Who is the Dragon Boat Festival to commemorate?

Why don't we say "Happy Dragon Boat Festival"? Is the Dragon Boat Festival to commemorate Qu Yuan? Netizens or serious or funny "thirst for knowledge" asked reporters to interview several experts in the field of history and culture to decrypt the "truth" about the Dragon Boat Festival.

Why not say "Happy Dragon Boat Festival"?

"Now it is obvious that it is inappropriate to wish friends and relatives' Happy Dragon Youth Day'. Just like Tomb-Sweeping Day, no one wishes anyone happiness ... "said netizen" Sunshine Youthxiaomin ".

Why? Zheng Tuyou, a professor of folklore at Fudan University, said that the Dragon Boat Festival, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, is the beginning of summer (noon). The ancients described it as "bad month and bad day" and "five poisons come out", so there are various customs of seeking peace and overcoming disasters. Summer weather is hot and dry, people are easy to get sick, and plagues are easy to spread; Coupled with the breeding of snakes and insects, it is easy to bite, so be very careful.

This day is generally one to eat, two to prick and three to pick. One is to eat "Huang Wu", that is, food with yellow characters in its name, which means "pick up" when "green and yellow don't pick up"; And the custom of drinking realgar wine. There is an old saying: "Drink realgar wine and you will get well." The second is to tie a gourd, broom and hang a map of the five poisons. The third is to pick mugwort leaves and stick the whole mugwort leaves on the door. There are also folk customs such as wearing colored ropes, hanging small peppers, wearing tiger-headed shoes and writing the word "Wang" on children's heads. They all mean to drive away disasters and plagues and seek good health and good luck.

From this perspective, the Dragon Boat Festival can be described as an important node in ancient disease prevention and epidemic prevention, similar to today's "Public Health Day". Therefore, it is obviously much more appropriate to say that "Dragon Boat Festival is auspicious" and "Dragon Boat Festival is healthy".

On May 28th, on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival, the annual Dragon Boat Festival was held in Laojun Mountain, Luoyang, Henan Province. Hundreds of Taoists gathered around the giant Taiji Bagua Array to wrap sticks and dumplings. The scene is spectacular. China News Service reporter Wang Zhongju photo

Who is the Dragon Boat Festival to commemorate?

It is reported that there are more than 20 aliases for the Dragon Boat Festival, such as Duanyang Festival, Chongwu Festival, Acorus calamus Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Magnolia Festival ... The most famous one is Quyuan Festival.

"If you take a long breath to hide your tears, you will mourn the hardships of people's lives." The Dragon Boat Festival has a strong tragic color and "sacrifice" custom because of Qu Yuan's death. In fact, it is also the anniversary of another ancient hero, Wu Zixu.

Ma, a professor at the School of Humanities, Zhejiang University of Technology, said that Fu Cha, the king of Wu, did not listen to the advice of assistant minister Wu Zixu, but listened to the treacherous court official's words, committed suicide for him and threw his body into the river on May 5. Thus, Wu Zixu became a ghost that people must remember on this day.

In some areas in the south, Dragon Boat Festival also means "filial piety". Ma said that in the Eastern Han Dynasty, a young lady aged 14 died because her father drowned in the river. She cried by the river and threw herself into the river because she didn't see the body. On the fifth day of May, the bodies of father and daughter were floating on the water, and Cao E's hands held her father's body from behind. Therefore, Cao E is called a model of filial piety and is missed by the villagers.

At the same time, the Dragon Boat Festival is also one of the ancient commemorative activities. Zhu, a professor at the Cultural Criticism Research Center of Tongji University, said that the world should mourn those restless ghosts on this day and pray for them to leave. This anniversary was replaced by the introduction of Buddhism and the Bonihara Festival on July 15.

"The original function of the Dragon Boat Festival has become blurred in the years of erosion. Only the customs of calamus, wormwood, pomegranate and garlic are hung on the door, which also slightly implies their connection with ghosts. " Zhu said that the leaves of Acorus calamus were shaped like swords, which the alchemists called "water sword" and later extended to "Pujian". It is said that it can cut all kinds of monsters.

