Everything about the Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival, English: Dragon board Festival, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanyang Festival, Noon Festival, May Festival, Ai Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Chongwu Festival, Summer Festival, Poets Festival, etc. Ending means "beginning" and "beginning", and the fifth day can be called ending five. In the lunar calendar, the earthly branch marks the moon, the shade is built in the first month, February is the base, and May to May is noon, so May is called noon month, and "five" is connected with "noon", and "five" is also a positive number, so in some places, the Dragon Boat Festival is also called May Festival, Ai Festival and Summer Festival. According to historical records, the word "Dragon Boat Festival" was first seen in the local custom of the Western Jin Dynasty: "Dragon Boat Festival in midsummer, cooking millet." Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional festival of Han nationality in China. The essential activities on this day gradually evolved into eating zongzi, dragon boat racing, hanging calamus, wormwood, mugwort, smoked Atractylodes macrocephala, angelica dahurica and drinking realgar wine. It is said that eating zongzi and dragon boat racing is to commemorate Qu Yuan, so after liberation, the Dragon Boat Festival was named "Poet's Day" to commemorate Qu Yuan. As for hanging calamus, wormwood leaves, smoked atractylodes rhizome and angelica dahurica, drinking realgar wine is said to ward off evil spirits. Today, the Dragon Boat Festival is still a very popular grand festival among the people of China. Since 2008, Dragon Boat Festival has been a national legal holiday. The state attaches great importance to the protection of intangible cultural heritage. On May 20th, 2006, this folk custom was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.

[Edit this paragraph] The origin of Dragon Boat Festival

About the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, to sum up, there are roughly the following statements: Qu Yuan

The Dragon Boat Festival in China is a festival to worship the river god and pray for a bumper harvest before Qu Yuan appeared. Because there is a saying of "Dragon Boat Festival water" in the Yangtze River basin so far, that is, there will be floods caused by heavy rain around the Dragon Boat Festival. The ancients believed that the flood was the result of the anger of the river god. In order to prevent the flood of Dragon Boat Festival from washing away seedlings and other things, a series of sacrificial activities were held, hoping that the river god would be happy and the grain would be plentiful. In addition, this time is generally the ploughing and transplanting season for farming, and it is often soaked in water. Drinking yellow wine can effectively remove rheumatism. According to legend, yellow rice wine is a gift from the gods, and the habit of drinking yellow rice wine has gradually formed during this time. These were not formed to commemorate Qu Yuan, that is, before Qu Yuan threw himself into the river, China had the saying of Dragon Boat Festival. Qu Yuan threw himself into the river, which made people remember this day more, and also increased the celebration methods such as eating zongzi, dragon boat racing and hanging mugwort leaves.

In memory of Qu Yuan, this theory originated from the records of Wu Jun's "The Peace of Continuation of Qi" in the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty and "The Chronicle of Jingchu" in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. It is said that Qu Yuan threw himself into the river on the fifth day of May. Trapped by dragons after death, the world mourned. He throws colorful silk zongzi into the water every day to drive away the dragon. It is also said that after Qu Yuan threw himself into the Miluo River, the local people immediately rowed for rescue, and all the way to Dongting Lake, but Qu Yuan's body was not found. It was raining at that time, and the boats on the lake gathered at the pavilion on the shore. When people learned that it was to salvage the sage Dr. Qu, they went out in the rain and rushed into the vast Dongting Lake. In order to mourn, people rowed on rivers, and later it gradually developed into a dragon boat race. Eating zongzi and racing dragon boats on the Dragon Boat Festival seems to be related to commemorating Qu Yuan, as evidenced by Wen Xiu's poem "Dragon Boat Festival" in the Tang Dynasty: "The festival is divided into Dragon Boat Festival, and it is rumored that it is Qu Yuan. It is ridiculous that the Chu River is empty and cannot be washed directly. "

