The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the traditional festival of Chinese folk - The Dragon Boat Festival, which is one of the ancient traditional festivals of the Chinese nation. Dragon Boat Festival is also known as Duanwu or Duanyang. In addition, the Dragon Boat Festival also has many nicknames, such as: Noon Festival, Chongwu Festival, May Festival, Yulan Festival, Daughter's Day, Tianzhong Festival, Dila Festival, Poet's Day, Dragon Day, etc. Although the names are different, overall, the customs of people celebrating festivals in different regions are more similar than different.
Celebrating the Loong Boat Festival is a traditional custom of the Chinese people for more than 2000 years. Due to the vast territory, numerous nationalities, and many stories and legends, there are not only many different festival names, but also different customs in different places. The main contents include: the daughter goes back to her parents' home, hangs a Zhong Kui statue, welcomes ghost boats, hides in the afternoon, posts a noon leaf symbol, hangs calamus and wormwood, travels through various diseases, wears sachets, prepares animals, races Loong Boat, contests, strikes balls, swings, paints realgar for children, drinks realgar wine, calamus wine, eats five poison cakes, salted eggs, Zongzi and seasonal fresh fruits. In addition to superstitious activities that have gradually disappeared, the rest have spread throughout China and neighboring countries. Some activities, such as the Loong Boat race, have achieved new development, breaking through the time and geographical boundaries and becoming international sports events.
There are many theories about the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, such as: the theory of commemorating Qu Yuan; In memory of Wu Zixu's words; Remembering Cao E said:; Starting from the theory of the Summer Solstice Festival of the Three Dynasties; The theory of dispelling evil moon and day, the theory of Wu Yue ethnic totem worship, and so on. All of the above are based on their respective sources. According to over a hundred ancient texts and expert archaeological research listed in scholar Wen Yiduo's "Dragon Boat Festival Examination" and "Historical Education of Dragon Boat Festival", the origin of Dragon Boat Festival can be traced back to the totem festival held by the Wu Yue ethnic group in southern China, which predates Qu Yuan. But for thousands of years, Qu Yuan's patriotic spirit and touching poetry have been deeply rooted in people's hearts, so people "cherish and mourn him, discuss his words for the world, and pass them on". Therefore, the commemoration of Qu Yuan has the widest and deepest influence, occupying the mainstream position. In the field of folk culture, Chinese people associate the Loong Boat race and eating Zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival with the commemoration of Qu Yuan.
Today, the Dragon Boat Festival is still a very popular grand festival among the Chinese people.