The customs of the National Dragon Boat Festival are: eating zongzi, tying colored silk thread, drinking realgar wine, rowing dragon boats, hanging wormwood and calamus, playing polo, eating salted duck eggs, wearing sachets, eating cakes and jogging. I think there are five customs worth mentioning. Let's take a look:
? 1, Dragon Boat Festival custom: eat zongzi.
Eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival is another traditional custom of China people. Zongzi, also known as "millet" and "Zongzi". It has a long history and various patterns.
In the morning at the end of May, every family eats zongzi to commemorate Qu Yuan. Zongzi is usually wrapped the day before, cooked at night and eaten in the morning. Zongzi is mainly made of tender reed leaves and bamboo leaves, collectively called Zongzi leaves. The traditional form of zongzi is a triangle, which is generally named after the inner pulp. Glutinous rice is called rice zongzi, red bean zongzi is called red bean zongzi, and jujube zongzi is called jujube zongzi. 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. Up to now, on the morning of the entrance examination day in middle schools and universities, parents have to make jujube jiaozi for the candidates. You must cook eggs in the pot where zongzi is cooked, and if possible, cook some duck eggs and goose eggs. After eating sweet zongzi dipped in sugar, eat eggs dipped in salt. It is said that eating boiled eggs in zongzi pot at the end of May will not cause sores in summer; At noon, put the duck eggs and goose eggs cooked in the zongzi pot in the sun for a while before eating, so that you won't have a headache all summer.
According to records, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, millet was wrapped into horns by leaves of zinia latifolia, which was called "horny millet". Rice packed in bamboo tubes is sealed and baked, which is called "tube zongzi". At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, millet soaked in plant ash water. Because the water contains alkali, the millet is wrapped in leaves into a quadrilateral, and when cooked, it becomes Guangdong sour rice dumplings.
In Jin Dynasty, Zongzi was officially designated as Dragon Boat Festival food. At this time, in addition to glutinous rice, jiaozi also added Alpinia oxyphylla, and the boiled jiaozi was called "Yizhi jiaozi". According to the "Yueyang Local Records" written by Zhou people, "It is customary to wrap the millet with leaves, cook it and cook it thoroughly. From May 5 to the summer solstice, one is Zongzi and the other is Xiaomi. " During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, miscellaneous zongzi appeared. Rice is mixed with animal meat, chestnuts, red dates, red beans and so on. And there are more and more varieties. Zongzi is also used as a gift for communication.
In the Tang Dynasty, the rice used for zongzi was "white as jade", and its shape appeared conical and rhombic. There is a record of "Da Tang Zongzi" in Japanese literature. In the Song Dynasty, there was already a "candied jiaozi", that is, fruits entered jiaozi. The poet Su Dongpo has a poem "See Yangmei in Zongzi". At this time, there were also advertisements for building pavilions and wooden chariots and horses with zongzi, indicating that eating zongzi was very fashionable in the Song Dynasty. In the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the wrapping material of zongzi changed from leaves to leaves. Later, zongzi wrapped in reed leaves appeared, and additional materials such as bean paste, pork, pine nuts, dates and walnuts appeared, and the varieties were more colorful.
To this day, at the beginning of May every year, people in China have to soak glutinous rice, wash zongzi leaves and wrap zongzi, with more varieties of colors. From the perspective of stuffing, there are many dates in the north, such as jiaozi; There are many kinds of fillings in the south, such as red bean paste, fresh meat, ham and egg yolk, among which Zhejiang Jiaxing Zongzi is the representative. The custom of eating zongzi has been popular in China for thousands of years and spread to South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian countries.
? 2. Dragon Boat Festival custom: tie five-color silk thread.
In the traditional culture of China, the five colors "blue, red, white, black and yellow" symbolizing the five elements are regarded as auspicious colors. On the Dragon Boat Festival, children should tie colorful silk threads on their wrists and ankles to protect their health.
Why are multicolored silk threads so powerful?
In "Bao Pu Zi" by Ge Hong in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there is also a kind of witchcraft that hangs five-color paper in the mountains to summon five ghosts and gods. It is probably a symbol of the protection of the five ghosts and gods, which originated from the concept of five elements in ancient China. In addition, it may originate from the custom of tattooing in ancient southerners. "History of Han Geography" records that the Yue people "tattooed their hair to avoid harm". Liu Yiqing, a native of A Jin, is the author of Shi Shuo and other books. In the book, rice dumplings are wrapped in five-color silk and thrown into the river, fearing mosquitoes and dragons. Although it is a legend, it reveals some interesting information.
