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台灣民俗節慶 Festival in Taiwan. 端午節 Dragon Boat Festival. Origin of the Dragon Boat Festival. Origin. ◎ Traditionally, the origin of this summer festival centers around a scholarly government official named Chu Yuan.
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台灣民俗節慶 Festival in Taiwan 端午節 Dragon Boat Festival
Origin ◎Traditionally, the origin of this summer festival centers around a scholarly government official named Chu Yuan. ◎On theother hand, it is also a taboo of the evil month. Verminand disease tend to spread out during hot days. Therefore, the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar is also called “evil month.”
Qu Yuan About 2300 years ago, Qu Yuan was a good and respected man. Because of the misdeeds of jealous rivals, he eventually fell into disfavor in the emperor's court. Unable to regain the respect of the emperor, in his sorrow Qu Yuan threw himself into the Milo River. Because of their admiration for Qu Yuan, the local people living adjacent to the Milo River rushed into their boats to search for him while throwing rice into the waters to appease the river dragons. Although they were unable to find Qu Yuan, their efforts are still commemorated today during the Dragon Boat Festival.
Cao e About 2000 years ago, a fourteen-year-old girl named Cao e threw herself into the river where her father got drowned. She died on the first day of the fifth month. Four days later, both of their bodies embraced each other floating on the water. The villagers witnessed it and felt moved. They have hold a worshipping ceremony since then.
Madam White Snake Bai Suzhen, a female white snake, dreams of becoming a goddess by doing good deeds. She transforms herself into a woman and travels to the human realm. There, she meets a green snake, Qing, who causes disaster in the area she lives. Bai holds Qing captive at the bottom of a lake but promises her that she will return 300 years later to free her. Bai keeps her word and develops a sisterly bond with Qing.
They encounter Fahai, a sorcerer who believes that every demon is inherently evil and must be destroyed. However, Bai is too powerful and Fahai is unable to eliminate her immediately, so he vows to destroy them if he sees them again.
Fearing that they will meet more human sorcerers, Bai and Qing retreat to the Banbuduo, a realm that exists between the human and demon worlds. They try to perform good deeds by bringing rain to places experiencing drought.
However, Qing was careless and almost flooded the whole town once. Due to this mistake, Bai loses her chance to become an immortal. However, Guan Yin informs her that she may have yet another opportunity.
In the meantime, Bai and Qing accidentally bring a scholar named Xu Xian, and his friend, into the demon world. Bai protects them from the other demons and falls in love with Xu in the process. After the battle with the lord of the Underworld, Xu confesses his feelings for Bai, claiming that it was love at first sight.
For a human to return to his world, he must first become unconscious and have any memory about his experience in the demon realm erased, but Xu knows and avoids being knocked out. However, Fahai finds a way into the demon world and he tricks Xu into being knocked out.
When Xu Xian returns to the human realm he forgets everything. Since he and his friend entered the portal separately, they end up in different locations. Xu meets many new people there. Not long later, Bai takes a final step to becoming a goddess, which is to collect human tears. Bai sees Xu with another woman and assumes that they are a couple.
Qing realizes that when Xu and Bai meet, Xu will fall in love with Bai again, so she helps to arrange a meeting for them. Xu and Bai are married, open a medicine shop and live happily together. As humans and demons are forbidden to bond, the town is struck by a plague and ends up on the verge of total destruction
Bai, Qing and Fahai finally agree to a truce and obtain a magical herb needed to help the population. Bai becomes pregnant later with Xu's child, but Fahai continues to attempt to eliminate her and Qing.
On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, when the Duanwu Festival is held, demons in human form will revert to their original shape. Bai thus decides to take Qing and Xu Xian back to Banbuduo, but Xu falls for Fahai's trick again.
Bai's true form is revealed and Xu is literally scared to death. Bai retrieves a drug that restores Xu to life. After giving birth to Xu's son, Bai is unable to control herself anymore and is forced to tell her husband the truth about her origin. Xu kindly accepts her, but Fahai attacks the weakened Bai and imprisons her for eternity in Leifeng Pagoda.
