Dragon Boat Festival (Wuchang Dragon Boat Festival)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Dragon Boat Festival

Applicant: Yuhang District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province

Project No.: 451

Project No.: Ⅹ - 3

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: folk customs

Region: Zhejiang Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Yuhang District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province

Protection unit: Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center of Yuhang District, Hangzhou

Dragon Boat Festival (Wuchang Dragon Boat Festival)

Applicant: Yuhang District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province

The Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month is a traditional Chinese festival, also known as "Chongwu", "Duanwu" and "PuJie". "Duan" has the meaning of "Chu", so "the fifth day of junior high school" is called "Duan five". Jianyin in the first month of the summer (lunar) calendar, according to the order of dizhi, may is just the noon moon. In addition, the ancients often called five days "noon day", so "Duanwu" is also called "Chongwu". The customs of the Dragon Boat Festival spread all over the country, mainly in the majority of the Han nationality areas. Zhuang, Buyi, Dong, Tujia, Gelao and other ethnic minorities also have the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival.

There are many legends about the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, such as commemorating Qu Yuan's throwing into the river, the taboo of poison day on May 5, Goujian, the king of Yue, training the Navy, commemorating Wu Zixu's throwing into the Qiantang River, Cao E's saving his father and so on.

The main activities of the Dragon Boat Festival include commemorating historical figures, rowing dragon boats, eating zongzi, pasting Dragon Boat symbols, paper cutting, hanging wormwood and Acorus calamus, wearing sachets and bathing in orchid soup. In addition, there are grass fighting, batting, shooting willows and other games. In these activities, some related utensils, products and food were produced, among which dragon boat, zongzi, five poison painting, Acorus calamus, Zhong Kui painting, Zhang Tianshi painting and Qu Yuan painting were the most common.

With the progress of society, the Dragon Boat Festival has gradually developed into a traditional festival with rich content and gained great vitality. It has important reference value in the study of folk custom history. For example, the custom of rowing dragon boat and eating zongzi in the Dragon Boat Festival has been well preserved and developed healthily. In view of this, we should scientifically guide the other forms of cultural expression of the Dragon Boat Festival, so as to make the Festival cultural activities of the broad masses of the people more colorful.

Wuchang Dragon Boat Festival is a large-scale folk activity held in Wuchang Street, Yuhang District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, which has a history of more than 500 years. When Emperor Qianlong visited Jiangnan in the Qing Dynasty, he saw the scene of dragon boat race like the local fair. He gladly called it "Dragon Boat Race". This name spread and is still in use today.

During the Dragon Boat Festival, every household in Wuchang hangs a hundred grasses and eats "five yellow", and spontaneously organizes Dragon Boat Festival. The characteristics of Wuchang dragon boat competition are competition skills and rowing. The emphasis is on "rowing", but not on speed. Wuchang dragon boat can be divided into mantianyu, bantianyu and shirtless Dragon Boat according to decoration. Mantianyu and bantianyu are ornamental dragon boats. Shirtless dragon boat is the most, it is not decorated, only in the bow of a tap, fixed with clay below. From 12 noon to 3 pm on the Dragon Boat Festival, hundreds of colorful dragon boats from all over the world gather at wuchangbang. On a section of the River four or five hundred meters long, the gongs and drums are surging, the waves are splashing, and the boats are rowing back and forth. They are crowded, bustling and exciting. At the same time, the sea of people on the shore, thousands of heads, shouts, cheers and the sound of chants on the water echo each other, the scene is very spectacular.

Before and after the Dragon Boat Festival, Wuchang also had traditional folk activities such as "invite Dragon King", "thank Dragon King" and "drink Dragon Boat wine". After the Dragon Boat Festival, the old and young people in each village gather to drink Dragon Boat wine and reward the rowers.

Wuchang Dragon Boat Festival is a unique folk festival in Jiangnan, which has a wide range of mass and folk heritage, reflecting a strong cultural cohesion. With the development of the times, great changes have taken place in the local social life of Wuchang. Villagers are scattered in various rural settlements, and it is difficult to gather together. In this situation, all kinds of folk rituals, including the Dragon Boat Festival, are becoming more and more simplified and losing their original characteristics. It is urgent to strengthen protection measures to prevent the loss of the ancient festival customs.