Five-color silk tied to the arm, or tattoos, and other accessories. For example, Taiping Yulan quoted a lost article from Customs Yi Tong: "There are also sundries such as textiles, and relics are given to each other." Stripes, that is, colored woven ribbons, also go hand in hand with five-color silk. There is also the custom of paying soldiers on credit (this custom has been lost for a long time and is only recorded in Taiping YuLan). These customs spread to later generations, that is, developed into a variety of beautiful and fun sachets and other accessories. I remember Kaifeng in the Northern Song Dynasty and wanted to buy it after the Dragon Boat Festival. "White rope and wormwood (perennial sweet clover, with fragrant leaves, can be used as medicine, taken orally as a hemostatic agent and used for moxibustion. It is also called "osmanthus fragrans and silver-like drum flower". Just wear accessories. " "Old Stories of Wulin" was given to the concubines in Hangzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty: "Cuiye, five-color sunflower pomegranate, golden silk Cui fan, real pearl, rope, hairpin, tube, sachet, soft fragrant dragon raw clothes. "
Ji Sheng, Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, said, "Young girls cut the ribbon and fold the blessings, sewing the equations of old healthy people, corn millet, garlic, five poisons and tigers with soft silk." During the Dragon Boat Festival, it was made into a small sachet in the shape of a human figure (developed from the ancient Ai people), zongzi, garlic, five poisons and a lane tiger. Jia Qinglu records another kind of healthy person: "People in the city use gold and silver silk as numerous tassels (the belt tied under the collar on ancient hats), chime bells and ride tigers, which are extremely exquisite, and use small hairpin as a string, or copper wire and gold foil for women to insert manes and worship each other, so they are called healthy people." Women will also wear mugwort on steamed buns and insert pomegranate flowers, which can ward off evil spirits and play a decorative role.
? 3. Dragon Boat Festival custom: drink realgar wine.
The custom of drinking realgar wine on the Dragon Boat Festival is spreading in China with the story of "Legend of the White Snake", that is, using realgar wine to cure the snake's poison, and the white snake will show its true colors. In ancient times, it was very popular in the Yangtze River basin. As the saying goes, "drinking realgar wine will cure all diseases."
As the saying goes, "drinking realgar wine will cure all diseases." Realgar is a mineral, commonly known as "Jiguanshi". Its main component is arsenic sulfide, which contains mercury and is toxic. The common realgar wine is made by adding a small amount of realgar to white wine or homemade yellow wine, and there is no pure drink. Realgar wine has the efficacy of sterilization, insect repellent and detoxification, and traditional Chinese medicine is also used to treat skin diseases. In ancient times, when there was no disinfectant such as iodine, soaking in realgar could detoxify and relieve itching. For children under drinking age, adults apply realgar wine to forehead, ears, ears, hands, feet, heart and other parts to disinfect and prevent diseases.
The ancient poem goes: "Only when I was a child, I didn't forget to hold Evp as the king." It means that on the Dragon Boat Festival, children take mugwort leaves, put on calamus and write the word "king" on their foreheads with realgar wine to ward off evil spirits and prevent epidemic. Sprinkle realgar wine on corners, bed bottoms and other places to repel insects and clean the environment.
? 4. Dragon Boat Festival custom: dragon boat race.
Dragon boat race is one of the customs of China Dragon Boat Festival, and it is also one of the most important festivals and folk activities. It widely exists in the south of China, and there are also dragon boat races in cities near rivers, lakes and seas in the north, and most of them are held in the form of dragon boat rowing and dragon boat dancing.
According to the historian Biography of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng, Qu Yuan was a minister in Chu Huaiwang during the Warring States Period. He advocated prospering talents and empowering the people, becoming rich and uniting with Qi to resist Qin, which was strongly opposed by the nobles. Qu Yuan was expelled from the capital and exiled to the Yuanxiang Valley. During his exile, he wrote immortal poems such as Li Sao, Tian Wen and Jiu Ge, which worried about the country and the people. In 278 BC, Qin Jun invaded Kyoto, Chu, and Qu Yuan could not bear to abandon his motherland. On the fifth day of May, after writing his masterpiece Huai Sha, he threw himself into the river.
Legend has it that after Qu Yuan's death, the people of Chu were so sad that they flocked to the Miluo River to pay homage to Qu Yuan. The fisherman paddled the boat and fished for his real body back and forth on the river. 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.
In Miluo City, Hunan Province, before the dragon boat race, you must go to Quzi Temple to worship the Weng God in the temple, wrap red cloth around the dragon head, and then race the boat, which is not only to worship the dragon god, but also to commemorate Qu Yuan. In Zigui, Hubei, Qu Yuan's hometown, there is also a ceremony to worship Qu Yuan. The custom of offering sacrifices to Qu Yuan is recorded in "Geography of Sui Shu": "The song is loud and clear, shaking the land and water, and the audience is like a cloud." Interpretation of Du Jingqu in Yuxi, Liu Tang: "Du Jing began in Wuling, and now it is in harmony with it, with a salty voice:' Where is it', which means four valleys."
? 5. Dragon Boat Festival custom: hanging mugwort leaves and calamus
Hanging calamus on Dragon Boat Festival can make those snakes, insects, rats and ants wander around. Acorus calamus is known as a "mosquito repellent expert" among the people.
Hanging mugwort leaves and calamus is a folk festival custom in China. On Dragon Boat Festival, mugwort leaves are hung in the hall, cut into tiger shapes or ribbons to make tigers, and pasted with mugwort leaves. Women compete to wear them to drive away evil spirits. Using calamus as a sword and inserting it on the couch has the magical effect of exorcism and fear of ghosts. On the Dragon Boat Festival, every household uses calamus, mugwort leaves, pomegranate flowers, garlic and dragon boat flowers to make human figures, which are called "lovers" and "Ai Hu". They make garlands and decorations, which are beautiful and fragrant, and women compete to wear them to drive away evil.
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 family sweeps the court, puts calamus and moxa sticks between their eyebrows and hangs them in the class. It can be seen from the functions of Folium Artemisiae Argyi and Rhizoma Acori Graminei that the ancients inserted Folium Artemisiae Argyi and Rhizoma Acori Graminei to prevent diseases. 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.