Folk customs of Dragon Boat Festival

Eight customs of Dragon Boat Festival.

wrap zongzi

In ancient times, people in Jingchu would cook glutinous rice or steam rice cakes and throw them into the river on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in order to sacrifice Qu Yuan who threw himself into the river. Fearing that fish would eat them, people came up with the idea of wrapping rice with rice leaves and colored silk. Later, eating zongzi became the custom of the Dragon Boat Festival. In old Beijing, Zongzi is made of glutinous rice, yellow rice and jujube, commonly known as "Mill Zongzi". Zongzi is made of lotus grass, which is also a specialty of Beijing.

Hanging wormwood

During the Dragon Boat Festival, people will hang wormwood or calamus in front of the courtyard and under the eaves, because they are both Chinese herbal medicines. Mosquitoes are afraid of this smell and can repel mosquitoes. Because the leaves of Acorus calamus are shaped like swords, the ancients called them "water swords", saying that they can "cut all evils". People will carve calamus into figures such as "little people" and "small gourds" and hang them around children's necks for good luck. It will also be hung on the lintel to exorcise evil spirits.

Dragon Boat Racing

Legend has it that Chu people used dragon boats to disperse the fish in the river to prevent the fish from eating Qu Yuan's body. Wang Zuokun said that when the ancients competed in dragon boats, they set fish, duck and iron marks at the end. Whoever gets these three points will win the third place in the championship. In order to let the contestants see the finish line from a distance, the ancients also tied bows with brocade on three labels.

Eat five poisonous cakes

The Dragon Boat Festival is approaching the summer solstice, the weather is getting hotter and hotter, bacteria are breeding, and people are prone to heatstroke and illness, so the ancients ate Wudu cake to get rid of illness and strengthen their health. The five poisons refer to scorpions, toads, geckos, centipedes and snakes. The ancients put their own images on cakes, and the fillings were also "five fillings": cherry, water chestnut, mulberry, apricot and glutinous rice lotus root. It is said that eating poisonous cakes can enhance resistance, kill insects and avoid disasters.

Bean white grass

In ancient times, when people arrived at the Dragon Boat Festival, they would go to the suburbs to collect herbs together and compete for grass on the way, which gradually formed a custom. According to Wang Zuokun, two people participating in the game will stand opposite each other, holding both ends of a grass or a flower stem in their hands. After the game started, the two grasses hooked together, and each side pulled the grass in its own direction. Whoever breaks the other side's grass or flower stem loses.

Collect five poisons

During the Dragon Boat Festival, girls should put "tapirs" on their chests. It is said that this kind of zongzi-like cloth sewn with colored silk thread can ward off evil spirits. There is a gourd hanging around the boy's neck. There is a pattern of "Five Poisons" on the gourd, which means "collecting" five poisons.

Stick gourd flower

Old Beijingers like gourd, because gourd is the homonym of "Fulu". In ancient times, people would cut red fringed paper into gourds with the pattern of "Five Poisons" on it, which was called "Gourd Flower". They posted it on May 1st, took it off at noon on May 5th and threw it away, which was called "disaster throwing".

Point realgar wine

Old Beijingers also have the custom of drinking realgar wine on Dragon Boat Festival. They will write the word "Wang" on the boy's forehead and point five dots on the girl's head. It is believed that realgar wine is used to crush mosquitoes and flies to ward off evil spirits and avoid harm.