Which historical figures are related to the Dragon Boat Festival? Why do we eat rice dumplings and race dragon boats during the Dragon Boat Festival?
The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the Duanyang Festival, the Double Fifth Festival, the Zhengyang Festival, the Tianzhong Festival, etc., is one of the four major traditional festivals in my country. Want to know more about the Dragon Boat Festival? Summer cicadas chirp in the fifth month of the lunar calendar, so the fifth month of the lunar calendar is also called "wu cicada". If you want to know more about the fifth month of the lunar calendar, please visit Mr. Shui Mo's website!Which historical figures are related to the Dragon Boat Festival?The Dragon Boat Festival was originally a festival to worship the dragon ancestor, but as stories and legends about it became widely circulated, it was given the content of commemorating ancestors, among which Qu Yuan and Wu Zixu are the most well-known.1. Qu Yuan Qu Yuan (c. 339 BC - c. 278 BC) was a native of Danyang (now Zigui, Yichang, Hubei) in the State of Chu during the late Warring States Period and a minister of King Huai of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period. According to legend, Qu Yuan advocated the selection of virtuous people and the empowerment of them, the enrichment of the country and the strengthening of the military, and strongly advocated the alliance between Qi and Qin. He was strongly opposed by aristocrats such as Zi Lan. Qu Yuan was slandered and resigned, and was expelled from the capital and exiled to the Yuan and Xiang River basins. During his exile, he wrote poems such as "Li Sao", "Heavenly Questions" and "Nine Songs" which expressed his concern for the country and the people. In 278 BC, the Qin army conquered the capital of the Chu State. Qu Yuan was heartbroken to see his country being invaded, but he could not bear to abandon his country. On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, after writing his last work "Huaisha", he hugged a stone and jumped into the Miluo River to commit suicide, thus composing a magnificent patriotic piece with his life. Qu Yuan is a model of a patriotic martyr. Even though he was harmed by villains, he still cared about his country in exile, so he has always been loved by the local people. After Qu Yuan jumped into the river, local people rushed to the scene after hearing the news and immediately rowed boats to rescue him, but they were unable to find Qu Yuan's body. To express their grief, people rowed boats on rivers and wrapped rice balls in rice leaves and threw them into the river to avoid destroying Qu Yuan's body. Because of this, the custom of dragon boat racing and eating rice dumplings gradually formed on the Dragon Boat Festival. 2. Wu Zixu Wu Zixu (559 BC - 484 BC), whose name was Yuan, was originally from the State of Chu, but later defected to the State of Wu. Wu Zixu's father and brother were both killed by the King of Chu. Later, Zixu turned to the light and fled to the State of Wu, helping Wu to attack Chu. After five battles, he entered the Chu capital Yingcheng. At that time, King Chu Ping had died. Zi Xu dug up his tomb and whipped his corpse 300 times to avenge the murder of his father and brother. After the death of King Helu of Wu, his son Fuchai succeeded to the throne. The morale of the Wu army was high, and they won every battle. The Yue Kingdom was defeated. King Goujian of Yue asked for peace, and Fuchai agreed. Zixu suggested that the Yue Kingdom should be completely destroyed, but Fuchai did not listen. The prime minister of Wu Kingdom was bribed by the Yue Kingdom and slandered Wu Zixu. Fuchai believed it and gave Zixu a sword, which led to Zixu's death. Wu Zixu was a loyal and righteous man who was ready to face death with equanimity. Before his death, he said to his neighbors, "After I die, dig out my eyes and hang them on the east gate of Wujing, so that I can watch the Yue army enter the city and destroy Wu." Then he committed suicide. King Fuchai was furious when he heard this, and ordered Zixu's body to be taken, wrapped 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. Why do we eat rice dumplings and race dragon boats during the Dragon Boat Festival?The Dragon Boat Festival is also known as the "Zongzi Festival" and the "Dragon Boat Festival" because of the two customs of eating rice dumplings and dragon boat racing.Although many people believe that eating rice dumplings and dragon boat racing are to commemorate Qu Yuan, who jumped into the river and died for his country on the Dragon Boat Festival, in fact, this is just a legend that was beautified by later generations to commemorate Qu Yuan. These two customs have actually been around for a long time before Qu Yuan. 1. Eat Zongzi The word "zong" was written as "糉" in ancient times. The earliest known appearance of it in "Shuowen Jiezi" by Xu Shen in the Han Dynasty explained it as "rice wrapped in reed leaves." At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, millet was soaked in water containing wood ash. Because the water contained alkali, the millet was wrapped in cattail leaves into a square shape and cooked. It was called Guangdong alkaline water rice dumpling. At the same time, a small number of stuffed rice dumplings appeared, and the most popular was the pork rice dumpling. The term "jiaoshu" was explicitly mentioned in "Records of Fengshi" written by Zhou Chu, the prefect of Xinping in the Western Jin Dynasty: "On the Dragon Boat Festival in mid-summer, the local officials celebrated the festival. They enjoyed jiaoshu, which was like tortoise scales and Shunde." Millet is produced in the north, and millet is used to make rice dumplings, which are horn-shaped and were called "jiaoshu" in the north in ancient times. According to research, zongzi appeared before the Spring and Autumn Period and was originally used to worship ancestors and gods. In the Jin Dynasty, zongzi became a festive food for the Dragon Boat Festival. 2. Dragon Boat Race The Dragon Boat Festival has been around longer than rice dumplings and is a custom left over from ancient times when people worshipped the dragon god. According to the "First Excavation Report of Hemudu Site", as early as 7,000 years ago, ancient ancestors had carved canoes out of single logs and added wooden oars for rowing. The earliest "Dragon Boat Race" graphic in China was discovered in Jia Village, Yunlong Town, Yinzhou District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. The dragon boat was originally a canoe made of a single piece of wood with a dragon shape carved on it. Later it developed into a dragon-shaped boat made of wooden boards. Dragon boat racing has a long history. Dragon boat racing is divided into several sections, including inviting the dragon, offering sacrifices to the dragon god, parading the dragon and collecting the dragon. Before a dragon boat race, a grand sacrificial ceremony is usually held, where the dragon is first invited and the gods are offered sacrifices. Before the Dragon Boat Festival, an auspicious day must be chosen to pull the dragon out from the water. After offering sacrifices to the gods, the dragon head and tail are installed and preparations are made for the dragon race. People in Fujian and Taiwan go to Mazu temples to worship. In the past, people held sacrifices to the Dragon God in a very solemn atmosphere, praying mostly for blessings, good weather, getting rid of evil spirits, warding off disasters, and everything going well. Do you want to know your own Bazi? 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