What are the customs of Dragon Boat Festival?

Dragon Boat Festival

(China traditional festival)

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Dragon Boat Festival is the fifth day of the fifth lunar month every year. According to the Chronicle of Jingchu, it is midsummer when the sun is on the mountain and it is midsummer in May. Its first afternoon is a sunny day to climb mountains in the sun, so the fifth day of May is also called "Duanyang Festival". In addition, the Dragon Boat Festival is also called "Noon Festival, May Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Bathing Orchid Festival, Poet's Festival" and so on. [1] The Dragon Boat Festival is a popular traditional cultural festival in China and other countries in the Chinese character cultural circle.

folk custom

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folk-custom activities

Today, the Dragon Boat Festival is still a very popular grand festival among the people of China.

Dragon boat festival custom

Celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival has been a traditional habit of China people for more than two thousand years. Due to the vast territory, numerous nationalities and numerous stories and legends, not only many different festival names are produced, but also different customs exist in different places. The main contents are as follows: "Daughter goes back to her parents' house, hangs Zhong Kui statue, welcomes ghosts, hides in the afternoon, sticks leaves in the afternoon, hangs calamus and wormwood, travels in all diseases, wears sachets, prepares sacrificial bowls, races dragon boats, flies kites, contests, hits balls, swings, bathes children with bitter herbs and wheat, paints realgar, drinks realgar wine and calamus wine, and eats five poisons. [ 12]

Summer was originally the season to drive away the plague. From this day on, the indispensable epidemic prevention activities gradually evolved into eating zongzi, dragon boat racing, hanging calamus, wormwood and mugwort leaves, smoking Atractylodes rhizome and angelica dahurica, and drinking realgar wine. Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Dragon Boat Festival has been circulated among the people for more than two thousand years. There are many theories about the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival. Although customs vary from place to place, making zongzi and rowing dragon boats is a common custom.

Various traditional folk activities:

row dragon boats

The word "dragon boat" first appeared in the pre-Qin ancient book "Mu Zhuan", Volume 5: "Take a bird boat and the dragon boat floats in the marsh." In "Nine Songs to the King", scholars also think that "flying dragon" refers to the dragon boat.

Bailongchuan

Before the dragon boat race, please invite dragons to offer sacrifices to the gods. For example, before the Dragon Boat Festival in Guangdong, you should go out of the water, worship the Nanhai God in the Nanhai Temple, install the dragon head and tail, and then prepare for the race. And buy a pair of paper cocks and put them on the dragon boat, thinking that they can keep the boat safe (vaguely corresponding to the ancient bird boat). Fujian and Taiwan went to Mazu Tempel to worship. All kinds of sacrificial ceremonies and commemorative ceremonies are nothing more than burning incense and burning money for roast chicken, cooking rice, burning meat, offering fruit, zongzi and so on. Nowadays, these superstitious ceremonies are rare, but in the past, when people went to the Dragon Palace to offer sacrifices, the atmosphere was very serious, praying for a bumper harvest in agriculture, good weather, evil spirits and all the best, and wishing boating safety. In people's words, "to be auspicious" expresses people's inner good wishes. In Zigui, Hubei, Qu Yuan's hometown, there is also a ceremony to worship Qu Yuan.

Longchi race

Emperors in the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties all liked to watch dragon boats by the water, which also belonged to games and the like:

According to Old Tang Book, both Mu Zong and Jing Zong have "watching the game".

The seventh volume of Dream of China in Tokyo records the custom of the Northern Song Emperor watching the dragon boat race in Jinming Pool of Linshui Temple. Among them are floats, musical boats, boats, painting boats, dragon boats and tiger boats. Watch and play music and a 40-foot-long dragon boat. In addition to dragon boats, other boats are lined up to bid for entertainment.

Zhang Song Zeduan's "Jin Chiming Won the Bid" depicts this scene.

The Ming emperor watched the dragon boat in Ziguangge, Zhongnanhai, and watched the court archers gallop and shoot arrows.

