China News Service, Yueyang, June 14th, title: "The Source of the Dragon Boat Festival" Miluo, Hunan: I still miss Qu Zi's "Dragon Boat Festival economy" fire
Author Wang Haohao
Another year is the Dragon Boat Festival, "the source of the Dragon Boat Festival", the fragrance of rice dumplings in Miluo City, Yueyang, Hunan, and people come and go by the Miluo River.
On the morning of the 14th, 79-year-old Liu Shilin rushed to Quzi Temple to commemorate Old Master Qu in his own way in front of the statue of Qu Yuan.
"Miluo people used to call Qu Yuan the Old Master Qu, which is both respectful and kind." Liu Shilin has adhered to the custom of commemorating Qu Yuan during the Dragon Boat Festival to Quzi Temple.
He is the former curator of the Quzi Temple Memorial Hall in Miluo City and the president of the Quyuan Society of Miluo City. He is called "the living dictionary of the Dragon Boat Festival" by the locals.
Located on the banks of the Miluo River, Miluo City is the birthplace of the Dragon Boat Festival culture.
More than 2,000 years ago, after the Chinese patriotic poet Qu Yuan died here, local people initiated a series of commemorative activities, which evolved into cultural customs and festivals that have been passed down through the ages.
Miluo people have a unique feeling for Qu Yuan.
Thousands of years have passed, is this feeling still the same?
"Qu Yuan's position in the minds of Miluo people has never changed." Liu Shilin said, Miluo is one of the birthplaces of farming culture, and Dragon Boat Festival is accompanied by the formation and development of farming culture.
In ancient times, the ancestors of Miluo did not understand natural phenomena such as thunder, lightning, wind and rain. Rivers and lakes such as Dongting Lake would rise before and after the Dragon Boat Festival. The ancestors believed that this was the operation of the dragon, and the Dragon Boat Festival evolved from the custom of sacrificing the dragon.
"After Qu Yuan's death in the river, the ancestors of Miluo dedicated the Dragon Boat Festival and all the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival to Qu Yuan out of worship, admiration and love for him. Since then, it has become a festival dedicated to commemorating Qu Yuan, and the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival have also begun to change. ." Liu Shilin said.
Nowadays, Dragon Boat Festival, China's first festival to be selected as the world's intangible cultural heritage, has extensive influence all over the world. Traditional folk customs such as dragon boating and eating rice dumplings are even more popular.
Miluo people also retain the "pure" Dragon Boat Festival customs.
"In addition to the basic calamus, almost every household will pack Miluo's unique horned rice dumplings." Liu Shilin said that the Miluo people living on the banks of the Miluo River always respect the old master as a protector.
"In addition to commemorating Qu Yuan's original intention, the current Dragon Boat Festival custom has also derived new content. The most significant thing is that it has injected economic vitality." Liu Shilin said.
In recent years, with its unique advantages, Miluo City has vigorously developed characteristic industries that enrich the people, such as dragon boats and zongzi, and the "Dragon Boat Festival" economy has become more and more prosperous.
At present, the city has 20 dragon boat manufacturing plants with a total annual output value of more than 120 million yuan. The products are exported to Japan, South Korea, Singapore and other countries and regions. In terms of the rice dumpling industry, the city’s glutinous rice planting area has reached 56,000 mu. The planting area is close to 100,000 mu.
What's more gratifying is that a group of local young people are making the Dragon Boat Festival customs on the Miluo River visible and tangible through the development of cultural and creative products in their own way.
There is not only a cultural and creative market where parents and children can make gifts for the Dragon Boat Festival, but also special activities for research and exchanges, as well as cultural and creative activities where you can see the dragon boat race scene when you pull the gift box, put on the lights, and play the wonderful Quzi story by yourself. Gift box...
"At present, we have developed more than 20 cultural and creative products, and the market response has been very good." Zhou Liwei, deputy general manager of Hunan Lanze Culture Media Co., Ltd., said that the characteristics of these products are that they have a certain degree of interactivity. Customers can open the package. Learn about the Dragon Boat Festival culture.
He hopes that these interesting products that meet the tastes of young people can guide more young people to understand the core of Dragon Boat Festival culture.
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