During the Spring and Autumn Period, after the death of Wu Zixu, a loyal minister of the State of Wu, he became Shen Tao, and the world mourned and sacrificed, so there was the Dragon Boat Festival. This legend is widely circulated in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Wu Zixu, a famous Chu national, and his father and brother were all killed by the King of Chu. Later, Zixu defected to the State of Wu, helped the State of Wu to conquer Chu, and entered the State of Chu in the Five Wars. At that time, King Chu Ping was already dead. Zixu dug a grave and whipped 300 bodies to avenge his father's murder. After the death of He Lv, the king of Wu, his son Fu Cha succeeded to the throne. Wu Jun's morale was high and he was defeated by Yue. Gou Jian, the King of Yue, made peace, and Fu Cha agreed. Zi Xu suggested the complete elimination of Yue, but Fu Cha didn't listen. Wu Guotai was cruel and bought by Yue. He was framed by slanderers. Fu Cha believed him and gave him a sword. Zi Xu died. Zixu, a loyal minister, feels like death. Before he died, he said to his neighbors, "After I die, I will gouge out my eyes and hang them on the east gate of Jason Wu, watching the Vietnamese army enter the city and destroy Wu." Then he killed himself. Fu Cha was furious after hearing this. On May 5th, he wrapped Zixu's body in leather and threw it into the river. Therefore, it is said that the Dragon Boat Festival is also a day to commemorate Wu Zixu.

Dragon Boat Festival, this statement comes from Wen Yiduo's Dragon Boat Festival Examination and Dragon Boat Festival History Education. He believed that the fifth day of May was the day when the "Dragon" tribe in ancient wuyue held totem sacrifices. The main reason is: (1) Eating zongzi and dragon boat racing are the two most important activities of the Dragon Boat Festival, both of which are related to dragons. Zongzi thrown into the water is often stolen by dragons, and dragon boat races. (2) The relationship between race crossing and ancient wuyue is particularly deep. Besides, Wuyue people have the custom of tattooing constantly to look like a dragon. (3) The ancient folk custom of "tying the arm with colored silk" on the fifth day of May should be a relic of the tattoo custom of "Like a dragon".

In the pre-Qin period, it was generally believed that May was a poisonous month and the fifth was an evil day. According to legend, this day is evil, and the five poisons came out together. According to the Book of Rites, the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the orchid bath in the Zhou Dynasty. Midsummer in Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals stipulates that people should abstain from sex and fast in May. "Xia Zheng Xiao" records: "Store medicine this day to get rid of poisonous gas." It is recorded in "Da Dai Li" that "the livestock orchid takes a bath on May 5", and there are many legends that the fifth day is the taboo day for bathing to exorcise evil spirits. The famous Meng Changjun in Historical Records and Biography of Meng Changjun was born on May 5th. His father asked his mother not to have him, thinking that "a child born in May is longer than a family, which is not good for parents." "Custom Pass" was lost. "It is said that on May 5th, a child was born, and the male harmed his father and the female harmed his mother". Wang Chong, the author of Lun Heng, also described: "The first month and May are taboos; Kill your father and your mother in May of the first month. " Wang Zhene, a general of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was born on the fifth day of May. His grandfather named him "Zhen Xie". Evonne and Song Huizong were born on the fifth day of May, and were fostered outside the palace since childhood. It can be seen that it is a common phenomenon to regard the fifth day of May as an evil day in ancient times. It can be seen that this day has been an unlucky day since the pre-Qin period. In this way, it is logical to insert calamus and mugwort leaves to exorcise ghosts, smoke atractylodes rhizome and angelica dahurica and drink realgar wine to avoid the epidemic on this day. Moreover, people also avoid the taboo of "Dragon Boat Festival" and call it "Dragon Boat Festival".

With regard to the solstice in summer, Liu Deqian, who holds this view, put forward three main reasons and an interesting talk about the traditional festivals in China in Dragon Boat Festival: (1) The authoritative book "Jingchu Sui Ji" did not mention the festival custom of eating zongzi on the fifth day of May, but wrote it on the solstice in summer. As for the race, Du Taiqing's Jade Candle Collection in Sui Dynasty listed it as an entertainment activity from summer to the sun, which shows that it is not necessarily to salvage Qu Yuan, a great poet who threw himself into the river. (2) Some contents in the custom of Dragon Boat Festival, such as "stepping on a hundred herbs", "fighting a hundred herbs" and "picking herbs", have nothing to do with Qu Yuan. (3) The first explanation of the Dragon Boat Festival in Ji Huali is: "The sun shines, and the Dragon Boat Festival is in midsummer, so it can also be called midsummer festival. Therefore, the earliest origin of the Dragon Boat Festival is the summer solstice. There are many controversies, and the theory of commemorating Qu Yuan has the most extensive influence. Because of Qu Yuan's outstanding personality and art, people are willing to attribute this anniversary to him.

