Celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival has been a traditional habit of the Chinese people for more than 2,000 years. Due to the vast territory, numerous ethnic groups, and many stories and legends, not only have many different festival names been produced, but there are also festivals in various places. Have different customs. The main contents include: when the daughter returns to her parents' home, hangs the statue of Zhong Kui, greets the ghost ship, avoids the afternoon, puts up the leaf talisman at noon, hangs the calamus and mugwort, travels against all diseases, wears the sachet, prepares the wine for the sacrifice, races the dragon boat, competes in martial arts, and hits the ball. , play on the swing, apply realgar to children, drink realgar wine and calamus wine, and eat five poisonous cakes, salted eggs, rice dumplings and seasonal fresh fruits. [8]
Damnily
A headdress worn by women during the Dragon Boat Festival in the old days. More common in Jiangnan. In some areas, they are also called Jianren. It is said that this thing originated from the ancient Bu Yao, and it is said that it is a different form of Ai people. "Qing Jia Lu" quotes "Relics of the Tang and Song Dynasties" as saying: "Whoever is north or south of the river, the preparation of the five-day hairpin head colorful victory is extremely ingenious. Anyone who uses silk and pins to make moxa leaves, or embroiders immortals, Buddhas, He, Wu Insects, fish, animals, eight treasures, flowers and the like. Crepe spiders, silkworms, phoenixes, cocoons, grass lizards, mantises, cicadas, gourds, melons and fruits, all with realistic colors. The treasure cover is decorated with hydrangeas and hundreds of bells, or strings of them, which are called damselflies. "
Hang moxa tiger
In the old days, the Dragon Boat Festival was used to ward off evil spirits. It is also used as decoration. In ancient China, the tiger was regarded as a sacred animal, and it was believed that it could ward off evil spirits and protect peace. "Customs" says: "The tiger is the male object, the leader of all beasts. It can eat ghosts and ghosts, and... it can also ward off evil." Therefore, people often use tigers to ward off evil spirits, among which the Aihu during the Dragon Boat Festival is the most distinctive. The moxa tiger may be made of moxa braided or cut into a tiger, with moxa leaves glued on it, and worn around the hairline and body. The custom of wearing Aihu as a decoration during the Dragon Boat Festival has a history of more than a thousand years. Song Dynasty Chen Yuangui's "Sui Sui Guang Ji" quoted from "Sui Sui Za Ji": "Dragon Boat Festival uses mugwort as a tiger shape, as big as a black bean, or cuts a ribbon into a small tiger, and sticks mugwort leaves to wear it. Wang Yigong's "Dragon Boat Festival Post" poem:' The hairpin-headed moxa tiger wards off evil spirits, and rides the seven-treasure chariot with auspicious clouds at dawn." Another Qing Dynasty Fucha Dunchong's "Yanjing Years' Notes" says: "Every Dragon Boat Festival, those who are clever in the boudoir will use silk to make small tigers and rice dumplings... with colorful flowers." Thread it through and hang it on the hairpin head, or tie it to the child's back. The ancient poem says: 'The jade swallow hairpin head is light and the tiger is light', which is what it means."
Painting on the forehead
During the Dragon Boat Festival, it is customary to smear children’s foreheads with realgar to repel poisonous insects. The typical method is to use realgar wine to draw the word "king" on the child's forehead. One is to use realgar to drive away poison, and the other is to use tiger ("king" resembles the forehead pattern of a tiger, and tiger is the king of beasts, so it is used to replace tiger). evil. Qing Dynasty's Fucha Dunzuo's "Yanjing Years' Notes": "Every Dragon Boat Festival, starting from the first day of the Lunar New Year, take realgar and wine and sprinkle it, and apply it on the children's collar and between the nose and ears to avoid poisonous substances." Except on the forehead, nose and ears. In addition to smearing, it can also be smeared on other places with the same intention. Shanxi's "Hequ County Chronicle" says: "Drinking realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival and smearing it on children's forehead, hands, and soles... is said to cure diseases and prolong life."
Wearing a life-thread
Wearing ornaments during the Dragon Boat Festival. It is also called life-extending thread, life-extending silk, year-extending thread, longevity thread, Baisuo, Pibingshao, five-color thread, etc. The names are different, but the shape and function are roughly the same. It is customary to knot five-color silk into a rope during the Dragon Boat Festival. It can be hung at the head of the door, worn around children's necks, or tied to children's arms, or hung on bed tents, cradle, etc. It is said that it can avoid disasters, eliminate diseases, and protect health. , prolong life. There are roughly five shapes of such festival objects: simple five-color silk threads are stranded into a rope and tied to the arm; the multi-colored rope is decorated with gold and tin ornaments and hung on the neck; the multi-colored rope is folded into a square and decorated on the chest; Colorful rope knots are worn by human figures; sun, moon, stars, black animals and other objects are embroidered with colorful silk threads as a tribute to the elders. This custom began in the Han Dynasty. Yingshao of the Eastern Han Dynasty wrote in "Customs and Customs·Anonymous": "At noon, the arms are tied with colorful silk to avoid ghosts and soldiers, so that people will not get sick and plague. One person will have a long life, and the other will be a soldier." From then on, it became a habit until modern times. The Qing Dynasty's Fucha Dunzong's "Yanjing Suishiji" records the custom at that time: "Every Dragon Boat Festival, those who are clever in the boudoir will use Suluo to make small tigers and rice dumplings, gourds, cherries, mulberries, etc., thread them with colored threads, and hang them On the hairpin head, or tied on the back of a child. "In the Tang and Song Dynasties, the court even gave ministers this kind of gift. According to historical records, during the Duanjie Festival of the first year of Zong Xingyuan in the Tang Dynasty, the court once gave a hundred ropes and one shaft. "History of the Song Dynasty·Book of Rites Fifteen": "On the previous day, gold life-extending belts and colorful silk life-extending belts were given to hundreds of officials. Wear them during festivals."
Purse
< p>Dai Xiang BaoDai Xiang Bao, also known as sachet, sachet, purse, etc., is made of five-color silk threads or sewn with rags, and is filled with spices (made from the Chinese herbal medicine Angelica dahurica, Angelica dahuricae, etc.) Made from Ligusticum chuanxiong, Baicao baicalensis, Paicao, Shannai, Gansong and Gaobenxing), worn on the chest, the fragrance is fragrant. Chen Shiliang's "Sui Shi Guang Ji" quoted from "Sui Shi Za Ji" mentioned a kind of "Duan Wu made of red and white colors like a bag, with colored threads running through it, and the twitching makes it look like a flower." and another kind of "clam pink bell". : "On the fifth day of the Dragon Boat Festival, put clam powder in the silk and decorate it with cotton, like a few beads. Let the children wear it to absorb sweat." The contents of these portable bags have changed several times, from clam powder to absorb sweat, talismans to ward off evil spirits, copper coins, and realgar powder to repel insects, to sachets filled with spices. The production has become increasingly sophisticated, becoming a unique folk custom of the Dragon Boat Festival. Artwork.
Wearing a sachet is very particular. In order to prevent diseases and keep fit, the elderly generally like to wear plum blossoms, chrysanthemums, peaches, apples, lotus flowers, dolls riding fish, dolls holding roosters, double lotuses and other shapes, which symbolize the singing of birds and the fragrance of flowers, all the best, love between husband and wife, and family harmony. Children like birds and animals, such as tigers and leopards; monkeys on poles, cockfights and rabbits, etc.
Young people are particularly particular about wearing sachets. If they are passionate lovers, then the passionate girl will carefully make one or two unique sachets and give them to her lover before the festival. The young man wearing the sachet given by his sweetheart will naturally arouse comments from the men and women around him, praising the young man's ingenuity.
Avoid the Five Poisons
The Five Poisons
The Dragon Boat Festival is a poisonous and evil day in the minds of the ancients. This idea has been passed down in folk beliefs, so There are various customs for seeking peace and avoiding disasters. In fact, this is because the weather in summer is hot and dry, making people prone to illness and epidemics. In addition, snakes and insects breed and can easily bite people, so we must be very careful and this habit is formed.