In the Qing Dynasty, races were held in Fuhai and Yuanmingyuan, and both Qianlong and Jiaqing emperors went to watch them. [4]

When rowing a dragon boat, there are many dragon boat songs that are sung and played. For example, when rowing dragon boats in Zigui, Hubei, there is a complete singing, and songs and songs are based on the integration of local folk songs and ballads. The song is magnificent and passionate, which is the legacy of "praise and harmony". Another example is the Dragon Boat Song in Nanxiong County, Shaoguan City, Guangdong Province. After the dragon boat was launched in April, it was sung until the Dragon Boat Festival, and the performance was very extensive.

Hanging wormwood and calamus

calamus

Dragon Boat Festival is the first festival after summer, and the temperature is rising, which is a period of frequent diseases. Therefore, many years ago, people often hung several mugwort plants at their doorsteps. Because of its special fragrance, people use it to drive away diseases, prevent mosquitoes and ward off evil spirits.

There is a folk proverb that says, "Willows are inserted in Qingming Festival, and Ai is inserted in Dragon Boat Festival". On the Dragon Boat Festival, people regard inserting wormwood and calamus as one of the important contents. "Ai" is also known as mugwort and mugwort. 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 planted Artemisia argyi and Acorus calamus to a certain extent, and these activities also reflected the fine tradition of the Chinese nation.

worried

"Holding Aiqi in your hand is a blessing, and hanging a sword under the door is a thousand evils." Hanging wormwood and calamus at the entrance of the Dragon Boat Festival is like putting a spell on it, which can benefit and avoid harm. During the Dragon Boat Festival, wormwood is usually tied into a bunch and inserted on the lintel, or one wormwood is inserted at each end of the lintel.

Wormwood represents a hundred blessings, and inserting it at the door represents a hundred blessings, which can make the owner healthy. Wormwood is also a kind of herbal medicine that can cure diseases. It has been a medicinal plant since ancient times in China. Moxibustion method in acupuncture is to use wormwood as the main component and burn it at acupoints to treat diseases. The legend that wormwood can exorcise evil spirits has been circulating for a long time, mainly because of its medical function.

Folium Artemisiae Argyi is a traditional Chinese medicine which is blindly fragrant and turbid, and has a strong detoxification and epidemic elimination effect. Hanging and burning mugwort leaves can sterilize and prevent the epidemic of plague. Folium Artemisiae Argyi has the functions of warming channels to stop bleeding, dispelling cold and relieving pain. Clinically, it is mostly for external use, such as moxibustion and decoction, but there are few prescription drugs, such as "Jiao Tang Ai" in Treatise on Febrile Diseases.

Hanging branches of mugwort leaves, calamus and banyan trees

There are reasons for hanging wormwood, calamus (Pujian), pomegranate and garlic at the entrance of Dragon Boat Festival. Usually mugwort leaves, banyan trees and calamus are tied into a bundle with red paper and then inserted or hung on the door. Because Acorus calamus is the head of five pistils in the sky, symbolizing evil sword, because the growing season and shape are regarded as "the spirit of a hundred yin", and the leaves are sword-shaped and can be inserted at the door to ward off evil spirits. Therefore, the alchemist called it "water sword", and later the custom extended to "general sword", which can cut off all evil. In the Qing Dynasty, Gu Tieqing recorded in Jia Qinglu that "chopping Pu as a sword, chopping Peng as a whip, and hanging peach stalks and garlic on the bed are all used to exorcise ghosts".

However, in the local chronicles of the Jin Dynasty, there is "mourning for the tiger, or cutting the ribbon for the tiger, with mourning attached to the leaves, and the wife fighting to cut it." In the future, it will be calamus, or human form, or Xiao Jian shape, called Pujian, to drive away evil spirits and ghosts. "

The legend that wormwood can exorcise evil spirits has been circulating for a long time, mainly because it has the function of medicine. For example, Zonggu's Chronicle of Jingchu records that "when chickens are not crowing, those who pick wormwood look like people, take it and collect it with moxibustion, which is very effective." On this day, Ai Cai became a human figure, hung on the door, and could cast poison gas. " [ 13]

Eat zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival.

Zongzi, a pyramid-shaped jiaozi, is made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves or reed leaves.

Eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival is another traditional custom of China people. Zongzi, also known as "millet" and "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 zongzi". 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 that time, jiaozi was made of glutinous rice and Alpinia oxyphylla, and the boiled jiaozi was called "educational zongzi". According to the "Yueyang Local Records" written by Zhou people, "It is customary to wrap the millet with leaves, cook it and cook it thoroughly. From May 5 to the solstice in summer, there is a jiaozi 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.

In the Tang Dynasty, the rice used for zongzi was "white as jade", and its shape appeared 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 has a 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.

Dragon Boat Festival Orchid Bathing Ceremony

Until now, at the beginning of May every year, every household in China has 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. [ 14]

Mulan decoction

Taking a bath with orchid soup at noon is an ancient custom recorded in Da Dai Li. But the orchids in this paper are not orchids, but flying grasses or compositae herbs, which have fragrance and can be cooked 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, we use bitter herbs or flowers, such as wormwood, cattail, impatiens and magnolia. 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. [ 15]

fly a kite

Japanese carp flag on Dragon Boat Festival

In southern China, children fly kites on the Dragon Boat Festival, which is called "disaster relief".

Pei Douniang

In the past, there were five kinds of women's headdresses. 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. "

Bolt five-color silk thread

In the traditional culture of China, the five colors "blue, red, white, black and yellow" symbolizing the five elements are regarded as auspicious colors. On the Dragon Boat Festival, children should tie colorful silk threads on their wrists and ankles to protect their health. Therefore, in the early morning of the Dragon Boat Festival, the first important thing for adults after getting up is to tie five-color lines on their wrists, ankles and necks. Children are not allowed to talk when tying the thread. The five-color line cannot be broken or discarded at will, and can only be thrown into the river during the first heavy rain in summer or the first bath.

It is said that children wearing five-color thread can avoid the harm of snakes and scorpions; Throwing it into the river is to let the river wash away plagues and diseases and make children safe and healthy. [ 17]

Picking tea and making 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.

Draw the forehead

The custom of daubing children's foreheads with realgar during the Dragon Boat Festival. Clouds can drive away poisonous insects. The typical method is to draw the word "Wang" on the child's forehead with realgar. One is to use realgar to drive away the poison, and the other is to use the tiger's forehead (the "king" is like a tiger, and the tiger is the king of all animals, because it is replaced by a tiger) to suppress evil. Fu Cha Dunchong's Chronicle of Yanjing in Qing Dynasty: "From the first day of the first lunar month, take realgar and sprinkle wine on the collar and nose and ears of children to avoid poison." In addition to the forehead, nose and ears, other places can also be painted, with the same intention. Shanxi Hequ county records: "Drinking realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival and applying children's forehead, hands and feet ... can prolong the illness."

Hide from the Dragon Boat Festival

It refers to taking a newly married or married daughter home for the holidays, which is referred to as "hiding for an afternoon" or "hiding for five days". It is customary to take May and May 5th as evil months and days, and it is necessary to ward off evil spirits in everything, because there is a custom of taking women home to ward off evil spirits during the Dragon Boat Festival. This custom seems to have been formed in the Song Dynasty. There is a line in Lu You's poem "Feng Sui" that "the goat cavity wine bears the burden of welcoming women, and the drum dragon boat is sent to compete with God". "Jiajing Longqing Zhi" also records a cloud: "Marry a woman and call her home for the holidays". Luan Zhou Zhi: "A woman bride welcomes the moon back, which is called" hiding from the Dragon Boat Festival ". [ 18]

Accompanying roll-call brigade

gynostemma pentaphyllum

I hate wearing ornaments during the Dragon Boat Festival. Also known as life-sustaining line, life-sustaining line, life-prolonging line, longevity line, Baisuo line, Shao Bing line and multicolored line. , different names, basically the same shape and function. During the Dragon Boat Festival, it is made of five-color silk, or hung at the door, or worn around the child's neck, or tied on the child's arm, or hung on the bed curtain, cradle and other places. It is said that it can avoid disasters and get rid of diseases, bless well-being and prolong life.

