The custom and origin of Dragon Boat Festival in Chaoshan area

"May Day, holding a dragon boat, holding it at my brother's door. Sister-in-law wears a golden crown, and the golden crown clicks red ... "This is the first paragraph of the folk song" May Festival ". "May Festival" is the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

On this day, every household should insert wormwood, "Ai Hu shape to ward off evil spirits"; Drinking the river with dragon boat paddling is also commonly known as "saving water" and "dragon boat water". Dragon is one of the most extensive totem worship in China. It is said that drinking the river that the dragon boat crosses can make people strong, and women can use it to wash their hair and cure the wind. This day is called "holy day", and taking medicine is the most effective. So everyone picked the flowers planted in the yard or outside the door and cooked them. If you don't plant it, buy it on the street. Many people tie Mr. Wang's flowers into small bundles, put them in bamboo boards and sell them under the arcade. The red and white mixed bouquet is like a child's pink face, which is really beautiful. Some people go to rivers and ponds in the suburbs, or go to the mountains to collect herbs and boil herbal tea.

On this day, every household will make dumplings to eat. Mountain people especially like to make "big dumplings". Cut off the tail of Chinese fir, clover and finger in advance, soak in water to take out the extract of effective components, and soak in glutinous rice after clarification. Then wrap the glutinous rice with bamboo leaves and boil it in boiling water. Like a small pillow, the "big dumplings" peel off bamboo leaves like crystal suet jade. When eating, cut it into small pieces with yarn and dip it in sugar. It tastes soft and greasy, has a special flavor, has the effects of invigorating stomach, eliminating dampness and clearing heat, and is a kind of medicinal food that people like very much.

In some places, a vivid and colorful faucet should be provided by the Han River in front of the village. Every household prayed before the Dragon King to solve the disaster and bless the whole family's safety, and poked a stack of money paper for offering sacrifices at home in advance on the Dragon Horn. After the whole town's sacrifice, the dragon head was carried onto the boat, beating gongs and drums to draw the township boundaries, and money and paper were thrown into the river, symbolizing the expulsion of bad luck from the village. This is called "paper walking".

In some places, every family has to paste a paper boat of three or four feet, and there are paper men rowing on the boat. At night, the oil lamps in the paper boats are lit, the paper boats are thrown into the Han River together, and the "fleet" of stars swims around. It is really interesting. This is called "putting lanterns".

On the Dragon Boat Festival, people's favorite activity is dragon boat racing. There are many kinds of dragon boats, one is a "cock boat" with two sharp points, and the other is a dragon boat with a dragon head and a dragon tail. The side and belly of the boat are painted in different colors. Green is commonly known as male dragon, and red is commonly known as female dragon. Dragon boats have different paddles, including six pairs, twelve pairs, seventeen pairs, and up to fifty-two pairs. Dragon boats are generally built by donating wood from timber companies and shipyard workers, which can not only advertise for their own shops, but also be auspicious, killing two birds with one stone. The new ship will be launched to worship the dragon head. Before the game, a sailing ceremony will be held: rowing a dragon boat to Mazu Tempel to pay homage to "Lord Rowen". The dragon bows to the front of the temple, paddles in, and paddles back to pay homage for three times, which is called "Three Lights" to wish the flag a victory. The winning point is located on a five-bellied ship with silk color code inserted on it.

The winning dragon boat is waiting at the starting point. When firecrackers sounded in front of Mazu Tempel, the dragon boat heard the drums, and the athletes struggled to paddle and strive for the upper reaches. The gongs and drums control the whole ship, while the paddlers just paddle and the rudder keeps the direction stable. Qi Biao entered the climax of ten, and the splash caused by the paddle could cover the whole ship. People watching on the shore didn't see the dragon boat, only clouds of fog were flying on the river. Anbu is a water town, and there is an interesting custom of dragon boat racing: before the dragon boat is launched, people from the coast send invitations and "candy" to businessmen and invite them to watch it by the river. When merchants receive the invitation, they must prepare a colorful label and insert it on the river. When the dragon boat passes by, it will light firecrackers to greet him and put colorful labels on him. People on the dragon boat bring back colorful labels and give them to respected people in the village to show good luck.