Collecting herbs
This is one of the oldest Dragon Boat Festival customs. "Xia Xiaozheng" records: "On this day, medicine is stored to remove poisonous gases." Volume 22 of "Sui Sui Guang Ji" "Collecting Miscellaneous Medicines" cites the lost text of "Jingchu Sui Shi Ji": "On May 5th, there was competition to collect miscellaneous medicines." Medicine can cure all kinds of diseases. "In "Qimin Yaoshu·Zaji" of the Later Wei Dynasty, there is a record of catching toads in May, which are also used for medicine. Later, many areas had the custom of catching toads during the Dragon Boat Festival. For example, Jiangsu collected toads on the Dragon Boat Festival, pricked the foam, and made the traditional Chinese medicine toad cake. People in Hangzhou also gave toads to children, saying that they could cool down the fire and prevent sores and boils in the summer. In addition, on the fifth day, put an ink tablet in the mouth of a toad, hang it up to dry, and it will become a toad tablet. Apply it to the abscess to dissipate it. This custom of catching toads to make medicine originated from the legend of "toads preparing soldiers" in the Han Dynasty. Another example is the Hubei Jianli "collecting hundreds of herbs" during the Dragon Boat Festival, which is also the custom of collecting medicinal herbs. The custom of collecting herbs was formed on this day because the stems and leaves of herbs mature around the Dragon Boat Festival and have good medicinal properties. [9]
Dragon Boat Festival Orchid Bathing Ceremony[3]
Mu Lan Tang
Bathing in orchid soup on Dragon Boat Festival is an ancient custom recorded in "Dadaili". But the orchid in the article is not an orchid, but a species of Asteraceae, which has a fragrant aroma and can be boiled for bathing. "Jiu Ge·Yun Zhongjun" also has the sentence "Bath in orchid soup will bring you fragrance". "Records of the Years of Jingchu": "On May 5th, it is called the Orchid Bathing Festival." "Wuzazu" records that people in the Ming Dynasty took five-color grass and brushed it for bathing at noon because "orchid soup was not available." Later, I usually take a bath with fried pudding, mugwort and other herbs. In Guangdong, moxa, cattail, impatiens, magnolia and other flowers and plants are used; in Hunan, Guangxi and other places, cypress leaves, galanthemum root, mugwort, cattail, peach leaves, etc. are boiled into medicinal water for bathing. Regardless of men, women, old or young, the whole family washes it. This custom still exists today. It is said that it can cure skin diseases and remove evil spirits. [9]
Drink Pu wine, realgar wine, and cinnabar wine
Drink Pu wine, realgar wine, and cinnabar wine, and sprinkle it with wine. "Records of the Age of Jingchu": "Use calamus (a perennial herbaceous plant that grows by the water, with light red rhizomes underground, leaves shaped like swords, and spadix inflorescences. The rhizomes can be used as spices and medicine) or hollowed or scraped, "Cold wine." The wine is fragrant and refreshing. Later, realgar, cinnabar, etc. were added to the wine. "Wuzazui" written by Xie Zhaozhe in the Ming Dynasty: "You can also drink calamus wine...and drink it with realgar." "Yue Ling Guangyi" written by Feng Yingjing in the Ming Dynasty: "Use cinnabar wine for five days to ward off evil and detoxify, and use the wine to dye the forehead, chest, hands, feet, and heart , there will be no danger of snakes (a poisonous snake mentioned in ancient books). You can also sprinkle the walls, doors and windows to avoid poisonous insects." This custom is widely spread. To this day, in Binyang, Guangxi, bags of medicinal ingredients are sold during the Dragon Boat Festival, including realgar, rhubarb, cypress, peach kernel, cattail leaf, mugwort leaves, etc. After soaking in wine, people use calamus and mugwort to sprinkle on walls, corners, doors and windows. , under the bed, etc., and then use wine to smear the child's ears, nose, and navel to drive away poisonous insects and pray for the child's safety. In addition, in some areas, powdered realgar wine is used to draw the word "王" on children's foreheads, so that the children bear the mark of the tiger, in order to use the tiger to ward off evil spirits. From a health perspective, these activities still have scientific rationale. Realgar mixed with water and wine and sprinkled indoors can be disinfected and sterilized, and drinking it is also beneficial. [9]
Picking tea and making herbal tea
In some areas in the north, people like to pick young leaves and wild vegetable leaves during the Dragon Boat Festival and steam and dry them to make tea. In the Chaozhou area of ??Guangdong, people go to the countryside to collect herbs and make herbal tea to drink. It's also good for health.
