What is mugwort?

During the Dragon Boat Festival in northern China, people go to the mountains to pick some mugwort leaves before the sun comes out and put them at the door to make people's lives safe and smooth. There is a legend in tradition.

During the Tang Xizong period, Huang Chao rebelled, attacked the city and plundered the land, killing the rich and helping the poor. From Shandong to Henan, the enemy arrived at the gates of Dengzhou. Among the fleeing crowd, a woman was holding a five-or six-year-old son and a two-or three-year-old boy. Huang Chao asked her why. The woman replied, "The child is his own. The eldest son is a neighbor, and the neighbor's family died in the war, leaving only this little blood. Huang Chao killed him. "

The woman said to herself, "If there is love, you won't kill it." Seeing that the roadside was covered with Ai Miao, Huang Chao had a brainwave and reached out to pull up two trees. He said to the woman, "If you have love, don't kill them. Sister-in-law will send word back to the city and let the people stick Ai Miao on the door as a souvenir, so the rebels won't hurt them."

After the woman returned to the city, she secretly sent a message. The next day, it was the Dragon Boat Festival. Huang Chao rebels captured Dengzhou, killed corrupt officials, eliminated the strongmen, opened warehouses and distributed grain, and the whole people cheered!

Since then, inserting mugwort leaves in the Dragon Boat Festival has become a custom, which has been passed down to this day.

We old people now say that inserting mugwort leaves in the Dragon Boat Festival is used to ward off evil spirits, and life will be safe and smooth after one year. Hanging two paper gourds adds some festive atmosphere.