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Chinese Language Scholarship for March Intake (2019)

What Is the College Canteen in China Look Like

SOME SUGGESTION FOR PART-TIME JOB

Do you Know China ranks 3rd study destination globally?

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Intro to Dragon Boat Festival

Nancy   2020-12-21261Browse / 0Reply

Nancy

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Logintime:2020-12-21

Published in:2020-12-21 11:09:58

Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Dragon Boat Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Chongwu Festival, Dragon Festival, Zhengyang Festival, Tianzhong Festival, etc. The Dragon Boat Festival originated from the worship of celestial phenomena and evolved from the dragon sacrifice in ancient times. In the midsummer Dragon Boat Festival, the Canglong Qi Su soared to the south of the sky, which is the auspicious day of Long Feitian. The origin of the Dragon Boat Festival covers ancient astrological culture, humanistic philosophy and other aspects, and contains profound cultural connotations.

 

The Dragon Boat Festival has mixed a variety of folk customs in the inheritance and development, and the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival are very rich. Dragon boat racing and eating zongzi are the two customs of the Dragon Boat Festival. These two customs have been passed down in China since ancient times and have a long history. These two customs still remain.


The Dragon Boat Festival was originally a festival founded by the ancestors of Wuyue in the south to worship the dragon ancestors and pray for blessings and evil spirits. It is said that Qu Yuan, a poet of Chu during the Warring States Period, committed suicide by jumping on the Miluo River on May 5. Later, people also took the Dragon Boat Festival as a festival to commemorate Qu Yuan.

 

The Dragon Boat Festival, the Spring Festival, the Ching Ming Festival, and the Mid-Autumn Festival are also known as the four major traditional festivals in China. The Dragon Boat Festival culture has extensive influence in the world, and some countries and regions in the world also have activities to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. In May 2006, the State Council included it in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists. Since 2008, the Dragon Boat Festival has been listed as a national legal holiday. In September 2009, UNESCO formally approved its inclusion in the "List of Representative Works of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" and the Dragon Boat Festival became China's first festival to be selected as a World Intangible Heritage.


According to "Records of the History", Qu Yuan was a native of Chu at the end of the Warring States Period and the minister of Chu Huai Wang during the Spring and Autumn Period. According to legend, Qu Yuan advocated appointing the talents and empowering the country, making the country strong, and urging to unite against Qin, which was strongly opposed by the nobleman Zilan and others. Qu Yuan was framed and removed from his post, was driven out of the capital, and exiled to the Yuan and Hunan basins.

 

During his exile, he wrote poems such as "Li Sao", "Heaven Questions", and "Nine Songs" that were concerned about the country and the people. In 278 BC, the Qin army broke through the capital of Chu Kingdom. Qu Yuan saw that his homeland was invaded and his heart was cut, but he could not bear to abandon his homeland. On May 5th, after writing his masterpiece "Huaisha", he took a stone to throw himself at the Miluo River and wrote a magnificent patriotic movement with his own life.


After Qu Yuan plunged into the river, the local people immediately rowed boats for rescue. However, Qu Yuan's body was never recovered. In order to convey their sorrow, people rowed on the river, and then gradually developed into a dragon boat race. The people were afraid that the fish in the river would eat his body, so they went home and brought rice balls into the river to prevent the fish and shrimps from ruining Qu Yuan's body. Later, it became the custom of eating zongzi. The Chinese people associate the dragon boat race and the eating of rice dumplings on the Dragon Boat Festival with the memory of Qu Yuan.

 

Dragon Boat Festival also has many folk customs, and dragon boat racing is one of them. Dragon boat racing is an important activity of the Dragon Boat Festival. As early as 7000 years ago, ancient ancestors used wood to make canoes and rowed them with wooden oars. The dragon boat was originally a canoe carved in the shape of a dragon on a single wooden boat, and later developed into a dragon-shaped boat made of wood. Dragon boat racing has a long history and is a multi-person group paddling competition. The dragon boat race is divided into several sections: invite the dragon, worship the dragon god, roam the dragon and collect the dragon. Before the Dragon Boat Festival, you must choose auspicious days to start from the water. After worshipping the gods, install the dragon head and dragon tail, and then prepare for the race.


The Dragon Boat Festival has a long history of arranging various flowers and plants that can drive away evil spirits and cure diseases. People regard wormwood and calamus as one of the important contents of the Dragon Boat Festival. Wormwood is an important medicinal plant. It can also be used to make moxa to treat diseases, moxibustion points, and repel worms. People often hang a few wormwood at the door of their homes. Because of the special fragrance of wormwood, people use it to repel diseases, mosquitoes and evil spirits.


The main materials of zongzi are glutinous rice and fillings, which are wrapped in ruo leaves. They have various shapes, including sharp corners and four corners. Zongzi has a long history and was originally used as a tribute to ancestors and gods. After being introduced to the north, the rice dumplings were made from millet, called "corn millet". Due to the different eating habits in various places, the zongzi has formed a north-south flavor; in terms of taste, zongzi can be divided into two categories: salty and sweet. The custom of eating rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival has prevailed in China for thousands of years. It has become one of the most influential and widely covered folk eating customs of the Chinese nation, and it has spread to North Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian countries.


During the Dragon Boat Festival, people will tie five-color silk threads to their arms. In traditional Chinese culture, the five colors "blue, red, white, black, and yellow" that symbolize the five directions and five elements are regarded as auspicious colors. The Dragon Boat Festival used five-color silk threads to tie arms, which was once a very popular festival. Passed down to later generations, they developed into many beautiful ornaments such as long-lived strands, long-lived locks, sachets, etc., and their production has become increasingly refined, becoming a unique folk art of the Dragon Boat Festival. On the Dragon Boat Festival, children should tie five-color silk threads on their wrists and ankles to drive away evil spirits.


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