In memory of the poetess Qiu Jin, Qiu Ruixiong, No.1 Jianhuxia, Xiao Gu, a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, was good at writing poems, words, songs and poems when she was young, and she liked riding horses and fencing, so she was named Mulan and Qin Liangyu. Joining the revolution at the age of 28 had a great influence. He was arrested by Qing soldiers when planning an uprising, and died heroically in Xuanhengkou, Shaoxing on June 5, Guangxu thirty-three years ago. In order to praise her poems and mourn her heroic deeds, later generations merged with the Poets' Day to commemorate her, and designated the Poets' Day as the Dragon Boat Festival to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.

[Edit this paragraph] Dragon Boat Festival custom

Wall clock: Zhong Kui catches ghosts, which is the custom of Dragon Boat Festival. In the Jianghuai area, bells and statues are hung in every household to ward off evil spirits. Emperor Kaiyuan of Tang Dynasty returned to the palace after giving a lecture in Lishan, and malaria was rampant. He dreamed that two ghosts, one big and one small, were running around the temple wearing red crotch pants and stealing Yang Guifei's sachet and the jade emperor of the Ming Dynasty. GREAT GHOST, wearing a blue robe and a blue hat, caught the child, gouged out his eyes and swallowed it in one gulp. When asked by the Ming emperor, GREAT GHOST said: My surname is Zhong Kui, that is to say, I am the best martial artist. I am willing to exorcise evil spirits for your majesty. When the Ming emperor woke up, malaria was cured. So I asked Wu Daozi, the painter, to draw a portrait of Zhong Kui catching ghosts according to what I saw in my dream, and ordered all the people to post it on the Dragon Boat Festival to exorcise evil spirits.

Hanging mugwort leaves and calamus: On the Dragon Boat Festival, every household uses calamus, mugwort leaves, pomegranate flowers, garlic, mugwort leaves and dragon boat flowers to make human figures, which are called Ai people. Hanging mugwort leaves in the hall, cutting them into tiger shapes or ribbons, and sticking mugwort leaves on them, women compete to wear them to ward off evil spirits. Using calamus as a sword and inserting it on the lintel has the magical effect of exorcising ghosts.

Wormwood is a perennial herb with alternate leaves, deep pinnate, green surface, thick white hairs on the leaves and special fragrance on the stems and leaves. In ancient China, wormwood was used as medicine. The moxibustion method of acupuncture was to put wormwood on the acupoint and cauterize it to treat diseases. Therefore, the ancients believed that wormwood could attract wealth and ward off evil spirits. It is recorded in an ancient book in China: "When chickens don't crow, people who collect wormwood like humans take it and use moxibustion to collect it, and the effect is very good. It is the day when Ai Cai became a man and hung on the door, which can poison gas. " In ancient times, it was thought that after the Dragon Boat Festival, the weather began to get hot, mosquitoes bred, and infectious diseases were prone to occur. So on this day, five kinds of plants, such as Acorus calamus, wormwood, pomegranate flower, garlic and Shandan, were used to drive away all kinds of poisons.

Dragon Boat Race: At that time, Chu people were reluctant to let their sage Qu Yuan die, so many people rowed to catch up and save. They rushed to catch up, but when they arrived at Dongting Lake, there was no trace, because that was the origin of dragon boat racing, and then they rowed dragon boats on May 5 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. Dragon Boat Race started in Taiwan Province Province in the 29th year of Qing Qianlong. At that time, Jiang, the chief executive of Taiwan Province Province, held a friendly match in Hexi Half Moon Pool in Tainan City. Now, Taiwan Province Province holds a dragon boat race on May 5th every year. There are boat races in Hong Kong. Recently, the British have followed the example of our country and organized their own teams to hold competitions.

Eating zongzi: On May 5th, people in Jingchu boiled glutinous rice or steamed zongzi cakes and threw them into the river to offer sacrifices to Qu Yuan, so they threw them in bamboo tubes for fear of fish eating them. Later, they gradually wrapped rice in reed leaves instead of bamboo tubes. Most of the rice wrapped in zongzi is glutinous rice, and now it is also used in glutinous rice. Most of the fillings are dates, and local people often use bacon. At present, they use various fillings, such as eight treasures, meat and candied dates.

Drink realgar wine: Realgar is a mineral containing arsenic trioxide, which is mixed with wine for drinking. That is to say, the realgar wine with repellent and detoxification is applied to the child's head and forehead. Ears, nose, hands, feet and heart. And spread it between the walls to fight poison with poison. The story of "Legend of the White Snake" circulated among the people is to cure the snake's poison with realgar wine, and now the true colors of the white snake are revealed. This custom is very popular among people in the Yangtze River valley.

