Why do we have dragon boat racing during the Dragon Boat Festival? Who is the dragon boat race in memory of?
During the Dragon Boat Festival, people spend the holiday amidst the cheers of dragon boat races and the aroma of rice dumplings. The annual Dragon Boat Festival is an important part of Chinese traditional festivals that cannot be ignored. On this special day, let us browse the content about the 2018 Dragon Boat Festival in the Dragon Boat Festival special topic of Fortune Teller Network.When is the Dragon Boat Festival in 2018?This year's Dragon Boat Festival is on the 28th day of the third lunar month in 2018 (lunar calendar), which corresponds to the Taurus sign of the Gregorian calendar, May 13, 2018 (solar calendar). The Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month every year. According to the "Jingchu Sui Shi Ji", because people climb high places in midsummer when the sun is in the sky, and May is midsummer, its first noon is the day for climbing high places in the sky, so the fifth day of May is also called the "Dragon Boat Festival." The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional cultural festival popular in China and other countries in the Chinese cultural circle.Why do we have dragon boat racing during the Dragon Boat Festival?According to the "Biographies of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng" in "Records of the Grand Historian", Qu Yuan was a minister of King Huai of Chu during the Warring States Period. His advocacy of promoting virtuous people and granting them power, enriching the country and strengthening its military, and uniting Qi to resist Qin was strongly opposed by aristocrats such as Zi Lan. Qu Yuan was dismissed from his post, driven out of the capital, and exiled to the Yuan and Xiang River basins. While in exile, he wrote immortal 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 could not bear to abandon his homeland, so on the fifth day of the fifth month, after writing his last work "Huaisha", he hugged a stone and jumped into the Miluo River and died. Legend has it that after Qu Yuan's death, the people of Chu State were extremely sad and flocked to the Miluo River to pay tribute to Qu Yuan. The fishermen rowed their boats and searched the river for his real body. They rushed after him, but when they reached Dongting Lake, he disappeared. Since then, dragon boat races have been held every year on May 5th to commemorate this event. Dragon boat racing is used to drive away the fish in the river to prevent them from eating Qu Yuan's body.In Miluo City, Hunan Province, people must first go to the Quzi Temple to worship before the dragon head, offer it to the god in the temple and worship it, then cover the dragon head with a red cloth and place it on the boat for the race. This is to worship the dragon god and commemorate Qu Yuan. In Zigui, Qu Yuan's hometown in Hubei, there are also rituals to worship Qu Yuan. The custom of offering sacrifices to Qu Yuan is recorded in the Book of Sui, Geography: "The oars raced at full speed, the oarsmen sang and sang, the noise shook the land and water, and the crowds of spectators were like clouds." Liu Yuxi of the Tang Dynasty wrote in his note on the Song of Boat Race: "The boat race started in Wuling. Today, people raise their oars and sing in unison, and the sound is like "Where is he?" This is the meaning of Qu Yuan." Who is the dragon boat race in memory of?In addition to commemorating Qu Yuan, the Dragon Boat Race during the Dragon Boat Festival also has other legendary stories.• Yuanling Panhu Soul Calling Dragon Boats existed in Yuanling long before Qu Yuan. The Yuanling Dragon Boat Festival originated in ancient times, and the object of worship is Panhu, the common ancestor of all ethnic groups in the Wuxi region. Panhu once settled in a stone cave in Banxi, Yuanling, and gave birth to six sons and six daughters. His sons and daughters married each other and multiplied into six ethnic groups: Miao, Yao, Dong, Tu, She, and Li. After Panhu died, the six tribes held a banquet to invite the gods and call back his soul. Because Yuanling is mountainous and water-dense, the wizard had no idea where his soul had gone, so he asked each tribe to build a dragon boat, and search and call out along the streams and rivers, which later evolved into the ritual of rowing boats to summon souls. •In commemoration of Wu Zixu "Qing Jia Lu" records that the dragon boat race in Wu (Jiangsu area) originated from commemorating Wu Zixu. Therefore, Suzhou has the old custom of offering sacrifices to Wu Zixu on the Dragon Boat Festival and holding dragon boat races on the water to commemorate him. There are also ceremonies to commemorate Ma Yuan in Guangxi and to commemorate King Yan Wang Shenzhi in Fuzhou. In the 29th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1736), dragon boat races began to be held in Taiwan. At that time, Taiwan Governor Jiang Yuanjun hosted a friendly match at the Half Moon Pond of the Fahua Temple in Tainan City. Dragon boat races are held in Taiwan every year on May 5th. Dragon boat races are also held in Hong Kong. • In Zhejiang Province, dragon boat races are held to commemorate Cao E. It is recorded in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty - Biographies of Women that Cao E committed suicide by jumping into the river, while folk legend has it that she went down the river to look for her father's body. There are many people in Zhejiang Province worshipping Cao E. Dianshizhai Pictorial: Pious Worship of Cao E depicts the scene of people in Kuaiji region worshipping Cao E. It also commemorates Qiu Jin, a modern female democratic revolutionary who was born in the area. |
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