The origin and significance of the Dragon Boat Festival

Origin:

The Dragon Boat Festival was originally a festival for ancient people to worship the Dragon Ancestor in the form of dragon boat racing. Because of the legend that the Chu poet Qu Yuan in the Warring States Period jumped into the Miluo River on May 5th, people later regarded the Dragon Boat Festival as a festival to commemorate Qu Yuan. There are also sayings that it is to commemorate Wu Zixu, Cao E and Jie Zitui. 12
Significance:

The Dragon Boat Festival is a folk festival that combines worshiping gods and ancestors, praying for blessings and warding off evil spirits, celebrating entertainment and eating. It contains profound and rich cultural connotations and is a mixture of various folk customs. There are differences in customs or details in different places due to different regional cultures. 14
In general, the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the ancient ancestors choosing the auspicious day of "dragon ascending to heaven" to worship the Dragon Ancestor, and commemorating Qu Yuan and other historical figures. Its customs can be said to be the product of the integration of northern and southern customs. Today, the Dragon Boat Festival is known as one of the four major traditional festivals in China, along with the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival.