About the origin and customs of the Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the Dragon Boat Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Day in the Festival, etc., originated from the worship of natural celestial phenomena, evolved from the ancient times of the sacrifice of the dragon. Midsummer Dragon Boat Festival, Canglong seven lodges in the south of the sky, in the year's most "in" position, that is, as the "I Ching - Qian Gua" lines of the fifth line of the lines said: "Flying Dragon in the sky". Its origin covers the ancient astrological culture, humanistic philosophy and other aspects of the content, contains a profound and rich cultural connotation, in the development of the inheritance of a variety of folklore as a whole, the festival is rich in customary content. Rowing dragon boats and eating rice dumplings are the two major rituals of the Dragon Boat Festival, which have been passed down in China since ancient times and are still practiced today.

Customs of the Dragon Boat Festival

1, eat zongzi

Duanwu eat zongzi is also an important custom, zongzi is also known as "tube zongzi", "corn", every year at the Dragon Boat Festival, families will dip glutinous rice, wash zongzi leaves, packet Every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, families would dip glutinous rice, wash zongzi leaves, and wrap zongzi. Each place's zongzi taste and fillings are different, zongzi initially in order to worship ancestors and gods, but Qu Yuan cast the river on the day is also the fifth day of May, people can not bear to river fish and shrimp ate Qu Yuan's body, they will be to the river fish and shrimp into the zongzi. The origin of the zongzi far earlier than the qu yuan period, in order to commemorate the qu yuan, the descendants adhere to the Dragon Boat Festival to eat zongzi, slowly formed such a custom. The custom of eating zongzi is prevalent in all parts of China, but also to the great poet Qu Yuan's nostalgia.

2, tethered five-color thread

Traditional customs, with red, green, yellow, white and black thread rolled into a colorful rope, tied to the arms of small children or on the neck, since the fifth of May, has been tied up to the Tanabata "seven mother" birthday, only to be dismantled along with the gold kozo burned. There is also a saying that in the first rainy day after the Dragon Boat Festival, the colorful thread cut down and thrown in the rain, meaning that the river will be the plague, disease, said to be able to go to the evil spirit, hustle and bustle, will bring a year of good luck.

3, wear scented sachets

Duanwu Festival on this day the custom of small children wearing scented sachets is said to have the meaning of the evil spirits to drive away the plague, and in the South, young men and women will also be through the scented sachets to express their love. Scented sachets come in many shapes and sizes, but they are more than just decorations. They are usually filled with herbs, incense, cinnabar, and andrographis, which have the effect of repelling insects and preventing diseases. The outside is wrapped by silk cloth, then fixed with colorful silk thread twisting, and finally embroidered with colorful silk, the colorful scented sachet is very dazzling and eye-catching.

4, drink xionghuang wine

Xionghuang wine has the effect of insect repellent and detoxification, drink more can also be beauty. Drinking Xionghuang wine on the Dragon Boat Festival is a symbol of driving away diseases. People dipped into the wine and then dipped in calamus aiphone sprinkled wall corners, doors, windows, under the bed, etc., and then coated with wine children's ears, nose, navel, to drive away poisonous insects. These activities, from the health point of view, or scientific reasoning. Andrographis plus water and wine sprinkled indoors can be sterilized, drinking bushel sprinkles are also quite beneficial.

5, hanging leaves

Folk proverb: "Qingming willow, Dragon Boat Festival plug Ai". Mugwort is a medicinal plant, its leaves contain volatile aromatic oils, can drive away mosquitoes, refreshing. On the Dragon Boat Festival, people will clean their homes and then put mugwort leaves on the lintel. Mugwort leaves represent inviting a hundred blessings, which can make the body healthy and play a role in preventing and controlling diseases. South and North have Dragon Boat Festival hanging moxa custom, but the difference is that the role is not the same, the South use of moxa to dispel evil spirits and diseases, while the North to avoid poisonous and evil, the pharmacology of its similar, all play a role in sterilization and disease prevention, which is also the Chinese national tradition.

6, Dragon Boat Race

Dragon Boat Race is a major custom of the Dragon Boat Festival, as for the Dragon Boat Race this custom from where, or from historical allusions. According to an ancient legend, after Qu Yuan threw himself into the river, the people of Chu were so sad that they believed he was a loyal and virtuous minister, so they rowed a boat to save him. However, when they struggled to reach the Dongting Lake, there was no trace of Qu Yuan. Worried that the fish in the lake had eaten Qu Yuan's body, they took the opportunity of rowing a dragon boat to disperse the fish in the lake. Later, every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, there would be dragon boat races, and the custom of dragon boat races prevailed in the three countries of Wu, Yue and Chu at that time. Afterwards, people prayed for good weather by racing dragon boats at the Dragon Boat Festival.

What are the taboos of the Dragon Boat Festival

1, avoid the evil day, the children "to avoid the noon"

May in the feng shui custom known as the "evil month", is an inauspicious month, the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth of May is also known as the "heavy five". "heavy five", is evil on evil, is the most inauspicious day in May. Therefore, the Dragon Boat Festival this day, there is a "hiding noon" custom.

2, the most taboo day

Duanwu Festival has a more common activity is to worship ancestors, in this day, there are many places the custom is to throw the dumplings into the river. People in some places believe that the Dragon Boat Festival should not let themselves be in a bad mood or depressed, otherwise it will have a bad effect on them. Some celebratory activities or moving house, taking office, starting a construction project, etc., are not suitable for this day, but in this day is most suitable for their family reunion.

3, avoid wearing red jewelry

Red gemstones tend to be very festive, in the Dragon Boat Festival in memory of ancestors such a festival is not very timely. Red tourmaline, ruby, garnet, red grain stone, red agate and other red jade jewelry, or try not to wear. In Chinese tradition, purple is a very noble color, and is also always seen as an imperial aura, capable of shocking the four directions. In this way, it seems that usually wear energy, the Dragon Boat Festival rituals, it is also best not to wear purple jewelry.

4, small children wear incense packets can not be lost

In the north of China, some local children in the Dragon Boat Festival has the custom of wearing incense packets. And for the children, if it is wearing a bag of incense, then in this day is not to be lost. There is a folk saying that if a child's scented bag is missing on that day, he or she may meet with disaster during the year. And when after the Dragon Boat Festival, children can directly throw the incense packet they are wearing into the river by hand, so that they can avoid disasters.