Fengcai  Zhao

CHINESE DUANWU FESTIVAL IN THE MYTHOLOGICAL WORLD VISION

Authors

Fengcai Zhao

Keywords:

mythological consciousness, ritual, Yin-Yang alternation, summer and winter solstice, mythical binary oppositions, dragon boats

Abstract

Duanwu Festival, or Dragon Boat Festival, along with Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, is considered one of the «Three Great Traditional festivals of the Chinese People». Its celebration falls on the beginning of summer, the fifth day of the fifth month of the Lunar calendar. The his-tory of the Festival has more than 2500 years. In 2009, the Festival was included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. The traditions and customs of Duawu Festival include: dragon boat rowing competition, weaving five-color bracelets, fragrant bags from evil spirits and diseases, hanging wormwood and calamus branches over the entrance door and walls, Zunzi treats, etc. Traditions and customs, on the one hand, represent special forms of transmission of social and cultural experience, on the other hand, they are ingrained in the consciousness of enduring cultural codes. In the mythological world vision, the historical roots of traditional customs go back to ancient times, which are closely related to magic, ritual, myths and legends, worldview, lifestyle, value system. In this article, the author analyzes the relationship between the customs, rituals, games and sym-bolic attributes of the Duanwu Festival and the mythological concepts of the ancient Chinese. In the legends about the origin of the Festival, the duality of the structure of the mythological worldview of the Chinese people is manifested. And the diet customs are associated with cosmo-gonic myths.

CHINESE DUANWU FESTIVAL IN THE MYTHOLOGICAL WORLD VISION