How to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region?
Dragon boat festival in the eyes of strong people
The ancestors of the Zhuang nationality, the Yue people, worshipped snakes (dragons) as their ancestors, and the Han nationality also introduced this tradition. Dragon Boat Festival, according to some historical records, is to commemorate Qu Yuan, but it is not. Dragon Boat Festival is a festival where hundreds of people sacrifice snakes. In most dialects of Zhuang language, "snake" is very similar to the "five" sound in Chinese. I think this is the way to put the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of May. Dragon Boat Festival is called "snake among snakes" in Zhuang language, which was left by ancient worship of snakes. Today's Dragon Boat Festival, dragon boat race and other activities actually originated in Baiyue, and there are also many place names named after "snakes" in Zhuang areas. Dragon Boat Festival used to be the New Year of Baiyue people.
People in southern Guangxi celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival;
Every household also has the custom of drinking water at noon. Noon water refers to the water that is drilled at noon on the Dragon Boat Festival. It is said that the water used to make tea and wine at noon is particularly mellow, and drinking raw water even has a miraculous effect on treating diseases. There is a proverb: "Wash your eyes at noon, and you will be as bright as a bird." He also said, "It is better to take a sip of water at noon and take tonic for three years." The most legendary noon water comes from the sword well on the anvil mountain in Dajia Town. According to legend, this well is the place where Zheng Chenggong inserted his sword to pray for spring. From then on, it is said that Bai Zhenshan is rich in all kinds of Dan medicine, so the effect of water in the sword well at noon is legendary. Every Dragon Boat Festival, people who grab water at noon next to Jianjing are always crowded and stuffy. It is said that when you look at this well at noon on the Dragon Boat Festival, you can also see the shadow of Zheng Chenggong. And those who see the sword shadow will not have a disaster this year.
The Dragon Boat Festival in Guangxi is held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. In addition to dragon boat racing, there are horse racing, bullfighting, drumming and other activities.
Dragon boat is also called "dragon boat". According to "Guangxi Folk Customs" Volume IINo. 16, the custom of the Dragon Boat Festival in Shilin during the Japanese occupation period was as follows: From the beginning of May, first go to the water's edge to "meet the water god". At noon on the fifth day, gongs and drums were beaten and dragon boats were rowed to the river, and residents burned incense to worship. As the saying goes, "May 5th. Dragon boats are full of streets. " Welcome, it's called "Solitaire". To surpass the dragon, we must also hold a ceremony of "thanking the river" on the tenth day of the tenth lunar month. ?
Zhuang people in northern Guangxi like to make zongzi, which can be divided into alkaline zongzi and salty zongzi. Alkali zongzi is especially used for sacrifice. Hakka people should prepare four kinds of sacrifices for the Dragon Boat Festival, one for the earth god, one for the Wanshan master and one for the nearby temple. And alkaline zongzi is an essential sacrifice. Salted zongzi can be divided into zongzi and glutinous rice zongzi, which are purely used to satisfy appetite.
Nowadays, in most parts of Guangxi, there is a kind of jiaozi called Liangzong, also called grey dumplings.
The practice of grey water jiaozi:
Soak the glutinous rice thoroughly with alkaline water to make it pale yellow, then wrap it in reed leaves and tie it tightly.
Characteristics of grey water jiaozi:
Cooked and peeled zongzi have the fragrance of reed leaves, while Huang Chengcheng's zongzi are round and full. Just like grey steamed bread, you can dip it in syrup. ? Cooked and peeled zongzi have the fragrance of reed leaves, while Huang Chengcheng's zongzi are round and full. ?
Ingredients: Grey water jiaozi is also divided into sweet and salty. Salty dumplings are filled with sesame, red beans, pork and mung beans. However, sweet zongzi has no stuffing and is softer than salty zongzi. It is eaten with honey and yellow sugar. ?
That is, the long gray water zongzi in Guangxi is popular in some parts of Guangxi and is the characteristic zongzi of the Dragon Boat Festival. On the whole, it is long, without stuffing, and it tastes slightly bitter when eaten empty. The typical way to eat it is to dip it in yellow sugar or mix it with your favorite sweet sauce.