Speaking of the Dragon Boat Festival, I have to mention eating zongzi and dragon boat racing. These two items can be said to be standard for the Dragon Boat Festival. Do you know when the Dragon Boat Festival began? How did dragon boat racing rise? Let's take you to know the origin of dragon boat racing on the Dragon Boat Festival
Historical origin:
1. Commemoration of Qu Yuan
According to the historical records' biographies of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng ', Qu Yuan was a minister of King Huai of Chu during the Warring States period. His advocacy of giving talents, enriching the country and strengthening the army and uniting Qi against Qin was strongly opposed by aristocratic Zilan and others. Qu Yuan was greedy to leave his post, was driven out of the capital and exiled to the yuan and Xiang river basins. When he was in exile, he wrote immortal poems such as Li Sao, Tian Wen and nine songs. In 278 BC, the Qin army broke through the Kyoto of the state of Chu. Qu Yuan could not bear to give up his motherland. On the fifth day of May, after writing his last work Huai Sha, he threw a stone into the Miluo River and died.
It is said that after Qu Yuan's death, the people of Chu were very sad and rushed to the Miluo River to pay tribute to Qu Yuan. The fishermen rowed their boats up and down the river to salvage his real body. They scrambled and disappeared when they reached Dongting Lake. After that, we row a dragon boat on May 5 every year to commemorate it. Use a dragon boat to disperse the fish in the river so as not to eat Qu Yuan's body. Boat by boat, river by river, looking for and shouting, and even evolved into a later witch worship activity of boating and summoning souls.
2. Commemorating Cao E
Zhejiang Province commemorates Cao E by dragon boat race. According to the book of the later Han Dynasty, Cao E died in the river, while it is said that she went down the river to look for her father's body. There are many sacrificial rites in Zhejiang. The "Dian Shi Zhai pictorial & middot; worshipping Cao E" depicts the scene of people sacrificing Cao E in Kuaiji area. It also has the significance of commemorating the local born modern female democratic revolutionary Qiu Jin
3. Commemorating Wu Zixu
The record of Wu Di (Jiangsu area) race in the Qing Jialu originated from commemorating Wu Zixu. Therefore, Suzhou has the old habit of offering Wu Zixu a Dragon Boat Festival and holding a race on the water to commemorate it. In addition, there are ceremonies to commemorate Ma Yuan in Guangxi and to commemorate Yama Shenzhi in Fuzhou.
Development history:
'dragon boat race 'is a custom that existed in the Warring States period. During the Warring States period, people carved dragon shaped canoes in the sound of drums to entertain gods and people. At this time, dragon boat racing was a semi religious and semi entertaining program in the sacrifice. In the two lakes region, sacrificing Qu Yuan is closely related to dragon boat racing. Maybe after Qu Yuan, Cao E and Wu Zixu died, the local people also used soul boats to bury their souls, so there is this custom. However, in addition to commemorating Qu Yuan, dragon boat racing has also given different meanings everywhere.
Before the dragon boat race, please invite the dragon and worship the God. For example, before the Dragon Boat Festival, Guangdong dragon boats should start underwater, sacrifice the Nanhai God in the Nanhai temple, install the dragon head and dragon tail, and then prepare for the race. And buy a pair of paper cocks and put them on the dragon boat, thinking that they can bless the boat. Fujian and Taiwan went to Mazu temple to worship. Some sacrifice the dragon head directly by the river, killing chickens and dripping blood on the dragon head, such as Sichuan, Guizhou and other individual areas.
Before the dragon boat race, various sacrificial and commemorative ceremonies will be held. Generally, incense candles and paper money will be burned for chicken, rice, meat, fruit, zongzi, etc. Nowadays, these superstitious rituals are rare, but in the past, when people offered sacrifices to the Dragon Temple, the atmosphere was very serious. They prayed for a good harvest in agriculture, good weather, going evil, bustling about disasters and good luck in everything, and also blessed the safety of boating. In people's words, 'picture an auspicious' to express people's good wishes.