This festival has five shapes: simple five-color silk threads are combined into a rope and tied to the arm; Decorate Suk Kim ornaments on colorful ropes and hang them around your neck; Colorful ropes are folded into squares and decorated on the chest; Colorful knots are worn by portraits; Embroider the sun, moon, stars, black beasts and other things with colored silk thread to pay tribute to the elders. This custom began in the Han Dynasty. Ying Shao wrote "Lost Customs" in the Eastern Han Dynasty: "In the afternoon, tie your arms with colorful silks to avoid ghosts and soldiers, so that people will not get sick. One is a long-lived ghost fire, and the other is a soldier. " Later, they gradually got used to it, until it was near modern times. Qing Fu Chaton's "Yanjing Years" recorded the custom at that time: "Every time the sun goes down, those who are clever in the boudoir will make tigers, zongzi, gourds, cherries and mulberries with colored threads and hang them on their hair pins or tie them on the backs of children." Among them, in the Tang and Song Dynasties, the imperial court gave ministers things like saving things. In the first year of Xingyuan in Tang Daizong, the court gave one hundred rope axes. "Book of Rites XV": "The day before, the golden thread was given an official life extension, and the colored thread was given an official life extension. Wear it on holidays. "

Wear a sachet

Wear sachets, sachets and sachets during the Dragon Boat Festival (3 pieces)

Wear sachets, also known as sachets, sachets, wallets, etc. , is made of five-color silk thread or rags. It is filled with spices (made from Chinese herbal medicines, such as Radix Angelicae Dahuricae, Rhizoma Chuanxiong, Cao Qin, Rhizoma Sparganii, Rhizoma Kaempferiae, Gan Song and Rhizoma Kaempferiae), which is worn on the chest and smells fragrant. Chen Shiliang's Chronicle of Years Old quoted Miscellaneous Notes of Years Old as saying, "The Dragon Boat Festival is red and white, like a bag, with colored lines running through it and shaped like a flower." Another kind of "mussel powder bell": "On the fifth day, mussel powder is placed in silk and decorated with cotton, if there are several beads. Let the children take it to absorb sweat. " The things in these carry-on bags have changed several times, from sweat-absorbing mussel powder, amulets to ward off evil spirits, copper coins and realgar powder to sachets filled with spices, and their production has become increasingly exquisite, becoming a unique folk art of the Dragon Boat Festival.

Wearing sachets is very particular. In order to prevent diseases and keep fit, the elderly generally like to wear plum blossoms, chrysanthemums, peaches, apples, lotus flowers, dolls riding fish, dolls holding cocks, double lotus flowers and other shapes, symbolizing birds and flowers, all the best, loving each other and family harmony. Children like birds and animals, such as tigers and leopards; Monkeys on telephone poles, cockfighting to catch rabbits, etc. Young people are most particular about wearing sachets. If they are lovers in love, affectionate girls will carefully make one or two sachets with their own characteristics a long time ago and give them to their lovers before the festival. The young man wore a sachet from his sweetheart, which naturally aroused the discussion of men and women around him and praised the ingenuity of the young man's object.

Avoid five poisons

Five kinds of venom

Dragon Boat Festival is a poisonous day and an evil day in the eyes of the ancients. This idea has been handed down in folk beliefs, so there are various customs of seeking peace and solving disasters. In fact, this is because the summer weather is hot and dry, people are easy to get sick, and the plague is easy to spread; In addition, snakes and insects bite easily, so be very careful, which forms this habit.

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. [ 15]

Drink Pu wine, realgar wine and cinnabar wine.

realgar wine

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. [ 15]

There is an old saying: "Drink realgar wine and all diseases will disappear." Realgar is a mineral, commonly known as "Jiguanshi". Its main component is arsenic sulfide, which contains mercury and is toxic. The common realgar wine is made by adding a small amount of realgar to white wine or homemade yellow wine, and there is no pure drink. Realgar wine has the efficacy of sterilization, insect repellent and detoxification, and traditional Chinese medicine is also used to treat skin diseases. In ancient times, when there was no disinfectant such as iodine, soaking in realgar could detoxify and relieve itching. For children under drinking age, adults apply realgar wine to forehead, ears, ears, hands, feet, heart and other parts to disinfect and prevent diseases.

It rains on Dragon Boat Festival.

No rain in Duanyang is a good year. When it rains in broad daylight, ghosts flourish and people suffer. The whistle sounded on May 5, and people were poisoned. At the age of five, there was no disaster. When it rains, ghosts expose drugs and many people get sick.

