The annual Dragon Boat Festival is coming. Dragon Boat Festival in 2020 is on June,25, Thursday. Astronomical experts say that
the Dragon Boat Festival in 2020 is a bit special. It is one of the three latest Dragon Boat Festivals in the 21st century.
The Dragon Boat Festival is fixed every year on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, but its date in the solar calendar
is very variable. The reason for this change is "leap month".
The Dragon Boat Festival is an ancient traditional festival that began in China during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods
and has a history of more than 2,000 years. There are many origins and legends of the Dragon Boat Festival, only one is introduced here,
which originated from the memorial of Qu Yuan
According to the "Historical Biography of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng" in "Shi Ji", Qu Yuan was the minister of King Chu Huai during
the Spring and Autumn Period. He advocated for giving talents by virtue, strong troops in the rich country, and strong alliance against Qi Qin,
which was strongly opposed by the noble Zilan and others. Qu Yuan was greeted and ousted, was expelled from the capital, and was exiled
to the Yuan and Xiang rivers. In exile, he wrote the immortal poems such as "Li Sao", "Questions of Heaven", and "Nine Songs" that worry
about the country and the people, with a unique style and far-reaching influence (hence, the Dragon Boat Festival is also called the Poets Festival).
In 278 B.C., the Qin Army conquered the capital of Chu. Qu Yuan saw that his motherland was invaded, and his heart was like a knife,
but he could not bear to abandon his motherland. On May 5th, after writing his exquisite work "Waisha", Boulder threw the Miluo River to death,
with his own life Composed a magnificent patriotic movement.
It is said that after the death of Qu Yuan, the people of Chu state grieved abnormally, and they rushed to the side of Miluo River to hang Qu Yuan.
The fishermen rowed up the boat and salvaged his real body on the river. A fisherman took out the rice balls, eggs and other food prepared for
Qu Yuan, and threw them into the river. They said that the fish, lobsters and crabs were full, and they would not bite Dr. Qu’s body. People followed
suit after seeing them. An old doctor brought a bottle of realgar wine and poured it into the river, saying that it was necessary to stun the Jiaolong water
beast to avoid hurting Doctor Qu. Later, in order to fear that the rice balls were eaten by Jiaolong, people came up with rice leaves wrapped in
neem leaves, wrapped with colored silk, and developed into palms.
After that, on the fifth day of May every year, there was a custom of dragon boat racing, eating dumplings and drinking realgar wine; in this way,
the patriotic poet Qu Yuan was commemorated.
