1, Dragon Boat Race
Dragon boat race is the main custom of Dragon Boat Festival. According to legend, people who originated in the ancient State of Chu were reluctant to part with the death of the sage Qu Yuan, and many people rowed boats to save people. They rushed to catch up with each other and disappeared at Dongting Lake. After that, I will row a dragon boat on May 5th every year to commemorate it. Rowing a dragon boat 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.
2. Eat zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival
Eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival is another traditional custom of China people. Zongzi, also known as "corn millet" and "tube zongzi". It has a long history and various patterns. On the morning of Dragon Boat Festival, every family eats zongzi to commemorate Qu Yuan. Zongzi is usually wrapped the day before, cooked at night and eaten in the morning. Jiaozi is mainly made of tender reed leaves which are rich in ponds, and bamboo leaves are also useful in some areas, collectively called zongye. The traditional form of zongzi is a triangle, which is generally named after the inner pulp. Glutinous rice dumplings are called zongzi, adzuki bean dumplings are called adzuki bean dumplings, and jujube dumplings are called jujube dumplings, which are collectively called glutinous rice dumplings. Jujube jiaozi homophones "junior high school", so it eats the most. Children who plan to study can win the championship early. In the past, Jinshi ate jujube jiaozi on the morning of taking the imperial examination. Until now, some parents have to make jujube jiaozi for candidates on the morning of the entrance examination for middle schools and universities.
3. Wear sachets
Children wear sachets on the Dragon Boat Festival, which is said to mean to ward off evil spirits and plague. Actually, it is 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 strings of various shapes. It is small and lovely, and now it has become a common handicraft. In some cities in southern China, young men and women also use sachets to express their deep love.
Step 4 hang wormwood
There is a folk proverb that says, "Willows are inserted in Qingming Festival and Ai is inserted in Dragon Boat Festival". On the Dragon Boat Festival, people regard inserting wormwood and calamus as one of the important contents. Every household should sweep the courtyard, put calamus and moxa sticks in the eyebrows of the door and hang them in the main room. Acorus calamus, Folium Artemisiae Argyi, Liu Hua, Garlic and Dragon Boat Flower are made into human or tiger shapes, which are called Ai Ren and Ai Hu. It is made into garlands and decorations, beautiful and fragrant, and women compete to wear it to ward off evil spirits. Dragon Boat Festival is also a "health festival" handed down from ancient times. On this day, people sweep the courtyard, hang mugwort leaves, hang calamus, sprinkle realgar wine, drink realgar wine, stir up turbidity, remove rot, sterilize and prevent diseases. These activities also reflect the fine traditions of the Chinese nation. Collecting herbs during the Dragon Boat Festival is a common custom of all countries and nationalities in China.
5. Bell statue
It is the custom of Dragon Boat Festival for Zhong Kui to catch ghosts. In the Jianghuai area, bells and statues are hung in every household to ward off evil spirits. Emperor Kaiyuan of Tang Dynasty returned to the palace after giving a lecture in Lishan, and malaria was rampant. He dreamed that two ghosts, one big and one small, were running around the temple wearing red crotch pants and stealing Yang Guifei's sachet and the jade emperor of the Ming Dynasty. GREAT GHOST, wearing a blue robe and a blue hat, caught the child, gouged out his eyes and swallowed it in one gulp. When asked by the Ming emperor, GREAT GHOST said: My surname is Zhong Kui, that is to say, I am the best martial artist. I am willing to exorcise evil spirits for your majesty. When the Ming emperor woke up, malaria was cured. So I asked Wu Daozi, the painter, to draw a portrait of Zhong Kui catching ghosts according to what I saw in my dream, and ordered all the people to post it on the Dragon Boat Festival to exorcise evil spirits.
6, hanging purse and bolt five-color silk thread
Ying Shao's "Custom Pass" records: "On May 5, people tied their arms with colorful silks, named them longevity, continued life, fighting for soldiers, fighting for five colors and fighting for soldiers and ghosts, so that people would not get sick."
In ancient China, five colors were revered and regarded as auspicious colors. Therefore, in the early morning of the festival, the first important thing for adults after getting up is to tie five-color lines on their wrists, ankles and necks. Children are not allowed to talk when tying the thread. The five-color line cannot be broken or discarded at will, and can only be thrown into the river during the first heavy rain in summer or the first bath. It is said that children wearing five-color thread can avoid the harm of snakes and scorpions; Throwing it into the river is to let the river wash away plagues and diseases and make children safe and healthy.
The eighth volume of Meng's Dream of China in Tokyo records: Dragon Boat Festival artifacts, hundred ropes, mugwort flowers, silver drums, beautifully painted fans, fragrant candy, small dumplings and white balls. Perilla frutescens, Acorus calamus and Papaya are all chopped, mixed with incense and medicine, and wrapped in a plum-red box. From May 1 day, the day before Dragon Boat Festival, peaches, willows, sunflowers, leaves of Pu Ye, Buddha, Taoism and wormwood are sold. The next day, every household was spread out at the door and fed with five-color water polo and tea wine. He also nailed Ai Ren to the door, and the scholars handed him a banquet.
Chen Yuanliang's Notes on the Year of the Year quoted Miscellaneous Notes on the Year of the Year as saying, "The Dragon Boat Festival is decorated with red and white, colored thread to make it flower-shaped, or tied or nailed to the door to make it red and white, which is also called Qian Chu." Another kind of "mussel powder bell" says: "On the fifth day, mussel powder is placed in silk and decorated with cotton, if you count the beads. Let the children take it to absorb sweat. " The contents of these carry-on bags have changed several times, from sweat-absorbing mussel powder, exorcism symbols, copper coins, and realgar powder to sachets filled with spices, and they have become increasingly exquisite and become a unique folk art of the Dragon Boat Festival.
Similarly, drinking realgar wine: this custom is very popular among people in the Yangtze River valley. Wandering all diseases: This custom prevails in the Dragon Boat Festival custom in Guizhou.
7. Order realgar wine
Realgar is also a kind of medicinal material, which is said to kill all kinds of poisons. Therefore, during the Dragon Boat Festival, Shaanxi people will soak realgar in wine and put realgar wine on children's ears, nose, forehead, wrists and ankles. It is said that this practice can keep mosquitoes, snakes, scorpions, centipedes, geckos and spiders away from the body.