"On the one hand, (the people) carefully comfort the dead, on the other hand, drive away evil spirits in a big way, which constitutes the real motif of the Dragon Boat Festival custom." Zhu said to:

What does the North do in the Dragon Boat Festival "Southern Dragon Boat Race"?

Many areas in the south have the custom of dragon boat racing. Roar, gongs and drums; Paddle and refuel; Colorful flags are flying, colorful balls are flying, firecrackers are ringing, and the festive atmosphere is warm. ...

So, what do northerners do on the Dragon Boat Festival? Folklore experts say that in the north, shooting willows, fighting grass and playing polo during the Dragon Boat Festival are also very athletic.

What is a willow shoot? In the Ming Dynasty, someone once recorded a "play" of shooting a willow-putting a pigeon in a gourd, then hanging the gourd high on the willow, shooting the gourd with a bow, and the pigeon flew out, and judging the outcome by the flying height of the flying pigeon.

It is reported that shooting willow is a classic project that can be played from Tomb-Sweeping Day to Dragon Boat Festival. Even the Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty was obsessed with this, and wrote in Chen Yuanlue: "In the eleventh year of Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, I was lucky to drive in Dongyuan and watch the ball hit the willow ... 14 Dragon Boat Festival, and I was also lucky."

Children take pleasure in "mowing grass", which means "pulling grass roots" in plain English. Cross-hook tough grass roots or leaf roots, and then pull them at the same time to see whose roots are thicker and longer ... Regarding weeding, Bai Juyi wrote in "Watching Children's Play": "Doing dust and weeding, every day is happy."

"When you think that the Dragon Boat Festival holiday is a' sleeping festival', when you are ready to bite off the glutinous rice belly soaked with incense, when you think that the Dragon Boat Festival is a' Zongzi Festival', go out for exercise first!" Netizen "Binka" said.

Huishan Economic Development Zone 100 Many residents got together to make zongzi, and the scene was very lively. Sun quanshe

Do you eat zongzi in memory of Qu Yuan?

Eating zongzi is obviously not just to commemorate Qu Yuan. Experts explained that "Zongzi", also known as "Jiaoshu" and "Zongzi", was steamed with glutinous rice wrapped in Zongzi leaves and appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. In the Jin Dynasty, zongzi became the festival food of the Dragon Boat Festival. In the Chronicle of Jingchu in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was recorded that people would eat zongzi on the summer solstice.

Food, beautiful scenery, poems and songs constitute the atmosphere of traditional festivals in China. Han Kesheng, founder of WeChat WeChat official account's "Baby Reading Poems" and dean of Shanghai Jiangdong College, said that there are many good poems in the Lantern Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, and a bright moon is enough to recite them endlessly. There are relatively few poems and songs on other festivals, and even fewer poems on the Dragon Boat Festival. For poetry lovers, Su Shi's "Dragon Boat Festival in Huanxisha" is a comfort: "The light sweat is slightly transparent, and the vanilla is bathed in the Dragon Boat Festival in the Ming Dynasty. The fragrance is full of Qingchuan, and the colored thread is lightly wrapped around the red jade arm. Fu Xiao hangs the Lv Yun Cup obliquely, and the beauty meets for a thousand years. "

The "Zongzi", which bears the feelings of home and country, blends in with the true feelings and comes from the long river of history, is more and more full of flavor and has become an important carrier for people to commemorate and miss.

So it goes without saying that the Dragon Boat Festival is "Zongzi Festival".

"When I was a child, during the Dragon Boat Festival, my mother would cook rice dumplings early, wrap them in plastic bags and put them in my schoolbag for me to eat during recess. After the Dragon Boat Festival, you can eat zongzi for another week. " Netizen "Liao Xiao Orange" said: "Now, the Dragon Boat Festival is just a phone call and a short message. The zongzi eaten away from home will never be as delicious as the zongzi wrapped by my mother at home. "