When it comes to the Dragon Boat Festival, many people first think of "eating zongzi" or "dragon boat racing". But in fact, in addition to these traditional customs,It also contains an extremely precious concept of public health and epidemic prevention.
Mulan decoction, spraying realgar and avoiding the intrusion of "five poisons" all reflect the ancient people’s super-strong awareness of disease prevention.It can be said that the Dragon Boat Festival is a veritable "public health and epidemic prevention festival".

Dragon boat festival "expelling drugs" The custom was formed before Qu Yuan’s time.
According to the existing literature and historical data, the Dragon Boat Festival custom was formed much earlier than that of Gou Jian, Wu Zixu and Qu Yuan, and its original cultural meaning should be the custom and ceremony of the ancients to send disasters, eliminate evil spirits and drive away epidemics, and it is a kind of "public health" activity on the folk level.
The reason why people attach so much importance to these activities is inseparable from the characteristics of the Dragon Boat Festival. At this time, the weather is getting hotter, rainy and humid, and people are prone to get sick. In addition, snakes and insects breed and bite people easily. There was a folk song that said:"Dragon Boat Festival, the weather is hot, the five poisons wake up, and it is not peaceful."
It means that since the Dragon Boat Festival, the "five poisons" began to breed, disturbing people. The "five poisons" mentioned here are the five animals that people thought were poisonous in ancient times: snakes, scorpions, centipedes, geckos and toads. In order to avoid the intrusion of poisonous insects, people try their best, so various customs of "expelling poisonous insects" have been formed among the people.

Dragon Boat Festival: the earliest "Medical and Health Festival" in China
Folklore experts said that judging from these customs, the Dragon Boat Festival can be regarded as the earliest "medical and health care festival" in China and the earliest public health festival in China. There have been many changes in the ancient customs, but what remains unchanged is people’s longing for a better life.

Dragon boat race is also a "disaster-fighting" ceremony.
So how do people do it?
Expel foul gas:Usually, people will be in the corners and shadows.Sprinkle lime, spray realgar wine and burn medicinal smoke to eliminate the "five poisons" and drive away foul gas.
Stick a map of five poisons:At the same time, it is also necessary to put up a map of five poisons in the house, especially embroidered with five poisons on children’s shoes, clothes and Chinese-style stomachs.

Dragon boat race "disaster":Many people may not know that dragon boat racing is actually a kind of "disaster-stricken" ceremony, which was originally regarded as "Send a disaster to send a plague boat ",Entrust people’s wishes for good luck and health.

In addition, there areCollecting herbs, hanging wormwood and Mulan decoctionAnd so on. Custom activities.
wormwood
Poetry painting wormwood

▲ The hanging Ai people in Duanyang Tale Book, painted by Xu Yang in Qing Dynasty. The picture is from official website, Palace Museum.
The tiger symbol is wrapped around the arm, and the festival is also the Dragon Boat Festival. Aipu is green in front of the door, and the sky is pale with kite dancing. The fragrance of zongye flies for ten miles, which brings joy to wine. Dragon boat races, cheering and shouting, paying tribute to the river and reciting the monarch’s fu.
-Excerpted from [Song] Su Shi’s "Liu Yao Ling Tian Zhong Festival"

Willows are inserted in Qingming Festival, and wormwood is inserted in Dragon Boat Festival.
Every Dragon Boat Festival, people will insert wormwood into the lintel, or cut wormwood into the shape of a tiger and hang it on the door, calling it "Ai Hu". Many places also use mugwort leaves to soak in water and take a bath.
During the Dragon Boat Festival, the temperature rises, which is the period of frequent diseases. The special fragrance of wormwood can be used to prevent mosquitoes and repel insects.

▲ Residents in Zigui County, Hubei Province hang mugwort leaves in front of their houses. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Zheng Jiayu)
calamus
Acorus calamus

▲ "Dragon Boat Festival" axis, painted by Wang Shimin in Qing Dynasty. This painting depicts several seasonal flowers in early summer, such as Acorus calamus, Abelmoschus manihot, Hosta Hosta and Rosa rugosa. It is a seasonal painting for the Dragon Boat Festival. Image from @ Palace Museum
Xiaozhongshan Dragon Boat Festival
Shu Yong
Biai Typha is busy everywhere. Whose family is altogether female, celebrates Duanyang. Fine-wound five-color arms are long. Empty and melancholy, who will hang Yuan Xiang again.
Don’t talk about the past. A thousand years of loyalty and loyalty, the sun shines. It always hurts to read Li Sao. No one can solve it, and the tree turns cool in the afternoon.

