There is a popular saying about the origin of dragon boat racing-in memory of Qu Yuan. However, Wen Yiduo has textual research and thinks this statement is incorrect.
It is generally believed that the ancestors of China people used "dragon" as their totem (there are also objections that "gluttony" is the oldest totem), but because "dragon" is an ancient totem, the dragon boat appeared earlier than Qu Yuan. So Wen Yiduo's finger fan makes sense. The boat decorated with "dragon" should be more closely related to the totem concept and its use and (psychological) value, and it is unlikely to be out of an actual "life-saving" activity.
Wen Yiduo's "Dragon Boat Festival Examination" said that there was a custom of rowing dragon boats in wuyue water towns more than 1000 years ago. Its purpose is to pray for avoiding common floods and droughts by offering sacrifices to dragon totems. The day of sacrifice is Dragon Boat Festival, and it is an important content of "Dragon Sacrifice" to compete for boats carved with dragon ornaments in the waters.
Totems of many ancient peoples in history are generally concrete plants or animals, but China's totem worship is not. These totems are all fictional products, the most famous of which is the well-known dragon, a supernatural god who turns his hands into clouds and covers his hands with rain. This may be closely related to the floods and droughts that have been plaguing the people of China. Such as the legend of Dayu's water control in ancient times. Therefore, the appearance of "Dragon Flag" and "Dragon Boat" and its most primitive "function" may indeed be sought from totems and religious concepts.
Wen Yiduo believes that Qu Yuan's suicide in the Miluo River and the Dragon Boat Festival are coincidences. But just coincidence is not enough to explain why the statement of commemorating Qu Yuan later can replace the original function of dragon boat racing-"dragon festival".
This leads to two questions: first, personal charm replaces God's position-how easy is it to believe in religion? Also, the external image of the "dragon" is dangerous, and it is not difficult to understand that it becomes a totem. China people, on the other hand, like to regard dragons with fierce images as ancestors and call themselves "descendants of dragons"?
Experts in literature and history agree with the previous question. There is a term in the research field of China ancient cultural history called "the historization of myth".
The so-called "historicization of myths" means that the ancients in China used to record ancient myths and legends as real people. For example, Hou Yi, Kuafu ... The ancient gods in these myths and legends have mostly lost their colors in later records and are more like real people.
The historization of myth shows that for a long time, the attitude of ancient people in China towards "God" was not very serious and pious. The Analects of Confucius said that "Confucius didn't talk about Machamp's confusion".
After reading the ancient myths and legends of China, it is not difficult to find that the pedigree of the ancient "God" in China is unclear, which is quite different from the image of people. This is completely different from ancient Greek mythology. The ancient Greek gods eventually developed into a complete protoss lineage, and all ancient Greek gods had human flesh and blood.
The gods in China's ancient mythology have strong and unpredictable characteristics from image to essence. But how did such a "God" fall to the ground and become a "mortal" (as the saying goes, "Kuafu overreached himself and went with the sun")? This is a very interesting phenomenon.
As the product of early religious thoughts, the totem "dragon" once possessed "infinite magic power" to determine people's happiness or misfortune, but the extremely pragmatic attitude of ancient people in China towards God is obvious. We can see that after entering the class society, the function of the "dragon" has shrunk rapidly, and it later became a symbol of the royal family-only members of the royal family can call themselves "descendants of the dragon", and of course they will not admit that ordinary people are also descendants of the "dragon". Another interesting phenomenon is that the royal family seems to pay little attention to the trademark registration and infringement of this badge. So at the same time, we can observe that in China, folk "dragons" can always be discussed, described and sketched casually, and can also be used as ornaments, so fables like "Ye Gong Long Hao" can be handed down all the time.
China did not form a decent religion in ancient times. Scholars have different opinions on how to treat this phenomenon, and this complex problem has been ignored. However, it is very convincing to explain it as the ancient root of pragmatism. Because we are not serious about faith, it is possible to successfully replace the original intention of "dragon sacrifice" in memory of Qu Yuan. If the ancients were really devout to dragons, Qu Yuan could not replace the "dragon sacrifice". Up to now, when it comes to dragon boat racing, few people know that its origin is related to offering sacrifices to "gods", which in turn confirms the disrespect of ancient China people to gods.
However, with the passage of time, the nature of dragon boat race has also changed.
"Geography of Sui Shu" said: After Qu Yuan threw himself into the river, "the scholar chased him to Dongting and disappeared. It is impossible to cross the lake because it is big and small. This is a song that sings,' How can we cross this lake?' Therefore, it is a racing game to fight for the drums, to compete in pavilions and to learn from each other's strengths. Its fast, singing, land and water, the audience is like a cloud, and the county is straight. Especially in Nanjun and Xiangyang. "
Obviously, the commemorative nature of the dragon boat race has changed, and the commemoration has become a folk competition.
