On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, dragon boats race across the water, and the aroma of zongzi fills the air. As one of China's four major traditional festivals, the Dragon Boat Festival has long been woven into the cultural fabric of the Chinese nation. Amid the lively atmosphere of eating zongzi and watching dragon boat races, have we ever pondered the deeper cultural codes behind this festival? The Dragon Boat Festival is far more than a simple "Poet's Day" or "Zongzi Day"—it is a composite festival carrying multiple layers of cultural memory, its origins revealing a fascinating diversity. From ancient dragon totem worship to commemorating the great poet Qu Yuan, from seasonal customs for warding off epidemics in summer to celebrating loyalty and righteousness, the Dragon Boat Festival is like a prism, refracting the vibrant spectrum of Chinese civilization.

The earliest origins of the Dragon Boat Festival can be traced back to summer solstice rituals during the pre-Qin period. Ancient Chinese observed celestial phenomena and noticed that in mid-summer during the fifth lunar month, the Azure Dragon constellation (Canglong Qixiu) ascended to the zenith of the southern sky, as described in the fifth line of the Qian hexagram in the *Book of Changes*: "The flying dragon is in the heavens." This period marked the peak of yang energy, while poisonous insects and diseases began to thrive. The people of the pre-Qin era regarded this day as the "evil month and evil day," forming customs such as bathing in orchid-infused water, hanging mugwort, and wearing fragrant sachets to ward off evil spirits. The *Xia Xiaozheng* records: "On this day, medicine is stored to eliminate toxic vapors," while the *Da Dai Liji* mentions "collecting orchids for bathing." These customs reflect the ancient people's observations of natural cycles and their wisdom in responding to them, forming the earliest cultural layers of the Dragon Boat Festival.

As history progressed, the festival became closely intertwined with dragon totem worship. Scholar Wen Yiduo, in his work *Research on the Dragon Boat Festival*, proposed that the festival originated as a dragon totem sacrificial ceremony among the ancient Wu and Yue peoples of the middle and lower Yangtze River regions. With their water-rich environment, these communities revered the dragon as a totem, offering sacrifices through dragon boat racing and throwing zongzi into the water to pray for favorable weather and abundant harvests. Dragon boat races mimicked the form and movements of dragons, while zongzi may have been offerings to water deities. These primitive religious rituals gradually evolved into recreational activities, but their core—reverence for nature and prayers for life—has endured. In regions like the Miluo River in Hunan and Suzhou in Jiangsu, ancient rituals worshiping dragon gods are still preserved today, serving as vivid evidence of this origin theory.

During the Warring States period, the cultural significance of the Dragon Boat Festival was elevated by the tragedy of Qu Yuan. According to *Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Qu Yuan and Jia Yi*, the Chu statesman Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Local people rowed boats to search for his body and threw food into the river to prevent fish from devouring it, which gradually evolved into the customs of dragon boat racing and eating zongzi. Qu Yuan's patriotism and noble character were immortalized through the festival, lending it a spiritual dimension. Notably, Qu Yuan is not the only historical figure commemorated during the Dragon Boat Festival—in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, the festival honors the filial daughter Cao E, while in Suzhou, it commemorates Wu Zixu. This phenomenon of "different heroes in different regions" highlights the festival's remarkable cultural inclusivity, capable of absorbing collective memories from various places to form a cultural community that embraces diversity.

By the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Dragon Boat Festival had transitioned from a folk custom to an institutionalized national holiday. *The Record of Seasonal Festivals in Jingchu* documented the rich customs of the time: gathering mugwort to make human-shaped hangings for doors, tying colorful silk threads around arms, boat races, and drinking calamus wine. These practices bore traces of primitive beliefs while incorporating elements of Daoism and medicine. During the Tang and Song dynasties, the festival became an officially recognized holiday, celebrated with grand dragon boat races in both imperial courts and among the common people. By the Ming and Qing dynasties, customs had grown even more diverse, with distinct regional characteristics emerging. Over time, the Dragon Boat Festival continuously absorbed new cultural elements, demonstrating remarkable vitality and adaptability.

The cultural significance of the Dragon Boat Festival extends far beyond its surface-level customs. At its core, it embodies the Chinese philosophical concept of "harmony between heaven and humanity"—people aligning with natural rhythms and balancing yin and yang through specific rituals. The festival's various practices for warding off evil and disease reflect ancient wisdom in seasonal disease prevention. Calamus and mugwort, for instance, possess genuine medicinal value; modern research confirms they contain volatile aromatic oils with antibacterial and insect-repellent properties. These empirically derived practices were passed down through generations via the festival, forming a unique "public health" system.

The Dragon Boat Festival also carries the Chinese people's collective endorsement of core values like loyalty, filial piety, and moral integrity. Whether it is Qu Yuan's declaration, "For the ideal that I hold dear to my heart, I would not regret a thousand deaths," Cao E's filial act of drowning while searching for her father, or Wu Zixu's unyielding loyalty, these moral exemplars—repeatedly invoked during the festival—have subtly shaped the national character. Thus, the Dragon Boat Festival transcends its role as a seasonal event, becoming a vessel for Chinese spiritual civilization.

In contemporary society, the Dragon Boat Festival is not only a national holiday in China but was also inscribed in 2009 on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, reflecting global recognition of its cultural value. In today's globalized world, the festival serves not only as an important symbol of Chinese cultural identity but also as a bridge for dialogue between Chinese civilization and the world. The growing number of international dragon boat races and overseas Chinese community celebrations worldwide attest to the enduring appeal of this ancient festival.

Like a weighty cultural tome, the Dragon Boat Festival records the collective memories of the Chinese people from antiquity to the present. From reverence for dragon totems to commemorating a poet, from life-preserving wisdom to upholding spiritual values, the festival's multifaceted origins showcase the inclusive nature of Chinese civilization. During this festival, as we savor zongzi and feel the excitement of dragon boat races, we should also seek to understand the cultural codes embedded within it—the reverence for nature, the cherishing of life, and the pursuit of moral ideals. It is these deep cultural genes that have allowed the Dragon Boat Festival to grow richer and more fragrant over millennia.