The Dragon Boat Festival on May 5th is one of the important traditional festivals of the Chinese nation. Different regions and ethnic groups have different customs of the Dragon Boat Festival. On this special day, we can taste a variety of delicacies, such as rice dumplings, salted duck eggs, mung bean cakes, etc. In addition, there are some traditional customs, such as hanging mugwort leaves, dragon boat racing, eating five yellows, etc.

Now let me talk about the traditional customs of the Dragon Boat Festival in detail

1. Eating rice dumplings

Eating rice dumplings is another traditional custom of the Chinese people. . Zongzi, also called "corner millet" and "tube rice dumpling". It has a long history and has many variations. From the Spring and Autumn Period to today, in early May every year, Chinese people have soaked glutinous rice, washed rice dumpling leaves, and made rice dumplings, with more varieties of colors. In terms of fillings, Beijing jujube rice dumplings mostly contain jujubes in the north; in the south, there are various fillings such as bean paste, fresh meat, ham, and egg yolks, among which Jiaxing rice dumplings in Zhejiang are the representative ones.

2. Plant moxa and calamus

Folk proverb says: "Put willows during the Qingming Festival and moxa during the Dragon Boat Festival." Every family sweeps the courtyard, inserts calamus and moxa sticks in the eyebrows of the door, and hangs them in the hall. They also use calamus, mugwort leaves, pomegranate flowers, garlic, and dragon boat flowers to make human or tiger shapes, which are called mugwort people and mugwort tigers. They are also made into garlands and ornaments, which are beautiful and fragrant. Women rush to wear them to drive away miasma.

3. Dragon boat racing

Dragon boat racing is the main custom of the Dragon Boat Festival. According to legend, it originated from the ancient Chu people who were reluctant to leave their virtuous minister Qu Yuan and threw himself into the river. Many people rowed boats to chase and save him. They scrambled to catch up and disappeared when they reached Dongting Lake. After that, dragon boat racing was held every May 5th to commemorate the event. He rowed dragon boats to disperse the fish in the river to prevent them from eating Qu Yuan's body. The custom of racing was popular in Wu, Yue and Chu.

4. Drinking realgar wine and painting foreheads

Forehead painting is a custom of smearing children’s foreheads with realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival, which is said to repel poisonous insects. The typical method is to use realgar wine to draw the word "王" on the child's forehead, firstly to use realgar to drive away poison, and secondly to use tiger to help growth.

5. Wearing a sachet

A sachet is also called a sachet, a sachet, a purse, etc. It is made of five-color silk threads or sewn from rags, and contains spices (with Made from the Chinese herbal medicine Angelica dahurica, Chuanxiong, Baicao, Paicao, Shannai, Spicy nard, and Gao Benxing), wear it on the chest, and the fragrance is fragrant.

The legend of the Dragon Boat Festival

1. The story about Wu Zixu: Wu Zixu was a minister of the State of Wu in the Spring and Autumn Period of China. He was driven out of Wu by King Wu Fuchai because he was framed by his subordinates. country. After he fled to Chu, he helped Chu destroy Wu and avenged himself. However, the Chu State later perished because of his suggestion. Unable to accept this fact, he threw himself into the river on the fifth day of May. Therefore, people also regard the Dragon Boat Festival as a festival to commemorate Wu Zixu.

2. The story about Cao E: Cao E is the origin of the name Cao Ejiang during the Eastern Han Dynasty. When she was fourteen years old, she died on the fifth day of May to save her father Cao Xu. Her filial piety moved the heavens, and she was named a goddess after her death. People will hold some ceremonies to commemorate her during the Dragon Boat Festival.

3. The story of Bian Que, the god of medicine: It is said that Bian Que, the god of medicine, collected herbs for the purpose of studying medicine on the Dragon Boat Festival. He discovered that the herbs on the fifth day of May had strong medicinal effects. . Therefore, people hung various herbs on this day to prevent and treat diseases.

4. Commemorate Qu Yuan. It was originally built to commemorate the loyal poet Qu Yuan. Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the river when the Chu State was invaded. In order to commemorate him, people race dragon boats on May 5th every year and throw rice dumplings and other food to commemorate him.

Okay, I’ve introduced it here, I hope it will be helpful to you.