Hang herbal medicines
Hang mugwort, calamus, and banyan branches
Moxa, calamus, and garlic are known as the "Three Friends of the Dragon Boat Festival." During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Dragon Boat Festival was also called the "Mulan Festival", and there was a custom of picking mugwort in Jingchu area. To gather mugwort, you have to start before the rooster crows. Select the mugwort with the most human shape to take back and hang on the door. Some even tie the mugwort into a tiger shape and paste mugwort leaves on it. Mugwort and calamus contain aromatic oils, which have the same bactericidal effect as garlic. During the Dragon Boat Festival, it is close to the summer solstice. It is the time when the cold and hot weather alternate between each other. You must pay attention to everything from diet to dressing and movement. There is a proverb in Baoshan County: "If you have not eaten the Dragon Boat Festival rice dumplings, you cannot give away cold clothes; if you have eaten the Dragon Boat Festival rice dumplings, you will have to freeze for three times." In ancient times, people lacked scientific concepts and mistakenly believed that diseases were caused by ghosts and evil spirits. Therefore, the Dragon Boat Festival On this day, people use calamus as a sword, moxa as a whip, and garlic as a hammer, also known as the "three weapons". They think they can repel snakes, insects, germs, and kill demons. [10]
There are also places where mugwort, calamus (pujian) or pomegranates and garlic are hung at the door during the Dragon Boat Festival. Usually mugwort, banyan and calamus are tied into a bunch with red paper and then inserted or hung on the door. Because the calamus is the first of the five auspicious signs in the sky, it symbolizes the sword that drives away bad luck. Because of the growing season and shape, it is regarded as a "hundred-yin spirit". The leaves are sword-shaped and can be inserted at the door to ward off evil spirits. Therefore, the alchemists called it the "Water Sword", and later customs extended it to the "Pu Sword", which can kill thousands of evil spirits. There is a record in "Qing Jia Lu" written by Gu Tieqing of the Qing Dynasty: "Cut cattails to make swords, cut pods to make whips, use peach stems and garlic as accessories, and hang them on the bed, all to ward off ghosts."
In the "Feng Tu Zhi" of the Jin Dynasty, there is "Use moxa in the shape of a tiger, or cut a ribbon into a small tiger, and post it with moxa leaves, and people compete to cut it. Later, calamus was added, either in the shape of a human or in the shape of a sword, named Pujian , to drive away evil spirits and expel ghosts.”
Hiding the Dragon Boat Festival
It is a custom during the Dragon Boat Festival to bring newly married or married daughters home to celebrate the festival. It is called "Zang Wu" for short, also known as "Zang Dragon Boat Festival". It is customary to regard May and May 5th as evil months and evil days, and many things need to be avoided, because there is a custom of taking daughters home to hide in the Dragon Boat Festival. This custom seems to have been formed in the Song Dynasty. Lu You's poem "Feng Sui" contains the sentence "Yangqiang wine and baskets compete to welcome women, and drums and dragon boats are sent to compete with gods." "Jia Jing Long Qing Zhi" also records: "The married daughter is summoned back to celebrate the festival." Also, "Luanzhou Chronicles": "When a newly married woman welcomes her home at the end of the moon, it is called 'hiding in the Dragon Boat Festival'".
