When is the Dragon Boat Festival?

Dragon Boat Festival is the fifth day of the fifth lunar month every year.

Dragon Boat Festival, originally founded by ancient ancestors, is a festival to worship the ancestors of dragons and pray for evil spirits. It is said that Qu Yuan, a poet of Chu State in the Warring States Period, jumped into the Miluo River on May 5th and committed suicide. Later, people also took the Dragon Boat Festival as a festival to commemorate Qu Yuan. There are also sayings in memory of Wu Zixu, Cao E and meson push.

Generally speaking, the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the ancient ancestors' choice of "flying dragons over the sky" as an auspicious day to worship their ancestors and pray for evil spirits, and injected the seasonal fashion of "eliminating diseases and preventing epidemics" into summer. The Dragon Boat Festival, regarded as "bad month and bad day", began in the northern part of the Central Plains and was attached to commemorate Qu Yuan and other historical figures.

The customs of the Dragon Boat Festival

1, eat zongzi

The custom of eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty in China. In Jingchu area, people cook glutinous rice or steamed zongzi cakes, and then throw them into the river to offer sacrifices to Qu Yuan. This custom has continued to this day.

2. Dragon Boat Race

In Greater China, Japan and Ryukyu, Dragon Boat Festival will be held. Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet in the Warring States Period, was thrown into the river because he could not be reused. People are scrambling to row for his body. This custom has become one of the most popular outdoor activities in many southern provinces.

3. Hanging herbs (Acorus calamus, wormwood, etc.). )

The secular world should hang five spirits in the sky to ward off evil spirits, drive away plagues and turn evil into good fortune. Five Swiss fingers in the sky: Acorus calamus, wormwood, pomegranate flower, garlic and dragon boat flower. This custom has continued to this day in many southern provinces.

4. Apply realgar and drink realgar wine

Realgar wine is white wine or yellow wine brewed from ground realgar, which China people usually drink during the Dragon Boat Festival. Realgar can be used as an antidote and insecticide, and has inhibitory effect on snakes, scorpions and other insects. This custom still exists in the north and south.