Wandering all diseases: it is a popular custom of Dragon Boat Festival in Guizhou. Men, women and children go out to play and wear new clothes. At noon 1 o, the roads, mountains and trees are crowded with people, holding flowers and plants, and they are happy. Go home at night to cook flowers and take a bath. Old people call it "a tour of all diseases" and "a wash of all diseases". People who don't go out for a walk and don't wash all their illnesses will not be lucky all year round.

Wearing sachets: Children wear sachets during the Dragon Boat Festival, which not only means to ward off evil spirits and drive away epidemics, but also has decorative styles on the front. 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, exquisite and eye-catching

Huang Wu: Monopterus albus, yellow croaker, cucumber, salted egg yolk and realgar wine.

Twelve reds: realgar wine, salted egg yolk of yellow croaker, ham, fried shrimp, roast duck, amaranth, rose sand (sugar), rose, pomegranate flower, cherry and loquat.

Bean grass

Han has never seen fighting grass before. (Textual research on popular things in the past dynasties: Shang) Its origin has not been verified, and it is generally believed to be related to the emergence of traditional Chinese medicine. Ancient ancestors struggled to survive and lived a monotonous life. In their spare time, they amuse themselves by fighting insects, grass and wild animals. After the legendary "Shennong tasting a hundred herbs" became a traditional Chinese medicine, it became a custom to gather in the suburbs to collect herbs and insert Ai Men to relieve the summer heat and epidemic. After harvest, competitions are often held to report the names of flowers and grasses to each other in a confrontational way. Most of them win, both interesting in plant knowledge and literary knowledge; Children hook, pinch and pull each other with petioles. If you break it, you lose, and then change a leaf to fight. Bai Juyi's poem "Watching Children's Play" says: "Making dust or mowing grass is fun all day long."

"Yuan" said: "It started in Hanwu". According to a story written by Zong Yi, a person from the Liang Dynasty, "On May 5, four people stepped on a hundred herbs and had a scene of fighting grass." Memories of the Years: "On the Dragon Boat Festival, build houses to store medicines, shoot herbs and wrap five silks."

It was called "stepping on a hundred herbs" in the Northern and Southern Dynasties and "fighting grass" or "fighting a hundred herbs" in the Tang Dynasty. "Liu Bin Jiahua" says: "In Tang Zhongzong, Princess Anle fought a hundred herbs for five days." In the Song Dynasty, it was extended to fighting at any time on weekdays. There are many descriptions of this in the works of scholars in past dynasties.

The Sketch of Fighting between Babies is collected in the Palace Museum in Beijing. The play is as follows: 1. Both sides of the competition choose grass with certain toughness (Loulan case: mostly plantain, a perennial herb of plantain, mostly on roadsides, ditches, ridges and other places. Stemless, with many slender fibrous roots; Leaves clustered from rhizosphere, thin papery, with 5 main veins, whole or undulate, or sparse and blunt teeth, as long as 15-30 cm; There are green and white sparse flowers, the corolla is divided and there are four stamens; When the fruit is ripe, it will open like a lid and release four to six brown-black seeds. Its long floral axis is a good material for weeding. Then cross each other into a cross and pull each other hard, so that the person who persists will win.

This kind of fighting grass, which depends on the pulling force of people and grass, is called the "war". Wang Jian's "Gong Ci" intones the game of fighting grass: "Flowers, celery leaves and soil in the water will be collected from many families, and they will always wait until everyone else has counted them, and there are Yujin's buds in their sleeves." There are not only "wars" but also "literary wars" in fighting grass. The so-called "literary dispute" refers to the names of flowers and plants. "A Dream of Red Mansions" Sixty-second time "Baoyu's birthday, the sisters were busy drinking and writing poems. The maids in each room also had a good time with their master. Xue Pan's aunt Xiangling and several maids each picked some flowers and plants to have fun. It says, I have Guanyin willow; Said I was Luo again. Suddenly, the bean official said that I had sister flowers, which stumped everyone. Xiangling said I have husband and wife benefits. Seeing Xiangling's answer, the bean official said unconvinced, "There has never been any interest between husband and wife! Xiangling said, "One flower is called Lan, and several flowers are called Hui." "。 The upper and lower knots are brothers' blessings, and the first knot is called husband and wife's blessing. I have a knot in my mind, why not ask my husband and wife to bless me? "Asked for a while, bean officer said with a smile," according to what you said, a man named' Lao zi's son hui', with two flowers behind him, can be called' Qiu Jiahui'. Xue Pan has just left for half a year, and you miss him in your heart. It's a pity to bring flowers and plants together as lovers! " Xiang Ling blushed and smiled and ran to twist the mouth of the bean officer, so the two men rolled on the ground. The maids are playing and having a good time. At this time, Baoyu also picked some grass to join in the fun.

