What is the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival?

What is the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival? The annual Dragon Boat Festival is approaching. The Dragon Boat Festival is an ancient traditional festival that originated in China's Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period and has a history of more than 2,000 years. There are many origins and legends about the Dragon Boat Festival. Let’s take a look at them.

The origin and legend of the Dragon Boat Festival

Qu Yuan died for his country by jumping into the river

The original origin of the Dragon Boat Festival is related to Qu Yuan. According to the "Biographies of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng" in "Records of the Grand Historian", on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 278 BC, Qu Yuan, a minister and patriotic poet of the Chu State, heard the news that the Qin army had broken through the capital of the Chu State. He was filled with grief and indignation, and his heart was broken. He resolutely wrote his last work "Huai Sha", hugged a stone and jumped into the Miluo River, dying for his country. After Qu Yuan's death, the people of Chu State were extremely sad and flocked to the Miluo River to pay tribute to Qu Yuan. And throw rice dumplings into the river to prevent fish and shrimp from eating his body. From then on, on the fifth day of May every year, there was a custom of dragon boat racing, eating rice dumplings and drinking realgar wine to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.

Cao E rescued her father by jumping into the river

The second legend of the Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate the Eastern Han Dynasty filial piety daughter Cao'e who saved her father by jumping into the river. Cao E was a native of Shangyu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Her father drowned in the river and his body was missing for several days. At that time, the filial daughter Cao E was only fourteen years old and she cried along the river day and night. Seventeen days later, on May 5th, he also jumped into the river and carried out his father's body five days later. This story was passed on to the county governor, who ordered Du Shang to erect a monument to commemorate Cao E's filial piety.