Dragon Boat Festival customs at least eight

Duanwu Festival, is the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar every year, also known as the Duanyang Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Chongwu Festival, Tianzhong Festival, etc., originated from the worship of natural phenomena of the sky, evolved from the ancient times of the sacrifice of the dragon.

The Dragon Boat Festival, originally created by ancient ancestors to worship the dragon ancestor, pray for blessings to ward off evil festivals. Legend has it that Qu Yuan, a poet of the State of Chu during the Warring States period, jumped into the Miluo River on the 5th day of the 5th month to kill himself, and the Dragon Boat Festival is also regarded as a festival commemorating Qu Yuan by later generations; it also commemorates Wu Zixu, Cao'e, and Jie Zi Tui, and so on.

The Dragon Boat Festival is known as one of the four major traditional festivals in China, together with the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival. The culture of Dragon Boat Festival has a wide influence in the world, and some countries and regions in the world also have activities to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.

Traditional customs of the Dragon Boat Festival

1, picking the dragon boat

Pick the dragon boat is a multi-person collective paddle race, is an important activity of the Dragon Boat Festival, is the ancient dragon totem ritual festival, is a legacy. Is an important activity of the Dragon Boat Festival, is still very popular in China's southern coastal areas, spread abroad, loved by the people of various countries and the formation of international competitions.

The Dragon Boat Festival has a dragon boat also has a phoenix boat, phoenix boat is derived from the ancient boat, some places there are dragon and phoenix boat. The dragon boat is a form of dragon worship in folk beliefs, that is, to borrow the divine power of the dragon to pray for blessings and ward off evil spirits.

2, hanging mugwort and calamus

In the Dragon Boat Festival, people inserted mugwort and calamus as one of the important content, families are cleaned, to calamus, moxa inserted in the door eyebrow, hanging in the hall. Folk believe that the wormwood also wards off evil spirits, the role of attracting a hundred blessings, during the Dragon Boat Festival hanging wormwood on the door, followed the custom, and then into the Dragon Boat Festival customs.

North and South are all over the Dragon Boat Festival hanging mugwort custom. In the south, it is regarded as an auspicious day to drive away evil spirits and diseases, and in some places in the north, it is regarded as a bad month and a bad day to avoid evil and poison.

3, Pei Xiangbao

Pei Xiangbao, is one of the traditional customs of the Dragon Boat Festival. It is usually filled with aromatic herbs, which have the effect of clearing the scent, repelling insects, avoiding the plague, and preventing diseases. Duan Yang to four-color thread tie arm, and wear incense sachets, small and exquisite can be seen. Fragrance pouch, also known as incense bag, incense bag, purse, is generally loaded with spices, with five-color silk thread twisted and become, or the use of colorful satin or cloth wrapped in cotton, mixed with chuanxiong, dahurica, row of grass, scullcap grass, cloves, mountain ai, fine Xin, ganzong, dahuric acid, licorice, andrographis powder powder and other powder, and then use colorful silk embroidery and become, the lower side is also draped with a variety of red, green, blue, blue, purple thread spikes, worn on the chest, the aroma of the nose.

The Dragon Boat Festival children to wear scented bags, legend has it that the evil spirits to drive away the plague. Scented sachets for a variety of different shapes, knotted into a string, colorful, small and lovely, has become a common crafts. In some cities in southern China, young men and women also use scented pouches to express strong love.

4, casting flint

Wang Chong of the Eastern Han Dynasty's "On the balance" recorded the Dragon Boat Festival, "casting flint" ceremonial customs: "flint fire in the sky, in the middle of the day in the May C when the consummation of five stones, casting as a device, the Mo Reed light! The fire will come to the sun, and this is the way to get the real fire". Ancient people believe that the noon month noon day noon with triple fire, is the time of Yang Qi is very strong, in this moment to fire gold, is the best time to melt gold cast mirror, cast bronze mirror with incredible power. Mirror to ward off evil customs, in the southern coastal area has a wide range of applications and heredity, can often be seen shortly after the birth of small children, wearing a silver mirror and other accessories, such silver jewelry, small mirrors, etc., is used for children to ward off evil spirits. Newly built temples and Taoist temples, the ridge of the center is often decorated with copper mirrors. Is a modern neighborhood brand-new building doors, windows above, can often be found hanging mirrors, these are used for the so-called evil spirits. This shows that the mirror to ward off evil cultural beliefs in the folk y rooted.

5, bolted five-color silk thread

Five-color silk thread, also commonly known as five-color silk, colorful silk. Ancient common name is called to avoid military bindings, Zhu Suo and so on. Tied to the mosquito net, cradle on the rope is also known as the Wan Wan, Jian rope. The five colors of the five-color silk represents the five elements, five colors represent the five directions, each other, with a mysterious role in driving away evil and welcoming good luck. Five-color silk thread from China's ancient concept of five elements, five-color silk tied to the arm, or for the tattoo legacy. Dragon Boat Festival with five-color silk thread on the arm, was a very popular custom. Passed on to later generations, that is, the development of such as long-life wisps, long-life locks, incense packets and many other kinds of beautiful ornaments, the production is also becoming more and more sophisticated, and become the Dragon Boat Festival is unique to the folk art.