Dragon boat festival decorations

In the old society, Ren Jian was an ornament for women in Jiangsu and Zhejiang during the Dragon Boat Festival. Generally made of gold and silver thread or copper wire and gold foil, it looks like a villain riding a tiger, and there are bells, bells, tassels, garlic, zongzi and so on. Inserted in a woman's bun, it is also used for breastfeeding. "Jia Qinglu" says: "(May 5) people in the city use gold and silver silk as numerous tassels, chime bells and ride tigers, which are extremely thin, decorated with small hairpin, strung into strings, or use copper wire and gold foil for women to insert their temples. They also sacrificed to each other, called Ren Jian. " When healthy people say they agree with Ai people, they just exchange diaosi for Ai people. Wu Manyun's Preface to Jiangxiang Festival said: "Hang the custom, the healthy person loves the people, and the silk is easy to use to make it like a tiger, and women wear it." It seems that this will have the effect of exorcising evil spirits and controlling epidemics; When it comes to walking in ancient times, it was purely the ornament of women (note Cai Yun's Five Immortals).

Douniang, the headdress of women in the old Dragon Boat Festival. More common in Jiangnan. Some areas are also called healthy people. This thing originated from ancient walking and is a different form of Ai people. Jia Qinglu quoted the legacy of Tang and Song Dynasties as saying: "It is ingenious to win the first prize in five days in the north and south of the river. All the mugwort leaves are pressed and sold, or embroidered with fairy, Buddha, harmony, martial arts, insects, fish, beasts, sweet flowers and other shapes. Crepe spider, Mei Fong forest, cocoon tiger velvet tuo, lawn lizard, mantis cicada scorpion, gourd melon, vivid colors. Covered with a treasure, there are countless hydrangeas and hundreds of shapes of bells, or strung together. The name is Douniang, invincible. "

Ai Hu, the exorcist of the old Dragon Boat Festival, was also used as an ornament. In ancient China, the tiger was regarded as a god beast, and it was thought that it could suppress evil spirits and keep peace. "Custom Pass" says: "A tiger is a penis, and a beast is also long. Can eat ghosts, ... is also evil. " Therefore, people often use tigers to ward off evil spirits, especially during the Dragon Boat Festival in Ai Hu. Ai Hu either cut it with mugwort leaves or cut it into a tiger's ribbon, glued it with mugwort leaves and put it on her hair. For more than 1000 years, the Dragon Boat Festival has been decorated with Ai Hu customs. Song Chen Yuan-gui quoted the title of Song Ben Guang Ji as a miscellaneous note: "In the Dragon Boat Festival, Ai is regarded as a tiger, even as big as a black bean, or cut the ribbon to be a tiger, and the leaves of Ai are attached to wear it. Wang's "Dragon Boat Festival Post" poem: "Hairpin Phoenix, know how to drive away evil spirits and drive the seven treasures of Xiangyun. "Notes on Yanjing Years by Fu Cha Dunchong in Qing Dynasty": "Every evening, those who are clever in boudoir make tigers out of silk, wear zongzi ... with colorful threads, hang them on the hair clips, or tie them on the children's backs. That's what the ancient poem said,' Jade swallows hairpin, but loves tiger lightly'. "

Hygienic custom of Dragon Boat Festival

(1) Collect herbs. This is one of the oldest customs of the Dragon Boat Festival. "Xia Zhengxiao" contains: "Store medicine this day to remove toxic gas." Volume 22 of Miscellaneous Medicine Collection quotes the lost article of Miscellaneous Medicine Collection at the Age of Jingchu: "On May 5, competing for miscellaneous medicine can cure all diseases." In the miscellaneous notes of Qi Yaomin's Book at the end of Wei Dynasty, there is a record of catching toads in May, which is also used in pharmacy. Later, many areas have the custom of catching toads on the Dragon Boat Festival. For example, in Jiangsu, toads are harvested at noon and their foam is punctured to make traditional Chinese medicine toad venom. People in Hangzhou also give their children toads, saying that summer can reduce fire and prevent sores. On the 5th, Mo Ding was put into the toad's mouth, hung and dried, and became a toad ingot, which could be dissipated by applying it to the abscess. This custom of catching toad medicine originated from the legend of "toad fighting for soldiers" in Han Dynasty. Another example is the custom of "collecting herbs" on the Dragon Boat Festival in Jianli, Hubei Province, which is also collecting herbs. Herb picking is because the stems and leaves of herbs are mature and have good medicinal properties around the Dragon Boat Festival, and this custom was formed on this day.

