Before dragon boat racing, people would first worship dragon and gods. For example, dragon boats in Guangdong should first be lifted up from under water, and after worshiping the south sea god in temples, people would mount dragon head and tail to get ready for race. A paper rooster would also be put on the boat, believing it would guarantee the safety of the boat, which might have some relationship with ancient bird boat. People in Fujian and Taiwan would worship in Matsu temples. In some places, such as in Sichuan and Guizhou, people would kill a rooster on bank to worship dragon head, and drip chicken blood onto the dragon head.
In Miluo Hunan, people must go to Quyuan temple to worship Quyuan before race. During the service, the dragon head would be put on altar for people to worship. In this way, people have worshiped both dragon and Quyuan. After this ceremony, the dragon head covered with a piece of red cloth would be carried out and mounted onto the boat. In the hometown of Quyuan, Zigui Hubei province, there is also the ceremony to worship Quyuan. The custom to worship Quyuan has been recorded in Geography Record of History of Sui Dynasty, “Oars moved swiftly together, drums and gongs produced loud rhythms, vibrating the water and bank, with numerous people watching.” In the note of Song of Boat Racing composed by Liu Yuxi, he writes, “Boat racing originated from Wuling, during which people row the boat harmoniously and shout in chorus, ‘where are you?’ intending to promote the virtues of Quyuan.” It is obvious that in these two places worshiping Quyuan and racing dragon boat are closely related. Probably after Quyuan (Cao’e, Wu Zixu) died, the local people had driven boats to accompany their souls back home. So, this developed into a custom.
In Zhejiang province, people take boat race to commemorate Cao’e. Biography of Virtuous Girls of History of Latter Han Dynasty records that Cao’e drowned herself to die, while folklore states that she went into river the find her father’s body. In Zhejiang province, people often worship her, the painting Worshiping Cao’e in Dianshizhai Gallery described the scene when people in Kuaiji were worship her.
According to the statements in Records of Qingjia, boat racing in Wu region originates from services to commemorate Wu Zixu. In consequence, Suzhou has the traditional custom to worship Wu Zixu on Dragon Boat Festival, and organize boat racing to escalate its momentum. Furthermore, there are similar commemorating ceremonies in Guangxi for Ma Yuan, and in Fuzhou for Hades Wang Shenzhi.
In worshiping and commemorating ceremonies, the common practices would be burning incense sticks and candles, firing paper ritual money, and sacrifice chicken, rice, meat, fruits, Zongzi, etc. Now, these superstitious ceremonial practices are rare to see, but in the past, the dragon worshiping atmosphere was extremely serious, as people expect through it to secure bumper harvest, have fine weather, expel spirits, evade disasters, and get ample blessings. So people would often say holding this ceremony is to deliver a good will, expressing their internal wishes.
(Source: bjchinese.bjedu.cn)
