What are the traditional customs of Dragon Boat Festival?

The traditional customs of Dragon Boat Festival mainly include:

1, eat zongzi

In ancient times, people in Jingchu would cook glutinous rice or steam rice cakes and throw them into the river on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in order to sacrifice Qu Yuan who threw himself into the river. Fearing that fish would eat them, people came up with the idea of wrapping rice with rice leaves and colored silk. Later, eating zongzi became the custom of the Dragon Boat Festival. Zongzi is made of glutinous rice, yellow rice and jujube, commonly known as "Mill Zongzi".

Step 2 hang wormwood

During the Dragon Boat Festival, people will hang wormwood or calamus in front of the courtyard and under the eaves. Mosquitoes are afraid of this smell and can repel mosquitoes.

Because the leaves of Acorus calamus are shaped like swords, the ancients called them "water swords", saying that they can "cut all evils". People will carve calamus into figures such as "little people" and "small gourds" and hang them around children's necks for good luck. It will also be hung on the lintel to exorcise evil spirits.

3. Dragon Boat Race

Legend has it that Chu people used dragon boats to disperse the fish in the river to prevent the fish from eating Qu Yuan's body. Wang Zuokun said that when the ancients competed in dragon boats, they set fish, duck and iron marks at the end. Whoever gets these three points will win the third place in the championship. In order to let the contestants see the finish line from a distance, the ancients also tied bows with brocade on three labels.

4. Eat five poisonous cakes

The Dragon Boat Festival is approaching the summer solstice, the weather is getting hotter and hotter, bacteria are breeding, and people are prone to heatstroke and illness, so the ancients ate Wudu cake to get rid of illness and strengthen their health. It is said that eating poisonous cakes can enhance resistance, kill insects and avoid disasters.

Step 5 hit a hundred herbs

In ancient times, when people arrived at the Dragon Boat Festival, they would go to the suburbs to collect herbs together and compete for grass on the way, which gradually formed a custom. Two people who participate in the game will stand opposite each other with grass, each holding both ends of a grass or flower stem. After the game started, the two grasses hooked together, and each side pulled the grass in its own direction. Whoever breaks the other side's grass or flower stem loses.

Step 6 collect five poisons

During the Dragon Boat Festival, girls should put "tapirs" on their chests. It is said that this kind of zongzi-like cloth sewn with colored silk thread can ward off evil spirits. There is a gourd hanging around the boy's neck. There is a pattern of "Five Poisons" on the gourd, which means "collecting" five poisons.

7. stick gourd flower

Because gourd is the homonym of "Fulu". In ancient times, people would cut red fringed paper into gourds with the pattern of "Five Poisons" on it, which was called "Gourd Flower". They posted it on May 1st, took it off at noon on May 5th and threw it away, which was called "disaster throwing".

8. Order realgar wine

There is also the custom of realgar wine on the Dragon Boat Festival. The boy writes the word "Wang" on his forehead and the girl points five points on his head. It is believed that the mosquitoes and flies should be broken with realgar wine to ward off evil spirits and avoid harm.