Dragon Boat Festival is coming. Besides Zongzi, there are four kinds of ingredients to be prepared. We should pay attention to the old tradition and not suffer.

Dragon Boat Festival is one of the four traditional festivals in China. There are different opinions about the origin of Dragon Boat Festival, such as commemorating Qu Yuan, commemorating Wu Zixu and commemorating meson push. In addition, there are other sayings, such as summer solstice, evil day, orchid bathing and so on. Either way, it seems that you can find its source. According to experts' research and many ancient records listed by Mr Wen Yiduo in Dragon Boat Festival and Dragon Boat Festival History Education, the totem festival held by Wuyue people in ancient China is the real origin of Dragon Boat Festival. For thousands of years, Qu Yuan's patriotic spirit has been deeply rooted in people's hearts, and people are used to associating the custom of eating zongzi and roasting dragon boats with commemorating Qu Yuan.

Whenever the Dragon Boat Festival comes, ingenious families will sit around and jokingly fold glutinous rice into special shapes such as triangular cones or cuboids with wide zongzi leaves, and then tie them with thin threads. Jiaozi angular, just right, cooked for a long time with bursts of fragrance, particularly charming. Open the leaves of zongzi and eat a soft and fragrant glutinous rice, which is memorable. As an ancient traditional festival, the traditional food of Dragon Boat Festival is not limited to Zongzi, but also many people eat these four things. Remember to buy as many as possible during the Dragon Boat Festival.

1, salted duck eggs

As the saying goes, "you have to eat salted egg zongzi to send cold." Dragon Boat Festival is around the summer solstice. The weather is hot, rainy and humid at this time. Animals and plants have entered a vigorous growth period, and the bacteria are extremely active. The human body is prone to various diseases, which the ancients called "poisonous moon". Salted duck eggs contain trace elements such as protein and phospholipids, which can provide essential nutrition for the body. People think they should eat zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival.

2. Garlic eggs

In Henan, Anhui and Zhejiang, there is a custom of eating garlic and eggs during the Dragon Boat Festival. On the morning of Dragon Boat Festival, housewives will cook salted duck eggs with garlic and make breakfast for their families. In some areas, when cooking garlic eggs, a few pieces of mugwort leaves are added. It not only increases the festive atmosphere, but also has the functions of strengthening the stomach, helping digestion and strengthening the body's resistance. Moreover, the local people think that this way of eating can avoid the "five poisons" and is conducive to good health.

Step 3 pile it up and fry it

In addition to eating soft glutinous rice dumplings, fried dumplings with crisp taste and golden color are also one of the most distinctive foods in the Dragon Boat Festival. Heap frying is called Ma Tuan in the north, Fried Jujube in Fujian and Ma Yuan in Sichuan. This is an ancient traditional fried pasta. Heap frying is simple, just stir and knead glutinous rice flour into dough, wrap it with bean paste, stick sesame seeds on it, and fry it in oil pan until golden brown.

According to legend, in ancient Minnan, the Dragon Boat Festival came, and it rained continuously. People thought that the sky was punctured and needed mending. After eating piles of fried food on the Dragon Boat Festival, the rain stopped and the weather cleared up, so people said that the custom of eating piles of fried food on the Dragon Boat Festival was handed down.

4. Pu wine, realgar wine or cinnabar wine

Dragon Boat Festival is in midsummer, the weather is hot and dry, and people are prone to get sick. Besides, snakes and insects bite easily. Be extra careful at this time. People in the south of the Yangtze River will use realgar, Zhu Lei, peach kernels, mugwort leaves and cattail leaves to pour wine, soak Acorus gramineus in the corners of houses, doors and windows, or smear wine on children's ears, ears and navel to keep poisonous insects safe.

This is an ancient custom. As early as the Chronicle of Jingchu Times, there was a record of "using calamus, carved flowers or scraps to cool wine". Pu wine was fragrant and refreshing, and later realgar and cinnabar were added to the wine. In addition, in some areas, realgar wine will be used to draw a "king" on children's forehead during the Dragon Boat Festival, so that children will have the mark of a tiger to ward off evil spirits. These activities seem superstitious, but in fact, from a health point of view, there are certain scientific reasons. Realgar mixed with water and wine in indoor and outdoor, corners and other places has bactericidal effect.

Although there are different traditional customs in different parts of the Dragon Boat Festival, eating zongzi seems to be an eternal tradition all over the country and has become one of the most influential traditional foods of our nation. Eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival is not only a dietary custom, but also a yearning for a better life in the future, which means a complete and healthy life and physical safety.

-Lao Jing said-

Whether it's picking dragon boats, hanging wormwood, eating zongzi or eating Huang Wu, these traditional festivals and customs all express people's good wishes for good luck and peace. What other traditional customs are there in your hometown during the Dragon Boat Festival? Please share it in the comments section.