Dragon Boat Festival
It is a folk custom to divine fortune every year during the Dragon Boat Festival. It is popularly believed that if it rains during the Dragon Boat Festival, it is unlucky; otherwise, it is auspicious. This common belief existed a long time ago. Chen Yuanliang's "Sui Sui Guang Ji" quoted from "Sui Yuan Lu": "On the fifth day of May, if people expose the medicine, there will be no disasters. If it rains, ghosts will expose the medicine, and people will get sick. This is a proverb in central Fujian." Xu Yueqing's "Ci Yun Shu" The annotation of "Li Shizhou Fu Dragon Boat Festival" says: "People in Linchuan say that it rains on the Dragon Boat Festival, which means that ghosts and people will cause disasters. The annotation of Zhao Huaiyu's poem in the Qing Dynasty also quoted the proverb "No rain on the Dragon Boat Festival means a good year."
Yuan· Wu Tinghui: "Dragon Boat Winning the Prize" [11]
Dragon Boat Racing
The word dragon boat was first seen in Volume 5 of the ancient pre-Qin book "The Biography of Emperor Mu": "The emperor rode a bird boat, and the dragon boat floated on Big marsh. "In advance of "Nine Songs of Xiangjun", "I am riding a flying dragon to the north today, and I am on my way to Dongting", "The stone is shallow, and the flying dragon is graceful." Scholars also believe that "flying dragon" is a dragon boat. "Xiangjun" is that The poem describes the Hunan people riding a dragon boat and sinking jade pendants into the river (similar to throwing rice dumplings into the river) to mourn a certain historical figure. This coincides with the "soul boat" and the image of the Chu State's "Silk Painting of Figures Yulong." This can be confirmed by each other. "Jingchu's Chronicles" records: "On May 5th, it is called the Yulan Festival. ...It was a day of racing and collecting miscellaneous medicines. ”.
During dragon boat rowing, there are many dragon boat songs spread to add to the fun. For example, when dragon boat rowing in Zigui, Hubei, there is a complete singing tune. The lyrics and music are based on local folk songs and chants. The singing voice It is majestic and exciting, and is a legacy of the tradition of "bowing to each other in harmony". Another example is the dragon boat song in Nanxiong County, Guangdong, which is sung after the dragon boat is launched and ends at the Dragon Boat Festival.
< p>Zhong Kui and Alarm Clock Dance: Since the Jin Dynasty, Zhong Kui and Alarm Clock Dance have been an important part of the Dragon Boat Festival and Spring Festival. 2. Hanging Zhong Kui paintings is the earliest. It is said to be the work of the painting sage Wu Daozi. According to Shen Kuo of the Northern Song Dynasty, Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty was ill for nearly a month. He suddenly dreamed of two ghosts stealing the emperor's jade flute and Yang Guifei's purple sachet and running away. He caught the little ghost and cut off its eyes, then smashed it and ate it. The big ghost said: "I am Zhong Kui, a man who is not successful in martial arts. I swear to your majesty to rid the world of evildoers." "After Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty woke up and recovered from his illness, he summoned the painter Wu Daozi and asked him to draw a picture of Zhong Kui catching ghosts according to the scene in his dream. Daozi completed it with a stroke of his brush. When Emperor Ming saw it, he was amazed that it was exactly the same as in his dream. Later, Zhong Kui Paintings gradually became popular among the people, and most of the paintings of Zhong Kui were painted on the Dragon Boat Festival in May, or a few days before and after the Dragon Boat Festival. By the Qing Dynasty, most residents in Jiangnan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang would hang Zhong Kui on their doors or in their halls during the fifth lunar month. The first month is used to drive away evil spirits and bring good luck.Doucao
A sketch of a group of infants fighting against each other in the Jin Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty
Doucao was not seen before the Han Dynasty. ("A Study of Popular Things in the Past Dynasties·Shang Binghe") The origin is unknown, but it is generally believed to be related to the emergence of traditional Chinese medicine. The ancient ancestors struggled to survive, lived a monotonous life, and spent their free time fighting insects, grass, and beasts. For their own entertainment, after the legendary "Shen Nong tasted a hundred herbs" came into being in traditional Chinese medicine, every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, groups went out to the countryside to collect herbs and put moxa moxa on their doors to cure the summer heat epidemic, which became a custom. After harvesting, competitions were often held. , telling each other the names of flowers and grasses in the form of a duel, the one with more is the winner, which combines the fun of plant knowledge and literary knowledge; the children use the petiole to hook each other, pinch and pull each other, the one who breaks it is the loser, and then fight with another leaf. The poem "Guan'erxi" says: "Clicking dust or fighting grass, having fun all day long. "
"Wuyuan" says: "It began in the Han Dynasty." According to the Liang Dynasty's Zong Mao's "Jingchu Years' Records": "On May 5th, the four people stepped on the grass together, and there were The drama of fighting grass. "Nian Hua Ji Li": "Dragon Boat Festival knots the house to store medicine, fights with hundreds of grasses, and wraps five threads. "
In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was called "Treading Baicao", and in the Tang Dynasty, it was called "Ducao" or "Fighting Baicao." "Liu Binbin Jiahua" says: "In the Zhongzong Dynasty of the Tang Dynasty, Princess Anle fought against Baicao for five days. "In the Song Dynasty, fighting was expanded to include fighting at any time on weekdays. There are many descriptions of this in the works of literati in the past dynasties.