In the Song Dynasty, Lu You's poem "Returning to the State for Five Years" said: "The red flag in Douge is full of rapids, and the boat window sleeps and watches. Quping Township is five times heavier, no more than normal. " Lu's poem says that the activities to commemorate Qu Yuan are more spectacular because of the elements of dragon boat racing (playing ge), which is very different from the situation in which we just threw zongzi into the river in the past.
The hat and rowing competitions were very lively and beaming, which completely changed all the solemn atmosphere of previous sacrificial activities.
In fact, as early as the Tang Dynasty, the nature of the dragon boat race has undergone profound changes. Not only is it lively, but even the government is involved. The consequences of this intervention are obvious in Zhang's Song of Ethnic Groups in the middle Tang Dynasty.
The poem says: "On May 5th, the sun was shining high, and the flowers on the riverside sang little warblers, so that the county did not leave the county village, and the river heard harmony early. ..... Drums hit three red flags, two dragons jumped out of the water, Han Boying flew to Wan Jian, drums beat waves, and thousands of thunder started. The drums are getting closer and closer, and the eyes of the two dragons are like an instant. The people on the slope were shocked by the thunder, and the rainbow hanging on the pole was dizzy. The front boat won the bid to launch, and the rear boat lost momentum and waved. In the first world war, the pain is undecided, and the hearts of friends who have lost their shores are burning. Only the winners and losers will be rewarded, and the two sides will make five rounds. Play with everything for a while, and then take off your tattoo and ask for a book. I watched the contest carefully today, and Shu and I were at loggerheads over power. If you don't consider going ashore, you should destroy the car. "
The champion of dragon boat race in Tang Dynasty was a silver bowl, which may be the earliest "rowing championship" in China.
Dragon boat race did not come from commemorating Qu Yuan, but people have forgotten the origin of "dragon festival" and only know that dragon boat race is a sacrifice to Qu Yuan, which is undoubtedly a high praise for Qu Yuan.
Qu Yuan had a great influence on the cultural history of China, so the government also intervened in the folk sacrificial activities. The official intervention will inevitably further alienate this folk activity. Zhang's feudal poems depict the fierce competition scene, and record the frustration of the loser's blushing and thick neck, as well as the expression of the cheerleaders whose hearts are on fire. What is even more intriguing is that the author finally changed his pen and linked the scene of this competition with the struggle for power and money in officialdom.
The "competitive nature" of the dragon boat can actually inspire Zhang's strange association of feudalism, which shows that the competitive characteristics of the dragon boat have obviously overwhelmed the commemoration.
So, what do you think of this change in Dragon Sacrifice?
Here, the story of "marathon" in ancient Greece can be used as a good reference. The story of marathon is most similar to the dragon boat rowing in memory of Qu Yuan, that is, both of them are related to "patriotism".
Marathon is the first event to enter the modern Olympic Palace. Now it has become a popular and highly commercialized sport in the world, and the messengers of ancient Greece are well-known because of the globalization of this sport. However, according to the original idea of the Greeks, they hoped that the modern Olympic Movement would stay in Greece forever. If Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympic movement, agreed to the Greek proposal, it is not hard to imagine that the modern Olympic Games could never have such a great influence as it does today, nor could the marathon run have such a great influence.
In fact, the influence of ancient Greek culture far exceeds that of Europe, largely benefiting from the modern Olympic Games.
Compared with the marathon, the dragon boat race is only a counterexample in this respect. Although there is also the so-called "international dragon boat race" today, in fact, this sport is limited to the Chinese community.
According to 1993, in August 2008, there will be a grand gathering of Chinese in Chinese mainland, and Chinese from all over the world will hold dragon boat races in Yueyang, Jiujiang and Beijing respectively. The purpose is to "make friends by boat, enhance the cohesion of Chinese at home and abroad, and promote the development of the Chinese nation."
In China people's mind, the dragon boat race is still national. Therefore, Qu Yuan and Greek emissaries are naturally much smaller than their sphere of influence. Now many people realize that bringing a folk competitive activity into the world competitive circle is the best way to expand their influence. So Koreans tried their best to cram Taekwondo into the Olympic Games, and China people began to ponder how to cram Wushu into the Olympic Games, so as to win more gold medals.
The change of "dragon sacrifice" shows that our ancestors attached importance to "dragon", so it became a totem. Later, the attitude towards dragons was not so serious. Instead of rowing dragon boats, we can commemorate Qu Yuan.
The ancient "dragon" was not kind, ugly and dangerous;
The "medieval" dragon is the royal emblem;
After the imperial power was overthrown, "Dragon" became the national flag again.
However, judging from the changing process of "dragon sacrifice", it is really boring to pretend to be "dragon son and grandson".