About the Dragon Boat Festival activities

Hanging the statue of Zhongkui: Zhongkui catching ghosts is a Dragon Boat Festival custom. In the Jianghuai area, every house hangs a statue of Zhongkui to guard the house and ward off evil spirits. During the reign of Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty, when he returned to the palace from a martial arts lecture at Mount Li, malaria broke out. He dreamed of two ghosts, one big and one small. The little ghost wore bright red crotchless pants, stole Concubine Yang's sachet and Emperor Ming's jade flute, and ran around the palace. The big ghost wears a blue robe and hat, catches the little ghost, gouges out its eyes, and swallows them in one gulp. The Emperor Ming shouted and asked, and the ghost said: "My surname is Zhong Kui, and I failed in the martial arts examination. I am willing to eliminate demons for His Majesty. After the Emperor Ming woke up, he recovered from the malaria, so he ordered the painter Wu Daozi to draw the painting according to the instructions in the dream." Seeing the picture of Zhong Kui catching ghosts, he ordered all the people to put them up during the Dragon Boat Festival to drive away evil spirits.

Gua moxa leaf and calamus: During the Dragon Boat Festival, every family uses calamus, mugwort leaves, pomegranate flowers, garlic, and dragon boat flowers to make human shapes called moxa figures. Mugwort leaves are hung in the hall, cut into tiger shapes or small tigers, and pasted with moxa leaves. Women rush to wear them to ward off evil spirits and ward off miasma. Use calamus as a sword and insert it on the lintel of the door, which has the magical effect of driving away ghosts and nobles.

Dragon boat race: At that time, the Chu people were reluctant to let go of the death of their virtuous minister Qu Yuan, so many people rowed boats to chase and save him. They scrambled to be the first, but disappeared when they reached Dongting Lake. This was the origin of dragon boat racing, and dragon boat racing was held on May 5th every year to commemorate it. They rowed dragon boats to disperse the fish in the river to prevent them from eating Qu Yuan's body. The custom of racing was popular in Wu, Yue and Chu. Dragon boat racing began in Taiwan in the 29th year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty. At that time, Taiwan's prefect, Jiang Yuanjun, hosted a friendly competition at the Half Moon Pond of Fahua Temple in Tainan City. Taiwan now holds a dragon boat race every May 5th. There are ferry races in Hong Kong, and recently the British have followed the Chinese example and organized ghost teams to compete.

Eating rice dumplings: People in Jingchu cook glutinous rice or steam rice dumplings and throw them into the river on May 5th to worship Qu Yuan. To avoid being eaten by fish, they put the glutinous rice in bamboo tubes and throw it down. Later, rice dumpling leaves were gradually used to wrap rice instead of bamboo tubes.

Drinking realgar wine: This custom is very popular among people in the Yangtze River Basin.

Traveling for all diseases: This custom is popular during the Dragon Boat Festival in Guizhou.

Wearing sachets: Children wear sachets during the Dragon Boat Festival, which not only means to ward off evil spirits and repel plague, but also embellishes their lapels. The sachet contains cinnabar, realgar, and fragrant medicine, and is wrapped with silk cloth, which overflows with fragrance. Five-color silk strings are then tied into ropes and made into various shapes to form a string, which is colorful and exquisite.

Dragon Boat Festival song broadcast

1. Brown seeds are fragrant, and the kitchen is fragrant. The fragrance of mugwort leaves fills the hall. Peach branches are stuck on the door, and when you go out, you can see the yellow wheat. Duanyang here, Duanyang there, Duanyang everywhere.