6, dip dragon boat water

Duanwu Festival during the dip dragon boat water is a traditional custom in southern China, people will be before and after the Dragon Boat Festival of the descent of the strong water called the dragon boat water, Duanyang water, hair of the dragon, dragon water, dragon water, etc., that this water is auspicious water, have to ward off the role of evil spirits. Midsummer Dragon Boat Festival Cang Long Qunxing soared in the middle of the sky in the south. In folk beliefs in the dragon is auspicious, and wind and rain master, the dragon flying sky, traveling clouds and rain. Natural phenomena, every year before and after the Dragon Boat Festival, China's southern warm and humid air flow is active, and from the north south of the cold air in Guangdong and Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan convergence, there is often a sustained wide range of heavy precipitation. When the Dragon Boat Festival heavy precipitation comes, the river level rises rapidly, for picking dragon boat provides a good site conditions. According to traditional saying dip dragon boat water means good luck, everything goes well. Every year "dragon boat water" to come, people will take their families to the river to wash the dragon boat water, the ancients believe that "dragon boat water" has the role of warding off evil spirits, can be purified, washed away bad luck, bring good luck.

This allows the ancient people in the north gradually formed "to avoid the five poisons", "to avoid the Dragon Boat Festival" and other customs.

7, jumping Zhong Kui, hanging Zhong Kui statue

Jumping Zhong Kui: a folk dance, also known as "play Zhong Kui". It is reported that jumping Zhong Kui, originating in the Northern Song Dynasty, is the ancient Huizhou survived a traditional folkloric performances, there are "out of the patrol", "marrying sister", "in addition to the five poisons" and so on a variety of content, reflecting the people revere Zhong Kui's uprightness and praying for the elimination of the harm to the good wishes of the blessing. In folklore, "Zhong Kui" is to avoid evil and help the symbol of justice, the Dragon Boat Festival jumping Zhong Kui, meaning the elimination of the five poisons, the four seasons of peace, longevity and abundance. To the Qing Dynasty, Jiangnan Su, Zhejiang area residents mostly in the lunar calendar in May in the door or hall hanging Zhong Kui figure in January, with a view to drive away evil spirits, remove the evil lead to fortune.

Zhong Kui catch ghosts: is popular in the Jianghuai area of the Dragon Boat Festival customs. In the Jianghuai area, every family hanging Zhong Kui statue, used to suppress the house to drive away evil spirits. According to legend, the Tang Ming Huang Kaiyuan, from the Lixan lecture martial arts back to the palace, malaria big hair, dreaming of two ghosts, a small, small, small ghosts wearing red crotchless pants, stealing Yang Guifei's scented pouch and the Emperor's jade flute, around the temple and ran. The big ghost is wearing a blue robe and hat, catch the little ghost, dig out its eyes, swallowed; Ming Huang asked, the big ghost said: I surnamed Zhong Kui, that is, the martial arts did not pass, would like to remove the demons for His Majesty. Ming Huang woke up, malaria cured, then made the painter Wu Daozi, according to the dream saw painted into Zhong Kui ghosts of the portrait, order the world in the Dragon Boat Festival, all posted to drive away the evil spirits.

8, the Dragon Boat Festival food dumplings

The Dragon Boat Festival food dumplings, is the Dragon Boat Festival's traditional customs. Zong, commonly known as zongzi, the main material is glutinous rice, fillings, with Ruo leaf (or Shuu leaf, Leucaena leucocephala) wrapped and become a variety of shapes, there are sharp corners, square and so on. Its origins are long, initially used to be a tribute to the gods and ancestors. After it was introduced to the north, it was made with millet (produced in the north) and called "Corn". Due to the different dietary habits of different places, dumplings formed a north-south flavor; from the taste points, dumplings have salty dumplings and sweet dumplings two categories. Duanwu food dumplings custom, for thousands of years in China, has become the Chinese nation's most influential, the most extensive coverage of one of the folk dietary practices, and spread to North Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian countries.

Every year at the beginning of May, the Chinese people dip glutinous rice, wash zongzi leaves, package zongzi, its colorful varieties. In terms of fillings, in the north there are many Beijing date zongs with small dates; in the south there are bean paste, fresh meat, ham, clam vulgaris, egg yolks and other fillings.

9, eat five yellow

Five yellow, that is, yellow fish, cucumber, eel, duck egg yolk, and xionghuang wine (xionghuang wine has toxicity, generally drink ordinary yellow wine instead of xionghuang wine). Eating five yellow is a Han Chinese folk custom, popular in Jiangnan and other places. In the fifth month of the lunar calendar, people in the south of the Yangtze River are called the month of five yellow, because there are five kinds of food with the "yellow" sound on the market and so named.

In the Dragon Boat Festival at noon to eat five yellow meal, that is, the five yellow-colored food mixed together to eat. Because the theory of Chinese medicine is that the Dragon Boat Festival is on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, which is the time of the year when yang energy is at its peak, and at noon, which is the time of the day when yang energy is at its peak, you can take advantage of the power of the Dragon Boat Festival to inhibit bad luck and boost your energy.