Historical origin of dragon boat culture in Zhenyuan Ancient City

The ancient Xiangchu culture brought from Yuanjiang River blended with the indigenous cultures of Zhenyuan Miao and Dong. At the same time, Zhenyuan, the "remote town side", was once a military artery connecting the Central Plains and the southwestern border. It was built and flourished because of martial arts. It has a long history and splendid culture of more than 2,000 years, and has created a unique charm. Zhenyuan civilization.

For hundreds of years before 1957, Zhenyuan was the seat of a prefecture and prefecture for a long time, and was the political, economic, cultural and military center of eastern Guizhou. After thousands of years of history, Zhenyuan has become by far one of the best preserved and most representative places for ethnic integration and cultural integration in China. It is called the "World Folk Culture Protection Circle" by tourism experts.

"People from the south are good at boats, and people from the north are good at horses." Zhenyuan Dragon Boat Festival dragon boat racing has a long history and enjoys the reputation of the "Hometown of Dragon Boat" and the "Source of Dragon Boat Culture" in central Guizhou. As early as the Warring States Period, Zhenyuan was under the jurisdiction of Chu, and Chu customs prevailed. It is said that during the Han Dynasty, people in Zhenyuan spontaneously organized activities to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan, which became very prosperous in the Song Dynasty. The court of the Song Dynasty posthumously granted Qu Yuan the title of a loyal duke, and issued an edict to designate the fifth day of the fifth month as the "Dragon Boat Festival", ordering local governments to organize dragon boat races. In the Ming Dynasty,"Zhenyuan Prefecture competed in Duanyang, with the prefecture near the river and convenient boats. Those who drag the boat and take the lead in crossing the river will be profitable in doing things this year." "Guizhou Tongzhi"). The "Annals of Zhenyuan Mansion" of Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty also records: "When rowing a dragon boat, wood carving the dragon head and tail, tie them to the front and back of the boat, and place them in the middle stream..." During the Republic of China, the government also organized the Zhenyuan Dragon Boat Race. Since the 1980s, dragon boat races have been the most active. As of this year, the Zhenyuan men's and women's dragon boat teams have won awards in national and international dragon boat competitions on behalf of the Guizhou Province dragon boat team 13 times.

There are several different explanations for the origin of dragon boat races at the Dragon Boat Festival. First, in our country's Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Zhejiang, the Dragon Boat Festival is believed to commemorate Wu Zixu; second, in the eastern part of Zhejiang, the Dragon Boat Festival is regarded as commemorating the filial daughter Cao E; and third, it comes from the story of the ancient Miao people in Guizhou who defended revenge for their son... But to this day, the people of Zhenyuan are most praised by inheriting the legacy of Luoluo, mourning the death of Qu Yuan, and praying for "good weather and a bumper grain", especially to commemorate Qu Yuan and learn from his great patriotic spirit.

During the Republic of China, official and private dragon boat races also continued. According to the Zhenyuan County Archives, in order to prepare for the Dragon Boat Festival dragon boat race in the 1943 year of the Republic of China, at 1 pm on June 2, Zhang Jiaqian, director of the provincial Zhenyuan People's Education Center, and Zhang Wenqin, secretary general of the county government, convened people from all walks of life to hold a preparatory meeting at the county party headquarters, forming five resolutions:1. The conference was named the 32nd Annual Boat Race Conference of All walks of life in Zhenyuan County;2. The conference will have five groups of rescue, picket, general affairs, publicity, and evaluation;3. The preparatory meeting will select seven people including He Yumen County Party Department Secretary), Li Zhuoyuan Chamber of Commerce), and Zhang Xueqian, director of the People's Education Department) as the prize collectors;4. The funding will be funded by" 7. 300 yuan will be used in the seventh "donation);5. The competition date will start from June 7th to May 5th)." This event still existed during the Anti-Japanese War, which shows its profound mass base.

Reform and opening up have injected new vitality into the revived traditional sports culture of dragon boat racing. Over the past 20 years, the Zhenyuan Men's and Women's Dragon Boat Team has won awards in national and international dragon boat competitions on behalf of the Guizhou Province Dragon Boat Team 13 times.