In Zigui, the hometown of Qu Yuan in Hubei Province, there is also a ceremony of rowing dragon boats to worship Qu Yuan. They prayed for blessings, good weather, evil spirits, calamities and good luck. In the past, when people offered sacrifices to the Dragon God, the atmosphere was very serious. Fujian and Taiwan went to Mazu temple to worship.

After sacrificing to the gods, we should install the dragon head and dragon tail, and then prepare for the race.

Before the Dragon Boat Festival, we should choose an auspicious day to get out of the water. First, the dragon and the God are invited. Before the dragon boat race, a grand sacrificial ceremony is usually held. It is a collective rowing competition, and it is divided into different parts. Dragon boat was originally a dragon shaped canoe carved on a single canoe, and later developed into a dragon shaped boat made of wood.ĭragon boat has a long history. The earliest “Dragon Boat Race” figure in China was found in Jia village, Yunlong Town, Yinzhou District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. According to the first excavation report of Hemudu site, as early as 7000 years ago, the ancient ancestors had made canoes with single wood and rowed with wooden oars. It is also a relic of ancient dragon totem worship. Due to the vast territory and many stories and legends, there are not only many different Festival names, but also different customs in different places.ĭragon Boat Racing is an important activity of the Dragon Boat Festival. It is a traditional custom of the Chinese nation since ancient times. The Dragon Boat Festival is a very popular folk festival in China. In the northern Central Plain, or Zhongyuan, the Dragon Boat Festival was regarded as an unlucky day, and a saying developed there calling it “the evil moon and the evil day”. Generally speaking, the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the ancient ancestors’ choice of “flying dragon in the sky” auspicious day to worship the Dragon ancestors, pray for blessings and ward off evil spirits, and inject the summer season “disease prevention” fashion. There are also commemorations of Wu Zixu, Cao E and Jie Zitui. Later, people took the Dragon Boat Festival as a festival to commemorate Qu Yuan. It is said that Qu Yuan, a poet of Chu state in the Warring States period, jumped into the Miluo River on May 5 and killed himself. The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the Chongwu Festival（重午节）, Dragon Festival, Zhengyang Festival（正阳节）, Tianzhong Festival（天中节）and so on, originated from the worship of celestial phenomena and evolved from the Dragon sacrifice in ancient times.

Great white north dragon boat