"Holding the moxa flag to attract a hundred blessings, hanging a sword on the door to kill a thousand evils", wormwood and calamus can be said to be the main plants of the Dragon Boat Festival.
Like wormwood, people hang calamus to ward off evil spirits and charm. The leaves of Acorus calamus are sword-shaped, symbolizing driving away ominous swords, and later extended to "Pu Jian" that can cut thousands of evils. Some places not only hang calamus on the Dragon Boat Festival, but also drink calamus wine.
Acorus calamus is mostly born in swamps and watersides, and is called "four elegant flowers and plants" with orchids, daffodils and chrysanthemums. The ancients thought that Acorus calamus was bitter and cold-resistant, peaceful and indifferent, not holiday-colored, not rich in land, elegant and handsome, tall and straight as a garden, with the atmosphere of a mountain forest and no wealth.

▲ Citizens buy calamus in the streets of Dabu Town, Liucheng County, Liuzhou City, Guangxi. The picture is from Xinhua News Agency.
garlic bulb
Garlic in the picture

▲ "Dragon Boat Festival", painted by Ren Yi in Qing Dynasty. Upright wormwood, calamus and hollyhock are the main performance objects, supplemented by loquat and garlic placed on the ground. The picture comes from the internet.

There is a saying in the farmer’s proverb: "Don’t eat garlic at the Dragon Boat Festival, and the ghost will get in front of the door." In ancient times, the Dragon Boat Festival was a period of high incidence of epidemics. It is said that eating garlic can dispel "poison". Therefore, some places still have the custom of eating garlic.
This gave birth to many ways to eat:
For example, tofu stewed with garlic is smooth and delicious;
For another example, put garlic, eggs and wormwood in clear water and cook them. The garlic after taking out the pot has the fragrance of wormwood, and the entrance is soft, glutinous and spicy;
For example, peel and wash garlic, sprinkle brown sugar and steam it, then pour a spoonful of sesame oil, which has a unique taste.

▲ A Guiyang citizen cooked garlic, edamame and zongzi to prepare for the Dragon Boat Festival. Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Junjiang photo
pomegranate flowers
Poetry painting pomegranate flower

▲ Pomegranate flower in "Flower Book of Imperial Poems of Ganlong". The picture is from official website, Palace Museum.
Fisherman’s proud May Liuhua is enchanting and red.
[Song] Ouyang Xiu
Liu Hua is enchanting in May. Green poplars hang down with rain. Five-color new silk wrapped dumplings. Gold plate delivery. Give birth to a fan and a double phoenix.
It is the time to bathe in orchids. Acorus calamus wine is beautiful and clear. The orioles in the leaves are always picked up. It’s still awkward. Wait and break the dream of screen window.

Dragon Boat Festival is the time when pomegranate blossoms. In some areas of our country, people are used to hanging pomegranate flowers during the Dragon Boat Festival instead of wormwood and calamus.
There is a saying that the ancients used Acorus calamus, Folium Artemisiae Argyi, Pomegranate Flower, Garlic and Dragon Boat Flower to control the "five poisons" of the Dragon Boat Festival. These five plants are collectively called "five ruies in the sky".
Gu Lu’s "Qing Jia Lu Dragon Boat Festival" records: "The fifth day, commonly known as the Dragon Boat Festival. Bottles are for hollyhock, pomegranate, cattail and other things, and women’s mugwort leaves and pomegranate flowers are numbered’ Dragon Boat Festival Scene’. " Therefore, in some parts of northern China, on the Dragon Boat Festival, the elderly should put a pomegranate flower on their children’s heads to pray for their safety and wealth.

▲ Image from @ Palace Museum
hollyhock
Poetry painting hollyhock

▲ Axis of Wuruitu, painted by Lang Shining in Qing Dynasty. The content painted in the painting is the very popular "Dragon Boat Festival" at that time-the celadon porcelain bottle is filled with cattail leaves, pomegranate flowers and sunflower flowers in full bloom; The left tray of the bottle is filled with plums and cherries; Put some zongzi on the right side of the bottle. Image from @ Palace Museum
hollyhock
[Tang] Xu Yin
Trees in the south of Jianmen move to Huixian Pavilion.
Jin Shui Rao Hua Yan, Minshan belt Julia.
Wen Jun gave birth with shame, and the goddess made her graceful.
Rotten, red and purple, fragrant into embroidery.

There are many names for "hollyhock". It is said that because it originated in Sichuan, China, it was named "hollyhock"; Because it can reach Zhang Xu, the flowers are mostly red, hence the name "Zhang Hong"; Because it blooms when the wheat matures in June, it is named "Barley Ripe".
Moreover, hollyhock blooms before and after the Dragon Boat Festival, and it has the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying, so some people are also called "Dragon Boat Festival Flower".

▲ Screenshot from CGTN
reed leaves
Poetry painting zongzi

▲ The corner of Duanyang Tale Book was painted by Xu Yang in Qing Dynasty. The picture is from official website, Palace Museum.
Yi Mao chong Wu
[Song] Lu You
The dragon boat festival is coming, red pomegranate flowers are full of mountain village.
The poet ate two jiao zong zi, and the Gao Guan was on the Mugwort.
Also busy with the medicine and prescription, for this year can be safe and ill.
Having finished these, it was the sun and the west, when the family had prepared the food and drink, and he was glad to drink the wine.