/kloc-the folk custom of 0/8 year old patient rounds. As the saying goes, it is unlucky to rain on the Dragon Boat Festival. On the contrary, it is good. This general view existed a long time ago. Chen's Chronicle of Years Old quoted the Summary as saying: "On May 5th, people were poisoned, and at the age of eighteen, there was no disaster. When it rains, ghosts expose drugs and many people get sick. This proverb in Fujian. " Xu Yueqing's "Li Shizhou Dragon Boat Festival" also notes: "Linchuan people say that when it rains, ghosts will cause man-made disasters. The self-annotation of Zhao Huaiyu's poems in Qing Dynasty also quoted the proverb "No rain in Duanyang is a good year". [ 18]

Zhong Kui.

Zhong Kui.

Dancing Zhong Kui and disturbing Zhong Kui: Since the Jin Dynasty, dancing Zhong Kui and disturbing Zhong Kui and Fuzhen House have been the important contents of Dragon Boat Festival and Spring Festival. Hanging pictures of the clock gate: The earliest hanging pictures of the clock gate are said to have been painted by Saint Wu Daozi.

According to Shen Kuo's Meng Qian Bu Bi Tan in the Northern Song Dynasty, Emperor Tang Ming was ill for nearly a month and suddenly dreamed of two ghosts. The imp stole the purple sachets of the Jade Emperor and Yang Guifei and ran away. GREAT GHOST caught the little devil, gouged out his eyes, then smashed it and spit it out. "I'm Zhong Kui," GREAT GHOST said. "I am a person who can't lift martial arts successfully. I swear to your majesty that I will kill pests for the world." When the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty woke up and recovered from his illness, he called the painter Wu Daozi and asked him to draw a picture of catching ghosts at the gate according to the scene in his dream. Taoist wrote a pen and became a hero. After seeing it, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty was exactly the same as his dream and was amazed. Later, Zhong Kui's paintings gradually entered the folk, mostly painting in the Dragon Boat Festival in May or a few days before and after the Dragon Boat Festival. In the Qing Dynasty, most residents in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces south of the Yangtze River hung photos of Zhong Kui at the gate or hall in May of the lunar calendar to drive away evil and attract good luck.

Bean grass

Sketch Axis of Babies Listening to Watch Groups in Qing Dynasty

Before the Han Dynasty, there was no grass fighting drama (Textual Research on Popular Events in Past Dynasties, Shang Dynasty). Its origin is unknown, 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.

Other customs

play polo

Polo: There are archery scenes on the Dragon Boat Festival. "Shi Li" said: "Because of Liao customs, gold was planted several inches in the ground for five days, and its skin was peeled and white. First, one person gallops, and then gallops with featherless arrows. It is best to break the willow tree by hand to relax. What can't be picked up is second. Every shot must be drummed to help. " In the Ming Dynasty, birds were stored in gourds and shot. Playing polo is also one of the ways to play the Dragon Boat Festival. Polo is riding a horse and hitting with a stick. In ancient times, it was called bowing. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, there is a saying in Cao Zhiming's name that "there is a sentence in a row". In Chang 'an in the Tang Dynasty, there was a wide stadium, and emperors such as Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Jing Zong all liked polo. Ma Qiutu, in the tomb of Prince Zhang Huai, depicts the prosperity of polo in the Tang Dynasty: more than 20 horses galloped at high speed and their ponytails were tied up. Players are wearing shawls, boots and sticks, hitting each other one by one.

Visit the Temple of Heaven: In addition, Beijing also has the custom of visiting the Temple of Heaven. "A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Imperial Capital" Volume II: "Before noon on May 5, the group day entered the Temple of Heaven to avoid drugs. After the afternoon, walk under the wall of the altar. Jiangcheng is not vulgar, but it is also a corn millet. There is no custom of racing, it is also a game. " There is also a contest in Zhong Kui. A person dressed as Zhong Kui, waving a sword and holding a paper bat in front of him, makes it look like "no time to drink"; Follow the full set of ceremonial dresses and walk through the market to exorcise demons. In addition, there are circus and duck snatching activities on the Dragon Boat Festival.