous. In addition to having the whole family gather around to dine together to express harmony and reunion, one must also offer sacrifices to the ancestors before eating, pray for the blessings of the ancestors' gods, and spend the time in peace. That night, after dinner, no one dared to go to sleep. They huddled together and chatted to strengthen their courage. Gradually, we formed the habit of staying up late on New Year's Eve.

The custom of keeping the year old arose in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and many literati in the Liang Dynasty wrote poems and essays about keeping the year old. "One night lasts two years, and the fifth watch divides two years." People light candles or oil lamps and keep vigil all night, which symbolizes driving away all evil plagues and looking forward to good luck in the new year. This custom has been passed down to this day.