What are the customs of Dragon Boat Festival?

In China, the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated in a grand way, and there are various activities to celebrate it. Common activities are as follows:

Dragon boat race:

Dragon boat race is the main custom of Dragon Boat Festival. According to legend, people who originated in the ancient State of Chu were reluctant to part with the death of the sage Qu Yuan, and many people rowed boats to save people. They rushed to catch up with each other and disappeared at Dongting Lake. After that, I will row a dragon boat on May 5th every year to commemorate it. Rowing a dragon boat to disperse the fish in the river so as not to eat Qu Yuan's body. The habit of competition prevailed in wuyue and Chu.

In fact, the "Dragon Boat Race" existed as early as the Warring States Period. Carving dragon-shaped canoes in drums and playing race games are semi-religious and semi-entertaining programs to entertain gods and people in the ceremony.

Later, people everywhere not only commemorated Qu Yuan, but also gave different meanings to dragon boat racing.

Dragon boat rowing in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is of great significance to commemorate Qiu Jin, a native-born modern female democratic revolutionary. The night dragon boat is decorated with lights and shuttles, and the scene is moving and interesting. The Miao people in Guizhou hold the Dragon Boat Festival from May 25th to 28th of the lunar calendar to celebrate the success of transplanting rice and wish a bumper harvest. Yunnan Dai compatriots competed in dragon boat races at the Water-splashing Festival to commemorate the ancient hero Yan Hongwo. Different nationalities and regions have different legends about dragon boat rowing. To this day, dragon boat races with different characteristics are held every year in many areas near rivers and lakes in the south.

In the 29th year of Qing Qianlong (1736), Taiwan Province Province began to hold dragon boat races. At that time, Jiang, the chief executive of Taiwan Province Province, held a friendly match in Fukeji Half Moon Pool in Tainan City. Now, Taiwan Province Province holds a dragon boat race on May 5th every year. In Hong Kong, races are also held.

In addition, dragon boat racing was first introduced to neighboring countries such as Japan, Vietnam and Britain. From 65438 to 0980, the dragon boat race was included in the national sports competition in China, and the "Qu Yuan Cup" dragon boat race was held every year. 1991June 16 (the fifth day of the fifth lunar month), the first international dragon boat festival was held in Yueyang, China, Qu Yuan's second hometown. Holding the "Dragon Head Festival" before the competition not only retains the traditional ceremony, but also injects new modern factors. The "dragon head" was carried into the Quzi Temple. After the athletes painted the dragon head red (tied with a red ribbon), the priest read the paper and lit the dragon head. Then, all the people who took part in the Dragon Boat Festival bowed three times, carried the dragon head to the Guluo River and hurried to the dragon boat race. More than 600,000 people participated in competitions, expositions and evening activities, which is unprecedented. Since then, Hunan has regularly held the International Dragon Boat Festival. Dragon boat races will be widely spread all over the world.

Eat zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival.

Eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival is another traditional custom of China people. Zongzi, also known as "corn millet" and "tube zongzi". It has a long history and various patterns.

According to records, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, millet was wrapped into horns by leaves of zinia latifolia, which was called "horny millet". Rice packed in bamboo tubes is sealed and baked, which is called "tube dumplings". At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, millet soaked in plant ash water. Because the water contains alkali, the millet is wrapped in leaves into a quadrilateral, and when cooked, it becomes Guangdong sour rice dumplings.

In Jin Dynasty, Zongzi was officially designated as Dragon Boat Festival food. At this time, in addition to glutinous rice, jiaozi also added Alpinia oxyphylla, and the boiled jiaozi was called "Yizhi jiaozi". The "Yueyang Local Records" written by Zhou people at that time recorded: "It is customary to wrap millet with leaves, cook it and cook it thoroughly. From May 5 to the solstice in summer, there is a zongzi and a millet. " During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, miscellaneous zongzi appeared. Rice is mixed with animal meat, chestnuts, red dates, red beans and so on. And there are more and more varieties. Zongzi is also used as a gift for communication.

The rice used for zongzi in the Tang Dynasty is "white as jade", and its shape appears conical and rhombic. There is a record of "Da Tang Zongzi" in Japanese literature. There was a kind of "candied zongzi" in the Song Dynasty, that is, fruit was put into zongzi. The poet Su Dongpo wrote the poem "See Yangmei in Zongzi". At this time, there were also advertisements for building pavilions and wooden chariots and horses with zongzi, indicating that eating zongzi was very fashionable in the Song Dynasty. In the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the wrapping material of zongzi changed from leaves to leaves. Later, zongzi wrapped in reed leaves appeared, and additional materials such as bean paste, pork, pine nuts, dates and walnuts appeared, and the varieties were more colorful.