② Mulan decoction. Taking a bath with orchid soup at noon is an ancient custom recorded in Da Dai Li. At that time, orchids were not orchids today, but flying grasses of Compositae, which were fragrant and could be decocted and bathed. "Nine Songs in the Cloud" also has the sentence "Bathing orchid soup will make you fragrant". "The Chronicle of Jingchu": "May 5th is called the Blue Bath Festival." "Five Miscellanies" records that people in the Ming Dynasty took a bath with five-colored grass at noon because "there was no orchid soup". Later, herbs such as cattail and wormwood were usually fried for bathing. In Guangdong, use wormwood, cattail, impatiens, magnolia and other flowers and plants; In Hunan, Guangxi and other places, cypress leaves, anemone roots, wormwood, cattail and peach leaves are used for bathing. Regardless of men, women and children, the whole family washes. This custom still exists today. It is said that it can cure skin diseases and ward off evil spirits.

③ Drink Pu wine, realgar, cinnabar wine and spray wine. Jingchu Chronicle: "Acorus calamus (a perennial herb, born by the water, has reddish roots underground and leaves shaped like swords and spikes." . The rhizome can be used as medicine or medicine) or carved or shredded to cool the wine. "Pu wine is fragrant and refreshing. Later, realgar and vermilion were added to the wine. Xie Ming Zhao Zhe's "Five Miscellaneous Drunks": "Drinking calamus wine is also ... drinking with realgar. "Feng Ming Yingjing's Generalized Moon Order": "On the fifth day, cinnabar wine was used to ward off evil spirits and detoxify, and the forehead, chest, hands and feet were dyed with wine, so there was no danger of poisonous snakes (poisonous snakes mentioned in ancient books). Sprinkle water on walls, doors and windows to avoid poisonous insects. "This custom is very widespread. Up to now, in Binyang, Guangxi, there are packages of medicinal materials for sale during the Dragon Boat Festival, including realgar, Zhu Lei, Platycladus orientalis, peach kernel, Folium Typhae and Folium Artemisiae Argyi. People soak in wine, and then dip it in corners, doors and windows, under beds and so on. Then put wine on the child's ears, nose and navel to drive away poisonous insects and ensure the safety of the child. In addition, in some areas, realgar wine powder is used to draw the word "Wang" on children's foreheads, so that children have the mark of tigers to ward off evil spirits. From a health point of view, these activities are still scientific and reasonable. Realgar mixed with water and wine can be disinfected indoors, and drinking general sprinkling is also quite beneficial.

4 pick tea and make herbal tea. In some areas in the north, people like to pick tender leaves and steam wild vegetable leaves to make tea during the Dragon Boat Festival. In Chaozhou, Guangdong, people go to the suburbs of Shan Ye to collect herbs and cook herbal tea. This is also good for health.

There are all kinds of flowers and plants that can exorcise evil spirits in the Dragon Boat Festival, and the source is also long. The earliest example is hanging wormwood on the door. The Chronicle of Jingchu: "Collecting wormwood is like hanging on the door to poison gas." This is because mugwort is an important medicinal plant, and it can also be used for treating diseases, moxibustion at acupoints and expelling insects. The temperature in May contains the most oil of mugwort leaves (which is at the peak of temperature growth), so the effect is the best, and people are scrambling to pick mugwort leaves. Besides turning Aiza into a human being, he was also made into the shape of a tiger, which is the so-called Ai Hu. The note in the Chronicle of Jingchu says: "Take Ai as a tiger shape, or cut the ribbon as a tiger shape, and mail it to my wife to try it on." At the same time, there are also Pu bundles, cut Pu Jian and Pu Long tied with Pu on the door. "Jing Di Ji Sheng at the age of four": "(Dragon Boat Festival) insert Pulong Ai Hu." Jia Qinglu Volume 5: "Depp is a sword, cutting the canopy as a whip, and garlic with peach handles are hung in the bed to exorcise ghosts." Peach stalks are auspicious things to ward off evil spirits, and garlic is considered as a bronze hammer symbolizing weapons, which is matched with Pu Jian and Peng Bian to drive away furtiveness. In addition, mugwort was burned to drive away mosquitoes and flies. In Hunan, Zhejiang and other places, kudzu vine is used to hang on doors. It is said that kudzu vine is a chain that locks ghosts and can exorcise evil spirits.