Wu Zixu Wu Zixu was a famous Chinese scholar and military general who fought for the state of Wu during the Spring and Autumn Period in China. Since his death, Wu Zixu has evolved into a model of loyalty in the culture of China. Some Chinese believe that the Dragon Boat Festival, celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month and usually associated with the poet Qu Yuan, actually commemorates the death of Wu Zixu, whose body was thrown into the river near Suzhou on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month after his forced suicide.
Eating rice dumplings It is said that after the poet-statesman Qu Yuan ended his life by drowning, people began throwing balls of sweet rice wrapped in bamboo leaves into the Milo River to keep the fish from eating the patriot's body. Over time these rice balls became more elaborate and varied with the addition of pork, peanuts, salted eggs, and other fillings, gradually evolving into the modern day rice dumplings.
Drinking realgar wine Made by mixing the mineral realgar together with rice wine, realgar wine is said to cure illness when taken in small amounts. Since children are forbidden from drinking this potent concoction, a few drops are placed instead on their foreheads and drawn into the Chinese character for "king," thus achieving the same protective effect.
Hanging moxaand calamus on the front door Since contagious diseases thrive under the sweltering May heat in subtropical Taiwan, the early residents of the island learned ways to protect their health during this dangerous time. One such method was to hang bunches of moxa above the door during Dragon Boat Festival since this herb was believed to have powers for preventing pestilence and strengthening health. Calamus, also known as "water sword" due to its resemblance to a sword, is traditionally hung above doors for its supposed ability to ward off evil.
Dragon Boat Racing Rowing dragon boats began as a ceremony for supplicating the God of Water to prevent disaster and bring fortune and was later attached the custom of commemorating the poet-statesman Qu Yuan.
With the melding of these traditions, dragon boat racing has today become the highlight of all the festivities held during Dragon Boat Festival.
Before a dragon boat may enter competition, it must first undergo a ceremony to "bring it to life." Local leaders officiate over the ceremony, held on the first day of the fifth lunar month, offering prayer to the Daffodil King and the eyes of the dragon are painted on the boat.
On the fifth day of the month, the boats are carried to the shore amidst the clamor of gongs and drums and a ceremony is held involving incense, prayers, and the lighting of fireworks. Finally, after thorough inspection, the boats enter the water for the competition.
When the race begins, all one can see is the rowers of each team driving their boats forward in unison to the beat of drums. The winning team is the one that first grabs the flag at the end of the river course and the difference between victory and defeat may be only a few fractions of a second. The energy and excitement of the race attracts thousands of spectators, who watch from the river bank cheering on their favorite team.
Unlike so many other traditions that have declined with modernization, dragon boat racing has retained its vibrancy in modern society, becoming increasingly popular with each passing year both as a sport for physical training and as a favorite spectacle enjoyed by the whole family.
Standing eggs If one manages to stand an egg on its end at exactly 12:00 noon, the following year will be a lucky one.
Wearing sachets Believed to bring luck and repel evil, fragrant sachets are made from colored silk material and filled with aromatic flowers and herbs.
In the past, sachets were sewn by hand, but today the vast majority are purchased from shops. The sachets available on the market today come in a variety of different shapes and styles, some in the shape of animals, flowers, birds, and even popular cartoon characters. People become attached to these fragrant objects and during the Dragon Boat Festival season one can see people all over the island looking for the perfect sachet.
Fetching Noon Water At noontime on Dragon Boat Festival, throngs of people will make a pilgrimage to the Sword Well on Mt. Tiechen in Tachia, Taichung County to "fetch noon water."
This custom is said to have started when the Ming loyalist Koxinga led his troops to Taiwan in the mid-seventeenth century. As the story goes, Koxinga was unable to find water on the island and thus drove his sword into the ground hoping for water to gush forth from the ground. Miraculously, it did. Since the miracle occurred at noon on Dragon Boat Festival, people have incorporated this legend into the day's festivities by climbing mountains to "fetch noon water."
Reference http://www.gio.gov.tw/info/festival_c/index_e.htm