To this day, at the beginning of May every year, people in China have to soak glutinous rice, wash zongzi leaves and wrap zongzi, with more varieties of colors. From the perspective of stuffing, there are many dates in the north, such as jiaozi; There are many kinds of fillings in the south, such as red bean paste, fresh meat, ham and egg yolk, among which Zhejiang Jiaxing Zongzi is the representative. The custom of eating zongzi has been popular in China for thousands of years and spread to South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian countries.

Pei Xiang Bao:

Children wear sachets on the Dragon Boat Festival, which is said to mean to ward off evil spirits and plague. Actually, it is used to decorate the inner head. The sachet contains cinnabar, realgar and fragrant medicine, wrapped in silk cloth, and the fragrance is overflowing, and then tied into a rope with five-color silk thread to make a string of different shapes, all kinds of exquisite and lovely.

Acorus calamus:

There is a folk saying that "willow is inserted in Qingming Festival and wormwood is inserted in Dragon Boat Festival". On the Dragon Boat Festival, people regard Artemisia argyi as one of the important contents. Every family sweeps the court, puts calamus and moxa sticks between their eyebrows and hangs them in the class. Acorus calamus, Folium Artemisiae Argyi, Liu Hua, Garlic and Dragon Boat Flower are made into human or tiger shapes, which are called Ai Ren and Ai Hu. It is made into garlands and decorations, beautiful and fragrant, and women compete to wear it to ward off evil spirits.

Artemisia argyi, also known as Artemisia argyi and Artemisia argyi. Its stems and leaves contain volatile aromatic oils. Its unique fragrance can repel mosquitoes, flies, insects and ants and purify the air. Chinese medicine uses wormwood as medicine, which has the functions of nourishing qi and blood, warming uterus and dispelling cold and dampness. Processing Artemisia argyi leaves into "moxa wool" is an important medicinal material for moxibustion treatment.

Acorus calamus is a perennial aquatic herb, and its long and narrow leaves also contain volatile aromatic oil, which is a good medicine for refreshing, strengthening bones, eliminating stagnation, killing insects and sterilizing.

It can be seen that the ancients inserted wormwood leaves and calamus to have a certain disease prevention effect. Dragon Boat Festival is also a "health festival" handed down from ancient times. On this day, people sweep the courtyard, hang mugwort branches, hang calamus and sprinkle realgar wine to stir up turbidity, remove rot, sterilize and prevent diseases. These activities also reflect the fine traditions of the Chinese nation. It is a common custom for all countries and ethnic groups in China to collect herbs on the Dragon Boat Festival.

Customs of Dragon Boat Festival all over the country

[Hebei Province]

It is said that drilling well water is avoided in Beiping Dragon Boat Festival, and it is often pre-pumped before the festival, in order to avoid well poisoning. On Dragon Boat Festival, street vendors also sell cherry mulberries. It is said that they eat cherry mulberries on the Dragon Boat Festival and don't eat flies by mistake all year round. "Five Poison Cakes", which are cakes decorated with five poisonous insect patterns, are sold in various food stores. Luanxian county lets men and women in-laws give gifts to each other on the Dragon Boat Festival. On the Dragon Boat Festival in Zhao County, the local government will hold a banquet in the south of the city, inviting the literati in the city to feast and compose poems, which is called "stepping on the willow".

[Shandong Province]

On the Dragon Boat Festival in zouping county, everyone needs a drink every morning, which is said to ward off evil spirits. Rizhao Dragon Boat Festival wraps seven colors of thread around children, and it will take them until the first rain after the festival before they are untied and thrown into the rain. On the Dragon Boat Festival in Linqing County, boys under seven wear symbols (necklaces made of wheat barnyard grass), girls wear pomegranate flowers, and they also wear yellow shoes made by their mothers, and draw five kinds of poisonous insects on the vamps with a brush. It means killing five kinds of poisonous insects with Qu Yuan's ink. On the morning of Dragon Boat Festival, Jimo washes his face with dew.

[Shanxi Province]

On the Dragon Boat Festival in Xiezhou, men and women wear mugwort leaves, which is called "expelling diseases", while young children tie a hundred ropes around their necks. It is said that this is "tying dragons for Qu Yuan". During the Dragon Boat Festival in the Western Zhou Dynasty, villages would offer sacrifices to the Dragon King and hang paper in the fields. The Dragon Boat Festival in Huairen County is also called "Zhumen". The Dragon Boat Festival in Dingxiang County requires students to give gifts to their teachers. Lu 'an Mansion uses steamed dumplings made of wheat flour, called "white dumplings", and presents them to each other together with zongzi.

[Shaanxi Province]

On the Dragon Boat Festival in Xing 'an League, local officials lead their subordinates to watch the game, which is called "stepping on a stone". At the Dragon Boat Festival in Xingping County, a small corn is sewn with silk, and a small doll is sewn below it, which is called "playing with dolls". The Dragon Boat Festival in Tongguan County is called "town disease", and there are Pu Ai and paper cows sticking to the door.

