The Ritual Process of the Canoe Dragon Boat in the Qingshui River Basin

Abstract

The dragon boat culture of the ethnic groups in southern China has a long history. Every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, many ethnic groups will row a dragon boat to commemorate a great poet-Qu Yuan. However, in the Qingshui River Basin, the descendants of Chi You (a tribal leader defeated by the Yellow Emperor, who is a legendary ruler, in ancient times), the Miao people would row a dragon boat to commemorate a legend-the story of a brave father killing a dragon. The dragon boat in the Qingshui River Basin is different from the traditional Chinese dragon boat, but a "canoe dragon boat" with a whole stick of wood as the hull. The dragon boat culture of the Miao people is also quite special, in that there are not only the ritual process of killing dragons and eating dragon meat, but also the belief in worshiping and respecting dragons, the two are harmoniously combined in the Miao culture. Therefore, this writing assignment based on my fieldwork will discuss the various symbols in the Miao dragon boat ritual by combing through the ritual process of the Miao dragon boat, and how the Miao people construct their collective memory through rituals.