The "Sketch of a Group of Infants Fighting" collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing, the gameplay is roughly as follows: Both sides of the competition first pick each other to have a certain degree of resilience. grass, (Loulan case: mostly plantain, plantain is a perennial herbaceous plant that grows on roadsides, beside ravines, on field ridges, etc. It has no stems and has many slender fibrous roots; the leaves emerge from the rhizosphere and are thin and papery. It has five main leaf veins, with entire or wavy edges, or sparsely toothed, up to 15-30 cm long. It has green-white sparse flowers with four-lobed corolla and four stamens. When the fruit matures, it will open like a lid and release four to Six brown-black seeds, with long flower axes, are good materials for weed fighting) and then cross each other into a "ten" shape and pull hard, the one who keeps pulling will win.
Other customs
Playing polo
There is an archery show during the Dragon Boat Festival. "History of the Jin Dynasty·Li Zhi": "Due to the custom of the Liao Dynasty, it was important to plant willows on five days in the Jin Dynasty. Go to the ground about a few inches, peel off the skin and make it white. First, a man will ride the horse in front, and then the horse will shoot the willow with a horizontal cluster of arrows. The next best thing is to catch the bird and shoot it with a drum to boost its energy. "In the Ming Dynasty, birds were stored in gourds and shot. Playing polo is also one of the Dragon Boat Festival dramas. Polo is played while riding on a horse and holding a stick. It was called Juju in ancient times. There is a sentence in "Famous Capitals" written by Cao Zhi of the Three Kingdoms: "Striking the soil continuously". In Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty, there was a large stadium, and emperors such as Xuanzong and Jingzong were all fond of polo. The "Polo Picture" in the tomb of Prince Zhanghuai depicts the prosperity of polo in the Tang Dynasty: in the picture, more than 20 horses are galloping, their tails are tied up, and the player wears a scarf on his head, boots on his feet, and holds a ball. The sticks hit each other ball by ball.
In addition, Beijing also has the custom of visiting the Temple of Heaven. Volume 2 of "A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Imperial Capital": "Before noon on May 5th, people enter the Temple of Heaven to avoid poison. After noon, they walk under the wall of the Horse Altar. In Wujiang City, there is a custom of silk section horn millet, and it is also horn millet. None There is also a Zhongkui competition in Shanghai, where a man is dressed as Zhongkui, brandishing a sword and holding a paper bat in front of him as if he were drinking, and then walking through the market with a full ceremonial guard. Drive away evil spirits. In addition, there are circuses and duck snatching activities during the Dragon Boat Festival.
