What effect does it have on the geomantic omen of the home when the wormwood hanging at the door is stolen?
"Holding the Aiqi in your hand will attract a hundred blessings, while hanging a sword on the door will kill a thousand evils". On the Dragon Boat Festival, almost every household hangs green wormwood and calamus at the gate.
Hanging wormwood and calamus on Dragon Boat Festival seems to be an old custom handed down from ancestors. It is said that it can repel mosquitoes and evil spirits. But in fact, few people can tell the origin and real effect of this custom.
For example, Zhejiang people usually tie wormwood and calamus into a bundle with red paper during the Dragon Boat Festival, and then insert them on the lintel. In Xianlinyuan Community, the reporter visited several residential buildings at random and found that most families would hang a handful of wormwood tied with red ropes in front of them. Some families are fixed with tape, some are hung upside down with ropes, and there is a faint fragrance in the corridor.
Folklore expert: The wormwood and calamus hanging in front of the Dragon Boat Festival have been passed down for thousands of years.
As the folk saying goes, "Willows are inserted in Qingming Festival, and wormwood is inserted in Dragon Boat Festival". On the Dragon Boat Festival, people regard wormwood and calamus as one of the important contents of the Dragon Boat Festival. Every family sweeps the court, putting calamus and moxa sticks in the eyebrows and hanging them in the hall.
how did wormwood and calamus come into being, and how did it appear in the custom of Dragon Boat Festival?
Folklore experts say that the custom of hanging wormwood and calamus has been passed down for thousands of years.
"wormwood has the effect of health care, while calamus is like a sword, which has been passed down from ancient times to ward off evil spirits." Chen Huawen said that the fifth month of the lunar calendar, where the Dragon Boat Festival is held, is called "Poisonous May", so people will drive away poisonous insects and poisonous gas by hanging wormwood calamus and drinking realgar wine.
It is understood that people began to hang mugwort (wormwood) on their doors as early as the Jin Dynasty. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Artemisia argyi developed into an Artemisia argyi person.
Zong Ba's Chronicle of the Age of Jingchu said: "On May 5th, four people stepped on a hundred herbs, and there was a scene of fighting against them ... hanging on the door to get rid of poisonous gas". Tie mugwort collected from the wild into a person's shape and hang it on the door. This is the custom of hanging "Ai Ren" which has been popular for a long time. The purpose of binding Artemisia argyi into Ai people is to improve the function of Artemisia argyi to ward off evil spirits.
Acorus calamus can even be used to rescue comatose patients
In the folk, Acorus calamus is often used to repel mosquitoes. Besides repelling mosquitoes, what other functions does it have?
Qian Songxiang, director of the pharmacy of Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, told Zhejiang Online reporter that Acorus calamus has a unique fragrance, which has the functions of clearing the brain and calming the nerves.
"In clinic, wormwood and calamus are also used to rescue comatose patients, and sometimes they can play a certain role."
wormwood is a kind of hot plant, which is used as medicine in traditional Chinese medicine to regulate qi and blood, warm uterus and dispel cold and dampness. Acorus calamus is a warm plant in Araceae, which has the effects of resolving phlegm, inducing resuscitation, eliminating dampness, invigorating stomach, killing insects and relieving itching.
"You can boil the leaves of Acorus calamus, and after cooling, you can wipe the water on your body, which has the effect of sterilization."
Qian Songxiang told reporters that in the folk, Acorus calamus is most used to repel mosquitoes because it emits an odor that mosquitoes don't like very much. "In the countryside, wormwood is dried and ignited, and the ignited smoke can repel insects."