端午竞渡献祭本意新考

New Examination of the Original Meaning of the Swift Boat Race and the Sacrifice in Duanwu Festival

飞舟竞渡与献粽于江是隋唐以前我国南方居民所特有的端午日习俗,它根植于南方所独具的生态环境之中。农历五月是长江中下游流域的洪水易发期,五月大水严重威胁着先民的生命安全。竞渡与献粽习俗应起源于南方生活的先民对五月大水漂溺的独特记忆和认知,反映的是先民对五月大水的恐惧与应对。献粽起初应为先民向遭遇水患而溺亡的亲人投食的行为,而竞渡则属于先民训练水上救援能力的集体活动,是面对大水灾害的有效准备,它体现了先民利用节俗提高集体生存能力的一种智慧。

Swift boat race and dedication of rice dumplings to the river were the customs of Duanwu Festival in southern China before the Sui and the Tang Dynasties,which were rooted in the unique ecological environment of the South.The lunar May was the flood-prone period in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River basin,and the May floods seriously threatened the lives of the ancestors.The customs of swift boat race and dedication of rice dumplings to the river should have originated from the unique memory and cognition of the ancestors living in the south about drifting and drowning in the May flood,and reflected their fear and response.Dedication of rice dumplings to the river should initially be an act of the ancestors to throw food to their relatives who had drowned in floods,while the competition should be categorized into the collective activities of ancestors to train their water rescue ability,which was an effective preparation to face flood disasters,and it embodied the wisdom of the ancestors to improve the collective survival ability through the festive customs.