Specialty Food
Dragon Boat Festival Food Album (21 photos)
The earliest Dragon Boat Festival food should be the "Owl Soup" of the Western Han Dynasty. "Historical Records" "The Benji of Xiaowu" is quoted as Chunyan: "The Han Dynasty sent the owl to Dongjun, and on May 5th, he gave the owl soup to all the officials. They thought it was an evil bird, so they ate it." Probably because owls are difficult to catch, the custom of eating owl soup did not continue. Zongzi, the protagonist of the Dragon Boat Festival, appeared later in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was not until the Jin Dynasty that rice dumplings became a festival food during the Dragon Boat Festival. "Feng Tu Ji": "On May 5th, the same as the summer solstice,... on the first day of the second festival, the sticky rice is wrapped in wild rice leaves, mixed with millet, and cooked with pure and thick ash juice." At the same time, there is another story. A kind of Dragon Boat Festival diet called "gui" only appeared briefly in the Jin Dynasty and then disappeared. Only the rice dumplings called "corner millet" in "Feng Tu Ji" have become the most popular Dragon Boat Festival diet for thousands of years because they are attached to the legend of Qu Yuan.
Zongzi
Zongzi was called "corner millet" in ancient times. Legend has it that it was invented to commemorate Qu Yuan, who threw himself into the river. The real written record of zongzi can be found in "Fengtu Ji" in Jin and Zhou Dynasties; The rice dumplings with the longest history and orderly spread are Xi'an's honey cold rice dumplings, which are recorded in the "Recipe" of Wei Juyuan of the Tang Dynasty. [12]
"The rice dumplings are fragrant, and the kitchen is fragrant. The mugwort leaves are fragrant, and the whole house is filled with fragrance. Peach branches are inserted on the door, and when you go out, you can see the yellow wheat. Here is the Dragon Boat Festival, there is the Dragon Boat Festival, and there is the Dragon Boat Festival everywhere." This is an old fashion. A very popular folk song describing the Dragon Boat Festival. Generally speaking, the customs of people celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival are similar in various places, and eating rice dumplings on the Dragon Boat Festival has been the same in all parts of China throughout the ages.
Today’s rice dumplings are even more diverse and colorful. Nowadays, the rice dumplings made in various places are generally made of glutinous rice wrapped in Ruo shells, but the colors inside are determined according to the local specialties and customs. The famous ones include longan rice dumplings, meat rice dumplings, crystal rice dumplings, lotus paste rice dumplings, candied rice dumplings, chestnut rice dumplings, spicy rice dumplings. Rice dumplings, pickled cabbage rice dumplings, ham rice dumplings, salted egg rice dumplings, etc.
Realgar Wine
The custom of drinking realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival was very popular in the Yangtze River Basin in the past. An old saying once said: "Drink realgar wine, and all diseases will go away." Realgar is a mineral, commonly known as "cockscomb stone". Its main component is arsenic sulfide and contains mercury, which is toxic. The realgar wine generally consumed is made by adding a trace amount of realgar to white wine or home-brewed rice wine, and cannot be drunk purely. Realgar wine has the effect of killing bacteria, deworming and detoxifying, and is also used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat skin diseases. In ancient times when there were no disinfectants such as iodine, soaking realgar in wine could remove toxins and relieve itching. For children who are under the age of drinking, adults will smear realgar wine on their foreheads, ears, noses, palms, soles, etc., with the intention of disinfecting and preventing diseases and keeping away insects.
Five yellows
There is a custom of eating "five yellows" during the Dragon Boat Festival in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Wuhuang refers to cucumber, eel, yellow croaker, duck egg yolk from Gaoyou, and realgar wine. In addition, people in northern Zhejiang also eat tofu during the Dragon Boat Festival.
Cake making
The Dragon Boat Festival is a grand festival for the Korean people in Yanbian, Jilin Province. The most representative food on this day is the fragrant cake. Da Gao is a rice cake made by placing mugwort and glutinous rice in a large wooden trough carved from a single log and beating it with a long-handled wood. This kind of food is very ethnic and can add to the festive atmosphere. [13]
Jiandui
In Jinjiang, Fujian, every household also eats "Jiandui" during the Dragon Boat Festival, which is a thick paste made of flour, rice flour or sweet potato flour and other ingredients. Fried. Legend has it that in ancient times, it was the rainy season in southern Fujian before the Dragon Boat Festival, and it rained continuously. Folks said that God had penetrated a hole and wanted to "repair the sky." After eating "Jiandui" during the Dragon Boat Festival, the rain stopped, and people said that the sky was repaired. This food custom comes from this.
[13]