What is the Dragon Boat Festival?

There are many opinions about the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, such as: in memory of Qu Yuan; In memory of Wu Zixu's theory; In memory of Cao E; From the three generations of summer solstice festival; The theory of exorcising evil days on the moon, the theory of national totem sacrifice in wuyue and so on. Each of the above has its own source. According to more than 100 ancient books and archaeological studies by experts listed in Wen Yiduo's Dragon Boat Festival Examination and Dragon Boat Festival History Education, the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival is a totem festival held by Wuyue people in the ancient south of China, earlier than Qu Yuan. However, for thousands of years, Qu Yuan's patriotic spirit and touching poems have been deeply rooted in people's hearts, so people "cherish it and mourn it, talk about it in the world, and tell it through the ages." Therefore, the theory of commemorating Qu Yuan has the widest and deepest influence and occupies the mainstream position. In the field of folk culture, China people associate dragon boat racing and eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival with commemorating Qu Yuan.

Folk activities of Dragon Boat Festival

Celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival has been a traditional habit of China people for more than two thousand years. Due to the vast territory, numerous nationalities and numerous stories and legends, not only many different festival names are produced, but also different customs exist in different places. Its contents mainly include: daughter going back to her mother's house, hanging Zhong Kui statue, welcoming the ghost boat, hiding in the afternoon, sticking leaves in the afternoon, hanging calamus and wormwood, traveling in all diseases, wearing sachets, preparing sacrificial bowls, dragon boat races, competitions, hitting the ball, swinging, drawing children with realgar, drinking realgar wine, drinking calamus wine, eating poisonous cakes, salted eggs, zongzi and seasonal fresh fruits.

Eat zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival.

The record of zongzi in historical materials began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. At that time, zongzi was wrapped into a corner called "corn millet" The local custom of the Western Jin Dynasty said: "The ancients cooked it with millet leaves, with sharp corners, such as the shape of a palm leaf." He also said that this kind of food is eaten every summer solstice and Dragon Boat Festival. According to ancient records, as early as the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, millet and chicken were sacrificed to ancestors in the summer of solstice. Later, the sacrifice of Zongzi to Qu Yuan in the Dragon Boat Festival was just an evolution and development of the original custom.

Nowadays, Zongzi has developed into a folk flavor food that can be seen all year round. Because of different eating habits in different places, Zongzi has different flavors in the north and south, but the famous dragon boat Zongzi is produced in Zhengzhou, central China, which is also in the north and south. Rich in flavor, there are pineapple dumplings, black glutinous peanut dumplings, mung bean dumplings, chestnut dumplings, osmanthus red bean dumplings, Zinuo Babao dumplings, candied yam dumplings, coix seed dumplings, barbecued pork dumplings, and mushroom dumplings.

Nowadays, zongzi is still wrapped in leaves with glutinous rice according to the origin of eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival. The sharp corners are like the shape of the heart of a palm leaf.

Dragon Boat Festival

According to legend, people who originated in the ancient State of Chu were reluctant to part with the death of the sage Qu Yuan, and many people rowed boats to save people. They rushed to catch up with each other and disappeared at Dongting Lake. After that, I will row a dragon boat on May 5th every year to commemorate it. Rowing a dragon boat to disperse the fish in the river so as not to eat Qu Yuan's body. In fact, the habit of horse racing is very popular in wuyue and Chu.