Besides, Dragon Boat Festival

Every year, the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar is the Dragon Boat Festival, which originated in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. In the early summer of the fifth lunar month, the temperature gradually rises, mosquitoes and flies are active, and it is easy to form an epidemic situation, which is harmful to the human body. Therefore, people use this day as a day to ward off evil spirits, drinking realgar wine, taking a bath with moxa leaves, hanging calamus in front of their doors, and other customs come from this.

The custom of Dragon Boat Festival added a new connotation in the late warring States period. Qu Yuan, a famous patriotic poet and doctor of Chu, was persecuted by treacherous officials for opposing Qin and was exiled by the monarch of Chu twice. in the end, the State of Chu was destroyed by Qin and qu Yuan, who did not want to be a subjugation slave, threw himself into the surging Miluo River with final dignity!

It is said that before he killed himself, qu Yuan stood by the Miluo River and sang songs to his hometown. He was recognized by a fisherman and asked, "aren't you Dr. qu Yuan?" How did it end up like this? Qu Yuan replied: the world has been muddy, only I am innocent, today's people are drunk, only I am sober, that is why I am like this. The fisherman also said: saints will not be bound by external factors, and can adapt to secular changes, since the world is chaotic, why not follow the tide and follow the trend? Since everyone is drunk, why don't you eat some lees and drink some wine? And put yourself in this position? Qu Yuan said: people who have just washed their hair will flick the dust off their hats, and people who have just taken a bath will shake off the dust of their clothes. since they cannot allow their innocent bodies to be contaminated by dirt, how can they let their noble character be defiled by worldly dirt? I would rather plunge into the river and die in the belly of the fish than survive! American Literature Reading Network

Shortly after that, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 278 BC, qu Yuan picked up a big stone and jumped into the Miluo River. Fishermen who learned the news rowed small boats to search and rescue the Miluo River. However, there was still no sign of their efforts for many days. Everyone worried that the fish and shrimp in the river would nibble away at qu Yuan's body, so they rowed to the river to put food into the river, hoping to feed the fish and shrimp and save qu Yuan's body. Later, it gradually evolved to wrap glutinous rice in zongye and put it into the river. at this point, there was the custom of dragon boat racing and eating zongzi on the fifth day of May.

On his deathbed, qu Yuan wrote the immortal poem Huai Sha. The whole poem does not depict too much personal experience, but focuses on expressing the heavy feelings of worrying about the country and the people. It is reported that qu Yuan was repeatedly framed by treacherous courtiers in his life, but he never changed his sincerity to his own country, especially after the State of Chu was perished by the State of Qin, qu Yuan fled to many places, although he knew that his motherland had fallen and could not change the situation of subjugation, but, whenever and wherever, he faced the capital of Chu and never looked directly at the direction of the capital of Qin! Qu Yuan ended his life with pride, sincerity and a lifetime of solar terms, so later generations will worship him, praise him, and remember him.

Unlike Ching Ming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival is more festive. Dragon boat racing and eating zongzi have always been the main customs of the Dragon Boat Festival. We don't know how the ancients celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival, but we can see from the historical materials that on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, many ancient places, many literati and patriots have mentioned qu Yuan. Today's Dragon Boat Festival, only a few activities such as poetry will occasionally hear the name of qu Yuan. Perhaps, because of the passage of time, people's regret and memory of qu Yuan has developed from the beginning to the height of admiration and praise, perhaps, because with the changes of the times, people have a new orientation of qu Yuan's values, perhaps, it is because of the history that people do not want to review in this special festival in today's society of material wealth.

There are many traditional festivals in China, and each festival has a special meaning. Spring Festival is to let us enjoy the rare joy throughout the year, sum up the gains and losses of this year, and plan for the new year. Ching Ming Festival asked us not to forget our ancestors. On this day, most people will go to their ancestors' graves to pay their respects. The Mid-Autumn Festival is also a reunion festival. No matter where you are, your heart will think of your family and the moon in your hometown! The Dragon Boat Festival should be a civilization treasure that we Chinese should not or lack, and the connotation of civilization conveyed by this festival is the inexhaustible spiritual wealth of the people all over the world!

As ordinary people, we do not discuss politics, and we do not have to struggle with the problem of powerlessness. As Chinese, we must understand our own civilization. No matter how the world changes, no matter where we go, we are still Chinese. However, once we ignore or forget this basic fact, we lose our dignity and the value of existence. Qu Yuan's death, although failed to change the fate of the State of Chu, but in exchange for thousands of years or even eternal respect! There are two versions of the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival, one is to dispel evil, to nourish the body and mind, and the other is to commemorate qu Yuan and carry forward the national spirit. There is no correlation between the two. Maybe it's a coincidence of folklore, maybe it's a historical arrangement. For thousands of years, these two unrelated customs actually appeared on the same day. It seems that the ancients wanted to say something to our posterity.

Today, the custom of exorcising evil spirits such as bathing with moxa leaves, hanging calamus in front of doors, and wearing colored thread on the Dragon Boat Festival continues in a few places, but it is only a formality, because today's science and technology has long gone beyond the effect of using the old method to drive evil spirits and kill viruses. Although eating zongzi has always been a generally accepted custom of the Dragon Boat Festival, with the improvement of living standards, people are more and more picky about the choice of food. Zongzi has gradually become a second guest of the Dragon Boat Festival, and more is just a form! Nowadays, when people celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, they just have a big reunion dinner and give some boxing gifts to their elders! Seemingly happy Dragon Boat Festival, its connotation is getting weaker and weaker. Is it possible that festivals, which have been passed down for more than 2000 years, will gradually fade in today's highly civilized world? When we calm down and savor it carefully, we will be surprised to say that time can change the way things appear, but nothing can change the nature of things!

And the reason for the survival of anything contains an unshakable spirit. The same is true of poison and evil, they will also change with the environment and time, and the form of appearance will be changeable. The Dragon Boat Festival commemorates qu Yuan to promote the lofty qualities of preferring death to surrender, cleanliness, sincerity and loyalty, while drinking realgar wine, wearing colored thread, and taking a bath of moxa leaves is a warning to future generations that only by being upright and unyielding and being clean can we stay away from evil and poison. This originally seemed to be two completely different Dragon Boat Festival folklore, but now, in the endless flow of years together, with a new attitude to tell us the value!

Once upon a time, some people associated the Dragon Boat Festival with it because they read some descriptions in the Legend of the White Snake, while others questioned it. In fact, the legends about the Dragon Boat Festival are far more than these, but no matter what kind of legends, the constant change is a kind of inheritance of Chinese civilization, there is no need to explore which statement is the most accurate. What we need is to draw valuable spiritual wealth from the folklore left by these ancients. Worryingly, some people no longer care about these and indulge themselves in the strange circle of material desires. Nobility and selfishness, giving and taking, good and evil have become more and more ambiguous!

Through forty-two Dragon Boat Festival, see a truth, seemingly humble harvest, but give endless motivation to life! Nothing is more meaningful than understanding the meaning of life, nothing is more valuable than understanding the value of life!

(Han Tianyu)