The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the four major traditional festivals in my country. It was selected as a world intangible cultural heritage in 2009. The Dragon Boat Festival has a long history and rich connotations, covering astrological culture, humanistic philosophy, and integrating various folk customs from all over the country. It is a grand national festival. Let’s introduce the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival.

1. Tying five-color silk threads

Tying five-color silk threads is a unique custom of the Dragon Boat Festival. Colorful thread is made of five colors of silk threads, and these five colors must be blue, white, red, black, and yellow. In ancient China, the five colors were worshiped and regarded as auspicious colors. Therefore, in the early morning of the festival, the first important thing that adults do after getting up is to tie five-color silk threads around their children's wrists, ankles, and necks. When tying the thread, children are prohibited from speaking. The five-color silk thread cannot be broken or discarded at will. It can only be thrown into the river during the first heavy rain in summer or the first bath. It is said that children wearing colorful silk threads can avoid poisonous insects such as snakes and scorpions; throwing them into the river means that the river water will wash away plagues and diseases, so that the children can be safe and healthy.

2. Painting the forehead

Painting the forehead is also very popular now. "Hequ County Chronicle" also records: "Drinking realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival and applying it on children's forehead, hands and soles can cure diseases and prolong life." This means that during the Dragon Boat Festival, one needs to drink realgar wine and apply the realgar wine on children’s foreheads, hands and soles of their feet to get rid of illnesses and prolong life.

It is worth mentioning that the child must use realgar wine to draw the word "王" on his forehead. Because realgar wine can drive away poison (this is a common understanding of the ancients). The "king" represents the tiger. The tiger is a nearly invincible existence in the ancient forest. It uses the power of the tiger to remove disasters and evil spirits, and is full of people's blessings.

3. Drive away the five poisons

People believe that on the Dragon Boat Festival in May, the five poisons will appear. The five poisons are scorpions, snakes, centipedes, geckos, and toads. In order to prevent the five poisons from entering their homes, people will sprinkle lime, spray realgar wine, burnt smoke, etc. in every corner of the home. At the same time, they must clean every place in the home and clear away the garbage that has been piled up for a long time.

In ancient times, May was considered the "poisonous month" because at this time the weather was getting hotter and the rain was increasing, people were prone to getting sick, and many insects in nature were also active. Folk songs say: "Dragon Boat Festival, the weather is hot, the five poisons awaken, and there is no peace." Therefore, many special customs of exorcising evil spirits, disinfecting and avoiding epidemics have been spread among the people. The Dragon Boat Festival drives away the "five poisons" and reminds people to pay attention to disease prevention.

4. Hanging calamus and mugwort

Folk proverb says: "Put willows during the Qingming Festival and mugwort during the Dragon Boat Festival." During the Dragon Boat Festival, people regard the insertion of moxa and calamus as one of the important contents. Every family sweeps the courtyard, inserts calamus and moxa sticks on the eyebrows of the door, and hangs them in the hall, which means to eliminate diseases, drive away bad luck, attract good fortune, and bring happiness to the family. Good health and good luck.

Moxa leaves contain a lot of moxa oil, which has a very unique smell and is very effective in preventing mosquitoes. Acorus is a perennial aquatic herb that can emit fragrance, repel flying insects, and clear dirty air.

5. Wearing sachets

Wearing small items such as sachets during the Dragon Boat Festival also has a long history. The sachet contains cinnabar, realgar, and fragrant medicine. It is fragrant and has the functions of repelling insects, avoiding plague, and preventing diseases. During the Dragon Boat Festival, children wear sachets. In addition to warding off evil spirits and pestilence, they are also used to decorate their lapels. Because the sachets are made of five-color silk threads or sewn from rags, they are exquisite and eye-catching and beautiful, and have become a unique folk art of the Dragon Boat Festival.

The Dragon Boat Festival can actually be regarded as a traditional medical and health festival. It is a festival for the people to fight against diseases and poisonous insects. Today, these health customs should still be developed and promoted.