Qingming Festival is one of the traditional Chinese festivals and an important sacrificial festival in Chinese culture. The custom of eating zongzi on Qingming Festival is closely related to the story of Qu Yuan.
1.Qu Yuan and Tou Jiang: Qu Yuan was a great poet and statesman in ancient China, who was loyal and patriotic, and advocated political change. However, because he was ostracized and framed by the imperial court, he finally felt powerless to change the political situation, and committed suicide on May 5, 278 BC, throwing himself into the Miluo River.
In order to prevent fish and shrimp from eating his corpse, local residents rowed boats to scatter rice into the river to prevent fish and shrimp from harming him.
2.The origin of making zongzi: In order to cherish the memory of Qu Yuan and express respect and remembrance for him, people began to have the custom of making zongzi. They wrapped glutinous rice in leaves and added beans, meat and other seasonings to throw into the river, hoping that fish and shrimp would eat the zongzi without damaging Qu Yuan's body.
3.Inheritance of eating zongzi during the Qingming Festival: With the passage of time, the Qingming Festival has become a festival to commemorate Qu Yuan, and it has also become an important time for families to pay tribute to their ancestors and sweep the tombs. Eating zongzi has gradually become one of the traditional customs of the Qingming Festival.
In contemporary times, people not only miss the historical figure Qu Yuan when celebrating the Qingming Festival, but also take this festival to remember their ancestors, visit the cemeteries of their ancestors, worship the deceased, and also taste zongzi to commemorate and inherit this ancient cultural tradition.
Therefore, the custom of eating zongzi on the Qingming Festival originated from the legend of Qu Yuan throwing into the river, commemorating the great patriotic poet by wrapping zongzi and sprinkling rice into the river, and also became a traditional custom to express respect and nostalgia for the ancestors. This custom has been passed down from generation to generation and has become an important part of traditional Chinese culture.