There are games such as playing herbs, playing herbs, etc., which are related to picking herbs and picking Aipu, and are the heritage of ancient people's wild entertainment. Later, it developed into decorative arts such as flower arrangement.

Today's local customs

Dragon Boat Festival is a very popular traditional festival in China. There are many different customs and habits all over the country to celebrate this festival. Everyone prays for peace and security in various ways to avoid evil spirits.

Anhui province

Hefei City, Anhui Province: During the Dragon Boat Festival, citizens in Hefei City, Anhui Province buy wormwood and put it on the door to attract blessings and exorcise evil spirits according to traditional customs.

Shexian County, Anhui Province: Located in Shexian County in the south of Anhui Province, besides eating zongzi, hanging wormwood and dancing dragon boats, there is a unique Zhong Kui dance to catch ghosts. Zhong Kui kids hold signs of "Zhong Jinshi's Tour", "Silence" and "Avoidance", Zhong Kui holds a sword and an umbrella, and kids hold wine bowls and other folk performances. It is understood that Zhong Kui dancing is one of the folk ways to ward off evil spirits. In the past, many villages in Shexian performed Zhong Kui on the Dragon Boat Festival. Zhong Kui's tour is limited to his own village, and he has to visit the intersection of the village head and the street to show the thoroughness of exorcism. Those who are prepared to pick up Zhong Kui in advance will set off firecrackers to cheer Zhong Kui up and pray for exorcism. Amid firecrackers, there was dust everywhere and the atmosphere was dignified. According to some data, in the works of China poets in the Qing Dynasty, there are poems chanting Zhong Kui during the Dragon Boat Festival. Perhaps it is because the weather is hot and humid at this time, many people are sick, and the plague is easy to spread, so please come to Zhong Kui to exorcise evil spirits and catch ghosts.

Hebei Province

Avoid drilling wells during the Dragon Boat Festival, and often pre-pump before the festival. It is said 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.

Shandong and Northeast China

Have a drink early in the Dragon Boat Festival. It is said that it can ward off evil spirits. Rizhao Dragon Boat Festival wraps five-color lines around children, and they have to wear them to the first rain after the festival before they are untied and thrown into the rain.

Shanxi

On the Dragon Boat Festival, men and women wear mugwort leaves, which is called "getting rid of diseases", and children tie a hundred ropes around their necks. It is said that this is "tying dragons for Qu Yuan".

Jiangsu Province

On the Dragon Boat Festival, no matter how rich or poor, everyone should buy grouper (commonly known as mandarin fish) to cook. There is also a saying called "when pants, buy yellow croaker". On the Dragon Boat Festival in Nanjing, the family used a box of clear water, with a little realgar, two goose eyes and a topaz. 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.

Sichuan Province

There is a custom of "going out on 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 Meizhou, there is also the custom of drinking realgar wine, which is said to ward off evil spirits/prevent mosquitoes. On this day, wormwood is inserted at the door of every household, saying that it can ward off evil spirits.

Guangdong

Every year around the Dragon Boat Festival, many parents have the habit of taking their children to the river to soak in "dragon boat water" in order to pray for their children's good health and grow up quickly. Hakka people have the habit of eating dyed bitter gourd (glutinous rice mixed with shredded squid and stuffed into seeded bitter gourd)

Taiwan Province Province, China

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."

Yunnan province

People there celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival and eat peanuts, peaches and plums. But the meaning of these foods is different from that of southerners. Eating peanuts represents longevity, and eating plums symbolizes offspring reproduction. Some people think it can prevent heatstroke.

Zhejiang Province

I am used to eating zongzi and bump into cooked duck eggs.

universal

Lifting gourds: It is a traditional custom to lift gourds during the Dragon Boat Festival. Children and adults wear a gourd to ward off evil spirits. Wearing the gourd of "Fulu" in traditional culture can turn hostility into friendship and enhance the atmosphere of happiness.

Of course, eating zongzi, drinking realgar wine, wearing sachets and racing dragon boats are more common, which are very popular customs in the Dragon Boat Festival.

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.

[Edit this paragraph] Nickname of Dragon Boat Festival

According to statistics, the name of Dragon Boat Festival is called the most among all traditional festivals in China, reaching more than 20, which is the festival with the most aliases. For example, there are Dragon Boat Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Duanyang Festival, Double Ninth Festival, Mid-Day Festival, Summer Festival, May Festival, Chang 'e Festival, Pujie Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Magnolia Festival, Zongzi Festival, Noon Festival, Daughter's Day, Dila Festival, Poet's Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Noon Festival and Lantern Festival.

