About the custom of Dragon Boat Festival.

On the fifth day of May, Dragon Boat Festival. This thousand-year-old folk festival has always been rich and romantic: eating zongzi, racing dragon boats, inserting Aipu, soaking orchid soup, offering sacrifices to Qu Yuan, wearing colored thread and drinking realgar wine ... Although the customs of Dragon Boat Festival vary from place to place, the lively situation is the same. Next, I will introduce several customs of the Dragon Boat Festival in detail. Let's take a look.

1, eat zongzi

Zongzi is one of the symbols of Dragon Boat Festival and a must-eat food. According to folklore, the custom of eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate the great patriotic poet Qu Yuan. Thousands of years ago, Qu Yuan threw himself into the Miluo River. In order to prevent fish and shrimp in the river from eating Qu Yuan's body, people packed a lot of zongzi and threw them into the river, so they had the custom of eating zongzi.

To this day, at the beginning of May every year, people in China have 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.

Step 2 drink realgar wine

Drinking realgar wine on Dragon Boat Festival has existed since ancient times. It is said that drinking realgar wine can sterilize, repel insects and eliminate the five poisons. There is a saying in the classic film and television work Legend of the New White Snake that drinking realgar wine can eliminate the five poisons and ward off evil spirits.

Why drink realgar wine? The wine brewed with realgar has a special smell, which can drive away snakes, insects, rats, ants and other poisons. Therefore, adults will drink realgar wine, but children can't drink it, so they will apply it on their bodies to avoid the "five poisons."

3. Dragon Boat Race

Dragon boat, as its name implies, is a boat shaped like a dragon. The bow of this ship is like a high faucet, and the side and abdomen of the ship are painted with different colors. Dragons come in different sizes and paddles, including six pairs, twelve pairs, seventeen pairs and fifty-two pairs. If you enter in the same way, then the size of the dragon boat must be the same. If it is a new ship, a ceremony must be held.

Dragon boat race is the main custom of Dragon Boat Festival. According to legend, it originated in ancient times. Because Chu people could not bear to be separated from the sage Qu Yuan, they died in the river, and many people rowed to catch up and save. They rushed to catch up until Dongting Lake disappeared. After that, I will row a dragon boat on May 5th every year to commemorate it. People use dragon boats to disperse the fish in the river so as not to eat Qu Yuan's body. The habit of competition prevailed in wuyue and Chu.

4. Wear sachets

Wearing sachets is said to have the meaning of ward off evil spirits and drive away epidemics (ancient people thought their illness was caused by monsters), but it was actually used to decorate the inner head. The sachet contains cinnabar, realgar, and fragrant medicine. It is wrapped in silk, and the fragrance is overflowing. Then it is tied into a rope with five-color silk threads, and made into various shapes of strings, which are small and lovely.

Children wear sachets on the Dragon Boat Festival, which is said to mean to ward off evil spirits and plague. Sachet bags are made into different shapes and strung together, all kinds of small and lovely, and now they have become a common handicraft. In some cities in southern China, young men and women also use sachets to express their deep love.

5. Colored silk thread

During the Dragon Boat Festival, every household hangs colored silk ropes on the lintel to ward off evil spirits. Therefore, traditionally, five-color silk is woven into a rope with a silver lock and wrapped around the child's arm to pray for evil spirits, illness and longevity!

This five-color rope is also exquisite, so it must be tied before the sun comes out, otherwise it will be useless, and the five-color rope can't be broken or discarded at will, so it can only be placed in the drain of its own courtyard wall and washed away with the rain when it rains heavily during the Dragon Boat Festival.

In fact, many customs of the Dragon Boat Festival are unreasonable today, and even said to be superstitious. However, in ancient times, they also placed people's expectations for a better life. They hope that these customs can bring them and their families health and good luck, so as to stay away from diseases.