Although the leaves used for making zongzi vary greatly from place to place, most of them have the characteristics of more fiber, corrosion resistance, boiling resistance and fragrance.
The common zongzi leaves are reed leaves, Indocalamus leaves and Hiragi leaves.
Reed leaves are usually slender.

▲ The picture comes from the network.
Indocalamus leaves are widely used in the south. Ruo is a kind of bamboo, and Ruo leaves are Ruo leaves. Indocalamus leaves are not as slender as reed leaves, but usually wider, which is suitable for making triangular and quadrangular zongzi.

▲ Xie Zugao, a villager from Luoyang Village, Yuanbao Township, Lichuan City, Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hubei Province, picked leaves on the mountain. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Yang Shun Pi)
Hiragi has large leaves, which are suitable for making zongzi. For example, Hainan’s special zongzi is made of Hiragi leaves, stuffed with squid, shrimp, salted egg yolk, barbecued pork, etc. It is big, and some of them are about half a kilogram, which can provide an adult with a full meal. Hiragi leaves are big, as you can see from the picture.

▲ A hotel staff member in Qionghai, Hainan is making dumplings. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Meng Zhongde)
In addition, the leaves for making zongzi include mistletoe leaves, lotus leaves, banana leaves, corn leaves, bamboo shoots and so on. Different zongzi leaves have different tastes, and they are wrapped in different fillings to leave people with memories of the Dragon Boat Festival.

▲ Villagers in Xiaozhai Village, Gaoping Village, Gaoping Town, Fuquan City, Guizhou Province hung "Gaozong" on the gate, hoping that the children would take the "high school" exam. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Wu Rubo)
Mulan Tang Pei Xiang nang
Mulan Festival in Poetry
Huanxisha Dragon Boat Festival
[Song] Su Shi
The light sweat slightly penetrated Bi Wan, and the Ming Dynasty Dragon Boat Festival bathed Fang Lan. Qing Chuan is full of fragrance.
The colored thread is lightly wrapped around the red jade arm, and the small character hangs obliquely on the Lv Yun. Beautiful women meet for a thousand years.

Dragon Boat Festival is also known as Mulan Festival. In ancient times, there was a custom of medicated bath in Dragon Boat Festival. Pine, cypress, mulberry twig, mugwort leaf and other herbs were boiled into juice and bathed in it to prevent epidemic and strengthen the body. This herbal water is "Mulan Decoction".
It should be noted that the "orchid" here does not refer to orchids, but to Eupatorium odoratum or herbs of Compositae, which has fragrance and can be decocted and bathed. Qu Yuan’s "Nine Songs in the Cloud" also contains the sentence of "Bathing orchid soup and enjoying fragrance".
There is also the custom of wearing sachets during the Dragon Boat Festival. The sachet is filled with a variety of plant medicinal materials, with fresh fragrance, and has the effects of eliminating moisture, refreshing the brain and expelling mosquitoes.

▲ In Bindu Kindergarten, Yuanqu County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, the teacher introduced sachets to the children. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Cui Songliang)
Doucao
Fighting grass in the picture

▲ "Sketch of Children’s Fight", painted by Jin Ting in Qing Dynasty. The picture is from the Palace Museum

▲ The Spring Dawn of the Han Palace was partly painted by Chou Ying in the Ming Dynasty. In the picture, the woman is sitting around and fighting grass. The picture is from Forbidden City magazine.

On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, participants in grass fighting went out to find some exotic flowers and plants to compete with each other. There are two main forms of fighting grass:
One can be called a literary fight, in which the names of flowers and grasses are reported to each other in the form of antithesis, and most of them win. This is not only better than the collection of flowers and plants, but also the accumulation of plant knowledge and literary knowledge on both sides.
The other is called warfare, in which the participants hold the grass opposite each other, and each person holds one end of a grass (or flower) stem in both hands, hooks it with the grass stem in the other hand, and pulls it hard. Whoever pulls the grass stem is the loser.
In fact, fighting grass is a game derived from picking herbs. The Dragon Boat Festival is considered to be the best time to collect herbs, and there is a folk saying that "before the Dragon Boat Festival, there is grass, and when it comes to the Dragon Boat Festival, it becomes medicine".

▲ A "Children’s Dragon Boat Festival, Folk Experience" activity was held in qu yuan memorial hall in zigui county, East Lake, Wuhan, and two children were playing a game of "fighting grass". Xinhua news agency
Plants occupy an important position in the Dragon Boat Festival:
People draw materials from nature,
Wrapping zongzi with reed leaves and Indocalamus leaves,
Hanging mugwort leaves and calamus at the door,
Sprinkle the courtyard with plants dipped in realgar wine,
Pomegranate flower,
Mulan decoction,
Wearing a sachet,
Go up the mountain to collect medicine,
……
All these have pinned the expectation of epidemic prevention and health care.
One last reminder:
Dragon boat festival holiday,
Take protective measures when traveling ~

Source: Guangdong Health Information
Editing and finishing: publicity section

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