Duanyang Festival, as recorded in Jingchu Chunqiu, is called Duanyang Festival because it climbs mountains in midsummer. It is midsummer when the sun is in the sky, and its first afternoon is a fine day when the sun goes down.

Mid-Autumn Festival, at noon, belongs to twelve branches. In the lunar calendar, May is noon, and five and five are homophonic, so the Dragon Boat Festival is also called the Mid-Autumn Festival or the Double Five Festival, and in some places it is also called the May Festival.

As for the Zhongtian Festival, the ancients thought that on May 5th, the sun was more important than people, so it was called "Zhongtian Festival".

Bathing Orchid Festival, Dragon Boat Festival is in midsummer, which is a season with frequent skin diseases. The ancients bathed and decontaminated with Cao Lan soup. The Great Dai Li in the Han Dynasty said, "Wash blue soup in the afternoon".

On the Brown Rice Festival, when the ancients ate brown rice on the Dragon Boat Festival, there was a competition to compare the length of each person's leaves, and the elders won, so it was also called the "Brown Rice Festival".

Daughter's Day, "Miscellaneous Notes" is listed by Ming and Shen: "May Daughter's Day is the Dragon Boat Festival, wearing mugwort leaves and five poisonous symbols. Ten thousand customs are decorated with little girls from the first day of May to the fifth day of May, and we do our best. Married women also have their own motherhood. Because it's called Daughter's Day. "

On the calamus festival, the ancients thought that "heavy noon" was a taboo day, and at this time, the five poisons were exhausted. Therefore, the custom of the Dragon Boat Festival is to drive away poison, such as hanging calamus and mugwort leaves on the door, so the Dragon Boat Festival is also called "Acorus Festival".

[Edit this paragraph] Dragon Boat Festival dispute

Jiangling Dragon Boat Festival

South Korea's successful application for the Dragon Boat Festival in Gangneung seems to have put an end to the dispute between China and South Korea, but whether China will continue to apply for the World Heritage and the protection of the traditional culture behind it is far from over.

In fact, the Dragon Boat Festival in Gangneung, South Korea is different from the Dragon Boat Festival in China. After South Korea's successful application, China can still apply for the Dragon Boat Festival. Therefore, there is no dispute between the two countries about South Korea's application for World Heritage and the concept of "winning".

The success of South Korea's application for World Heritage actually brings us a good enlightenment: they have injected modern elements into traditional cultural activities, successfully realized modern transformation and gained international recognition, which is of reference significance for China's heritage protection.

China Dragon Boat Festival

Four years ago, South Korean gangneung danoje festival was declared as a representative of oral and intangible heritage of mankind by UNESCO, and China has started the "Dragon Boat Festival" to declare the world intangible heritage. The representative of Hubei Province in China has submitted the application form for this project to the United Nations. At present, the "Dragon Boat Festival Heritage Application" has entered the initial evaluation stage. The heritage declared this time is named "China Dragon Boat Festival", which consists of four parts: the custom of Qu Yuan's hometown in Zigui County, Hubei Province, the "Cisse Shenzhou Club" in Huangshi City, the custom of the Dragon Boat Festival along the Miluo River in Guluo City, Hunan Province, and the custom of Suzhou Dragon Boat Festival in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province. The application materials are jointly packaged by the three provinces. In May 2009, entrusted by the Ministry of Culture, the representative of Hubei Province in China submitted the declaration form and related materials to UNESCO. It is reported that the "Dragon Boat Festival custom" in the above three provinces and four places was published as the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage in 2006.

The successful bid for the Korean Dragon Boat Festival in 2005 will not affect the bid for the China Dragon Boat Festival. Because in South Korea's declaration of "Dragon Boat Festival", the first sentence is "Dragon Boat Festival was originally a festival in China, which has spread to South Korea for more than 1500 years". South Korean "gangneung danoje festival" began with the brewing of sacred wine. Folk activities include official and slave masquerade, agricultural music competition, Ode of Heshan, tug-of-war, wrestling, swinging, China poetry creation competition, archery, pot throwing and so on. , mostly for public entertainment activities; The Dragon Boat Festival in China is mainly to commemorate the great poet Qu Yuan. Folk activities include eating zongzi, dragon boat racing, hanging calamus, wormwood leaves, smoked atractylodes rhizome, angelica dahurica, drinking realgar wine, and children wearing purses and carrying five poisons to ward off evil spirits. Korean gangneung danoje festival has a whole set.