The reason why the Dragon Boat Festival is called the Dragon Boat Festival is because:
The Dragon Boat Festival literally also has names such as "Duanwu", "Chongwu" and "Chongwu". "Duan" in ancient Chinese has the meaning of beginning and beginning. Calling "Duanwu" is like calling "Chuwu". "Feng Tu Ji" says: "The Midsummer Dragon Boat Festival. The Dragon Boat Festival is the beginning." There are three five-day days in a month, and the first five-day period is the "Dragon Boat Festival". The ancients used to refer to the first few days of May as Duan. Chen Yuanliang of the Yuan Dynasty said in "Sui Sui Guang Ji": "People in the capital city regard the first day of May as Duan Yi, the second day of May as Duan Er, and counting to five is called Duan." "The Dragon Boat Festival"
The ancients used the heavenly stems and earthly branches to calculate the calendar. According to the order of the earthly branches, the first month of the lunar calendar begins with the Yin month. According to the order of the earthly branches "Zichou Yinmaochen Siwu Wushen Youxuhai", the fifth month is calculated. It is "noon moon", and noon hour is "yangchen", so the Dragon Boat Festival is also called "Duanyang". Wu, the ancients used it in common with "five", so Dragon Boat Festival and Dragon Boat Festival are synonymous. Because the months and days have the same number, people also call the Dragon Boat Festival the "Chongwu Festival" or the "Chongwu Festival".
According to statistics, there are more than 20 names for the Dragon Boat Festival, such as Dragon Boat Festival, Duanyang Festival, Chongwu Festival, Chongwu Festival, Dangwu Flood Festival, Tianzhong Festival, Summer Festival, May Festival, Chang Festival, Pu Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Bath Orchid Festival, Qu Yuan Day, Wu Day Festival, Girl's Day, Di La Festival, Poet's Day, Dragon Day, Wu Day, Lantern Festival, Wu Dan Festival, etc.
The Dragon Boat Festival has multiple names:
The word "Duan" in the Dragon Boat Festival means "initial", so "Duanwu" is the "fifth day of the lunar month". According to the calendar, May is the "noon" month, so "Dragon Boat Festival" gradually evolved into "Dragon Boat Festival". "The Records of the Years of Yanjing" records: "The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the fifth day of the fifth month, which is the transliteration of the word "Duan"." When climbing high, Shunyang is at the top. May is midsummer, and its first noon is a day when the weather is good for climbing Shunyang. Therefore, the fifth day of May is called "Duanyang Festival".
Chongwu Festival is noon, which belongs to the twelve earthly branches. The fifth month of the lunar calendar is the noon month. Wu and Wu have the same pronunciation, and five and five are the same. Therefore, the Dragon Boat Festival is also called "Chongwu Festival" or "Chongwu Festival" ", also called "May Day" in some places.
Dragon Boat Festival Dragon boat racing is an important activity of the Dragon Boat Festival and is very popular in southern China, especially in Guangdong, where it is called dragon boat racing. It was originally a sacrificial activity for the Guyue people to worship the water god or the dragon god. Its origin may have begun in primitive society. Dragon boat racing has a long history and has been spread for more than 2,000 years. It is a traditional Chinese folk water sports and entertainment event. It is mostly held on festive festivals and is a collective paddling competition for many people. After spreading abroad, it was deeply loved by people from all over the world and formed an international competition.
When the fifth flood occurs in some rural areas of Shanghai and areas on the north shore of Hangzhou Bay, such as Fengxian, Nanhui and other areas, it is customary to call the Dragon Boat Festival "the fifth flood".
The name Tianzhong Festival comes from the number of yin and yang. Tian Rucheng of the Ming Dynasty wrote in "History of Traveling to the West Lake, Volume 20, Joys of the Xi Dynasty": "The Dragon Boat Festival is the Tianzhong Festival because the sun reaches the zenith at noon and reaches its highest point, especially at noon, so it is called the Tianzhong Festival." . Japan regards May 5th as "Men's Day", which may also be based on Tianzhong Festival, because it is believed that only men can uphold the spirit of heaven and earth.
The Dragon Boat Festival during the Orchid Bathing Festival falls in midsummer, a season when skin diseases are common. It was a custom in ancient times to bathe with orchid grass soup to remove dirt. "Dadaili" of the Han Dynasty says: "Bath in orchid soup at noon."
When the ancients ate rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival, they had a game of comparing the length of the rice dumpling leaves that each person had untied, with the elder winning, so it is also known as the "Zongdong Festival".
Daughter's Day Ming Shen List "Wanshu Miscellaneous Notes": "Daughter's Day in May, tie the Dragon Boat Festival rope, wear mugwort leaves and five poison talismans. Wan custom from the first to the fifth day of May, decorate the little girl, all Married girls also return to Ning, because it is called Daughter's Day. "The etiquette is followed in the southern Hunan area on the "Fifth day of May" when summer comes, at the door. Hanging mugwort leaves on the clothes, and bathing with mugwort leaves to repel mosquitoes is a baptism. People believe that after being baptized, malaria can be driven away and they can safely survive the summer mosquito season.
The Calamus Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival are not only an ancient totem sacrificial festival, but also a festival for "curing diseases and preventing epidemics". The ancients believed that "Chongwu" was a day when taboos were violated, and the five poisons were released at this time. Therefore, Dragon Boat Festival customs were mostly to ward off evil spirits and avoid poisons, such as hanging calamus and mugwort leaves on the door, so the Dragon Boat Festival is also called "Calamus Festival".