[Gansu Province]

Picking roses on Dragon Boat Festival in Jingning area is mainly based on honey pickling. Zhenyuan county presented a fragrant fan, a Luo Qi, a towel handkerchief and a Ai Hu to the newlyweds during the Dragon Boat Festival. Children also invite their fathers and brothers to entertain their teachers, which is called "enjoying the festival". On the Dragon Boat Festival in Zhang Xi 'an County, the shepherd boy worships the mountain gods. Accumulated salary mountain, chicken calls before burning, commonly known as "burning mountain"

[Jiangsu Province]

During the Dragon Boat Festival in Jiading County, people, rich or poor, have to buy stone fish (commonly known as mandarin fish) to cook. There is also a saying in Yizheng County, "When pants, buy yellow croaker". On the Dragon Boat Festival in Nanjing, families use a box of clear water, plus a little realgar and goose eye money. The whole family washes their eyes with this kind of water, which is called "breaking the eyes of fire". It is said that it can protect them from eye diseases for a year. There is a dragon boat show in Wujin at night. In the evening, small lanterns are hung around the dragon boat, and flutes and drums sing harmoniously.

[Sichuan Province]

Shizhu has the custom of "going out during the Dragon Boat Festival". Four people use two bamboo poles to lift the wide table covered with red carpet. A Taoist priest riding a tiger weaves bamboo sticks on the carpet. Beating gongs and drums, marching in the street. In ancient times, there was a custom of "typing" on the Dragon Boat Festival in western Sichuan. On that day, Chengdu people bought plums and threw them in the southeast corner of the city, attracting tens of thousands of spectators. In the 21st year of Guangxu (1895), this custom stopped because of the sudden conflict between Touli and foreign missionaries. Leshan, Xinjin and other places also hold grand commodity fairs during the Dragon Boat Festival.

[Xijiang province]

Students from rural schools in Tonglu County gave their teachers a gift on the Dragon Boat Festival, which was called "Remembrance". The doctor collects medicine at noon, and it is said that the doctor is in heaven that day.

[Jiangxi Province]

Jianchang Prefecture takes a bath with herbal water at noon to prevent scabies, and Xinchang County drinks realgar cinnabar wine, which is called "opening eyes".

[Hubei Province]

In Bahe Town, Huanggang County, people welcome Nuo people on the Dragon Boat Festival and use tattoos of corollas and golden bells to drive away the epidemic. Dragon boat race in Yichang county, especially on May 13, 14 and 15. May 15, also known as "Daduanyang", people eat zongzi and drink Pu wine, just like the Dragon Boat Festival.

[Hunan Province]

On the Dragon Boat Festival in Youxian County, rich pregnant women eat with flowers, poor people prepare chicken wine, and collect money with bamboo clips in front of the dragon boat faucet to pray for safe production. The government of Yuezhou regards this game as a disaster and a disease. Also known as "sending plague", when the grass boat comes to flood.

[Fujian Province]

Fuzhou Dragon Boat Festival is an old custom, so the daughter-in-law gives shroud, shoes and socks, zongzi and fans to her in-laws. In Jianyang County, 5th is the King Day of Sun-drying capsules, and people make sauces on this day. During the Dragon Boat Festival in Shanghang County, the boat was tied with reeds and a dragon-shaped play was performed at the water's edge, which was called dragon boat race. After the Dragon Boat Race in Xianyou County, paper was presented at Huxiao Beach to commemorate Qi Jiguang's drowning here during Jiajing period. Before Shao Wufu's Dragon Boat Festival, women used crimson yarn as a bag. Five-color velvet is the winning surface, and the colored thread is tied. The girl hung upside down on her back and was called "Dou Niang".

[Guangdong Province]

After washing hands and eyes with boiling water at noon on the Dragon Boat Festival in Conghua County, it is called "sending disaster". During the Dragon Boat Festival in Xinxing County, people advocate welcoming and guiding idols' travel from neighboring temples. Wizards also use Dharma water and stickers to drive away evil spirits. During the Dragon Boat Festival in Shicheng County, children fly kites, which is called "disaster relief".

(Taiwan Province Province)

Taiwan Province Province is located in the subtropical zone. In the early days, many immigrants from the mainland could not adapt to the climate here, and people who died of plague were heard from time to time. Therefore, the Dragon Boat Festival, a festival with the basic spirit of expelling diseases and avoiding epidemics, is particularly important.

