Dragon Boat Festival
01 · Historical Records
For the several hundred years from the Ming dynasty to the present, the custom of racing dragon boats at Duanwu in Jiangcun has never been interrupted; even during the "Cultural Revolution", villagers of every village secretly organized this folk activity on Duanwu day. The origin of Jiangcun's dragon boat races is connected with flooding. For this reason, in 2008 Jiangcun Subdistrict was named by the Ministry of Culture a "Hometown of Chinese Folk Culture and Art (Dragon Boat)".
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Jiangcun Dragon Boat Grand Gathering is a folk activity in which residents of Jiangcun Subdistrict, Xihu District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, spontaneously organize dragon boat races on Duanwu day. Legend has it that when the Qianlong Emperor toured the south, he saw the dragon boat racing in Jiangcun as lively as a temple fair and bestowed upon it the name "Longzhou Shenghui" (Dragon Boat Grand Gathering); from then on the title "Longzhou Shenghui" has been in continuous use in Jiangcun, and it has spread to the neighboring townships of Wuchang, Gudang, and Yile. Every year, beginning on the 24th day of the fourth lunar month and lasting until the Minor Duanwu on the 13th day of the fifth lunar month, the villagers spontaneously welcome the Dragon King, make offerings to him, give thanks to him, and drink the dragon boat wine, praying that the Dragon King will not unleash a great flood. Duanwu day itself is the climax: every household wraps and eats zongzi; every doorway hangs mugwort, calamus, peach branches, garlic, and gray "guai zhongzi" (well-behaved seeds); people eat the "five yellows" — realgar wine, yellow croaker, cucumber, swamp eel, and the yolk of salted duck eggs — and wear sachets. The family of a newly married daughter sends zongzi, towels, fans, and the like to the groom's family on this day, distributing the gifts among relatives and friends; this is popularly called "zan jie" (praising the festival). The Jiangcun Dragon Boat Grand Gathering values the performative and entertaining quality of the dragon boats; every year on Duanwu day, one to two hundred dragon boats converge at the Shentankou bend of the Xixi Wetland for the "shengyang" (grand floating display). The "shengyang" follows a set course: every dragon boat must first circle the full perimeter of the Shentankou bend, and finally make a 360-degree spin in place in the middle of the bend (popularly called "zaini ba"). When the grand gathering ends, the villagers gather by village to drink the dragon boat wine. A traditional folk activity of this kind — one that seeks harmony, shares joy, and gathers people's strength and hearts — continues unbroken and is held every year, each year grander than the last.
Inviting and serving the dragon king
From the twenty-fourth day of the fourth month villagers invite the dragon king and pray for no flood, and thank him when the racing is over.
The mud-wall turn in Shengyang
Boats circle the pool in a fixed course and then spin a full turn at its centre, the so-called mud-wall turn, timed to drumbeats.
Bringing zongzi to the bride’s family
A newly married daughter sends zongzi, towels and fans to her husband’s family and shares them among friends, a visit that doubles as gift-giving.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
In Jiangcun there are the sayings "Duanwu is as great as New Year" and "racing dragon boats builds strength to celebrate a harvest year; watching dragon boats brings good fortune and safety." The name of the grand gathering spread outward from Jiangcun; Wuchang, Gudang, and Yile continued to use the same title, with each village's racing boats gathering for the shengyang at the Shentankou bend of Xixi, and the course and the zaini-ba spin likewise much the same. That these villages share the same sayings — "Duanwu is as great as New Year", "racing dragon boats builds strength to celebrate a harvest year", "watching dragon boats brings good fortune and safety" — shows that this custom is deeply rooted along the lower reaches of the Qiantang River.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Jiangcun Dragon Boat Grand Gathering's prayer against floods and its wish for a good harvest share a single origin; its contest succeeds through spectacle and performance, so it is naturally suited to display before urban residents without any advance packaging. In recent years, however, villagers have been scattered across the separate rural settlements, so gathering several dozen boats and a complete racing course has become increasingly difficult; staffing, funding, and the use of the water all require the subdistrict to coordinate. Within the villages the dragon boat wine is drunk with the village as the unit: until that feast breaks up, the dragon boats do not return, and the sense of identity is still sustained by this single banquet.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Tan Guozheng 05-2970
- Liu Guisheng 05-2971
- Xiang Fuchang
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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