The custom of the Dragon Boat Festival in the pre-Qin period can be represented by the description in Appendix III of Wang Yingzeng's Rebuilding the Records of Fengshan County (1764): On the morning of May 5, a pile of rice stalks was burned, smoked in the corner, and sent to the roadside to send mosquitoes with money the next day. Hanging April on the lintel and planting weeds means you can avoid mosquitoes. A branch of the banyan tree is old and healthy. Use watermelon and corn with each other. In the shallow part of Haikou, busybodies compete for money or cloth like three-skinned fish. The winner sings gongs and cheers, and fights dragon boats for three days. In the afternoon, I tied five strands to my child. The man tied it to his left wrist and the woman tied it to his right wrist. It was called Sun Shen Company.

There is also a folk saying that mugwort and figs can strengthen the body. As the saying goes, "Buron is brave, and Ai is braver and healthier." As usual, students in private schools give their husbands red envelopes as a thank you at the Dragon Boat Festival, and husbands use fans as a return gift.

According to Kiichiro Suzuki's "Crown Wedding Funeral in Taiwan Province in the Middle of the Year" (1934), during the funeral period, families don't pack zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival, and they are presented by relatives and friends, which is called "farewell ceremony". When you lose your family, you take candy as a gift. The farmer put the gold paper named "Fujin" on the bamboo pole and inserted it in the room. It is said that it can prevent harm and get a bumper harvest. Some places have the custom of making "salty tea" on the Dragon Boat Festival, that is, salting perilla leaves and pomegranate leaves with salt. It is said that it can be used as medicinal tea to remove all toxic gases.

In Jiadong Town, Pingtung County during the Japanese occupation, there was also the custom of fighting with stones during the Dragon Boat Festival. Stone war has been circulating in Jiadong area for hundreds of years. A few days before the Dragon Boat Festival every year, people are ready to fight a tough battle. The stone war is organized as a village, like an army, and has the positions of chief of staff. Organizations are like the army, with positions like chief of staff. Men are throwing stones at the front line to fight. The woman is responsible for transporting stones in the rear. When tearing is fierce, it often causes casualties. The winner can go to the defeated village to eat and drink. The defeated villagers escaped. If you are unfortunately captured by the other side, you will be forced to take off your pants and be humiliated in public. It is said that this peculiar custom can guarantee good luck for a whole year, so Jiadong people like it very much. However, because stone wars often caused serious casualties, local governments repeatedly banned them and gradually declined at the end of Japanese rule.

On the Dragon Boat Festival, every household also has the custom of playing "noon water". 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.

Dragon boat rowing is called "Dragon Boat" in Taiwan Province Province. According to "Folk Customs of Taiwan Province Province", Volume I, No.6, the custom of the Dragon Boat Festival in Shilin during the Japanese occupation period is as follows: From the beginning of May, first go to the water's edge to "meet the water gods". 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.

The head office in Nantun, Taichung, had the custom of awakening pangolins by wearing wood since the middle of Qing Dynasty. After the recovery, this custom has been observed every year on the Dragon Boat Festival. Litoudian was the most prosperous area in Taichung in Qing Dynasty. It is said that this is because the local area is located in Qijiajiao. Therefore, local residents put on clogs every year, stamp their feet on the ground and wake pangolins with a loud noise. At present, this custom has been transformed into the form of fun competitions. Four people form a team and put on two clogs made of long wood skin to compete. Kaka's clogs really awakened the nostalgia of the residents in Lidian.

In terms of holiday food customs, it is said in Taiwan Province Province that eating peaches, eggplant and kidney beans during the Dragon Boat Festival can lead to a long and healthy life. As the saying goes: "Eating eggplant will make you tremble, but eating beans will make you old." There are two ways to make jiaozi on the table: North and South. In northern China, rice is soaked in water, drained, fried in oil, and seasoned with spiced powder, pepper and soy sauce. Steam the rice, then wrap it in bamboo leaves to make it taste bad again. Some people should also fry rice in oil until it is half cooked, wrap it with real stuffing, and then steam it. The southern practice is to soak in pure white glutinous rice, add meat stuffing, wrap it in green bamboo leaves and cook it until it is cooked thoroughly. Due to the different production methods, jiaozi in the north and south has different flavors. Zongzi in the north has a strong flavor of spiced pepper, while meat zongzi in the south has a touch of bamboo leaves and spring, each with its own characteristics. Ingredients include pork, mushrooms, dried shrimps, peanuts, salted egg yolk, red onion, chestnuts, dried oysters and so on. , add with personal preference.

Hakka people in Miaoli area also eat eggplant, long beans and peaches and plums during the Dragon Boat Festival. But the meaning of these foods is different from that of southerners. Eating plums symbolizes the reproduction of future generations. Some people think it can prevent heatstroke. Eating long beans can avoid being bitten by snakes (because long beans are shaped like snakes). Eating eggplant can prevent mosquito bites (eggplant is called "hanging vegetables" in Hakka dialect, but it is called "biting people", and the local sound is "ㄉㄠ", which is homophonic).

Hakka dumplings are also divided into alkaline dumplings and salty dumplings. 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.