Dragon Boat Festival Folk Customs
The Dragon Boat Festival is a popular folk festival in China. Celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival has been a traditional custom of the Chinese nation since ancient times. Due to the vast territory and many stories and legends, not only are there many different festival names, but also different customs in different places. The Dragon Boat Festival in midsummer is an auspicious day when the dragon flies in the sky. Offering sacrifices to the dragon in the form of dragon boat racing is an important ritual theme of the Dragon Boat Festival. This custom is still popular in the coastal areas of southern China. In addition, a series of Dragon Boat Festival customs have been derived from the Yin-Yang numerology and seasons. According to the Yin-Yang numerology, noon is yang, and Chongwu is the most yang. The ancients regarded the Dragon Boat Festival at noon, when three noons overlap, as the most yang time, which is the best way to ward off evil spirits. The ancients also regarded the Dragon Boat Festival as an auspicious year when it happened to coincide with the summer solstice, and called it the "Dragon Flower Festival". There is a saying that "the Dragon Flower Festival is rare in a thousand years". Summer is the season when the yin and yang qi fight against each other. The yang moves above and the yin is pressed below. The pure yang qi in the noon month is feared by evil spirits. Summer is also a season for expelling plague. The midsummer Dragon Boat Festival is full of yang energy, and everything is flourishing. It is the day with the strongest medicinal properties of herbs in a year. The herbs collected on this day are the most effective in curing diseases and preventing epidemics. Because the pure yang energy of heaven and earth gathers on the Dragon Boat Festival, it is most conducive to warding off evil spirits and the magical properties of herbs on this day. Therefore, many Dragon Boat Festival customs passed down from ancient times have the content of warding off evil spirits and curing diseases and preventing epidemics, such as hanging wormwood, noon water, soaking in dragon boat water, tying five-color silk threads to ward off evil spirits, washing herbal water, fumigating Atractylodes to cure diseases and prevent epidemics, etc.
Chinese culture has a long history and is profound. Ancient festivals are important carriers of traditional culture. The formation of ancient festivals contains profound and rich cultural connotations. Ancient festivals attach importance to the belief in ancestral gods and sacrificial activities. The belief in ancestral gods is the core of ancient traditional festivals. There are many customs on the Dragon Boat Festival, with various forms, rich and colorful content, and lively and festive. On the midsummer Dragon Boat Festival, the flying dragon is in the sky, the dragon energy is strong, and all evil spirits are avoided. The Dragon Boat Festival is a folk festival that combines blessing and warding off evil spirits, celebrating entertainment and eating. The Dragon Boat Festival has rich and colorful customs, which revolve around offering sacrifices to dragons, praying for blessings, and warding off disasters, and they embody people's wishes to welcome good fortune, ward off evil and eliminate disasters. The Dragon Boat Festival has been a festive day for eating rice dumplings and racing dragon boats since ancient times. The lively dragon boat performances and joyful food banquets during the Dragon Boat Festival are all manifestations of celebrating the festival. ”
Dragon Boat Festival has mixed many folk customs into one in the course of historical development and evolution. There are differences in the content or details of customs in different parts of the country due to different regional cultures. The main customs of Dragon Boat Festival include dragon boat racing, dragon sacrifice, herbal medicine collection, hanging mugwort and calamus, worshiping gods and ancestors, washing herbal water, playing noon water, soaking in dragon boat water, eating zongzi, flying kites, watching dragon boats, tying five-color silk threads, fumigating Atractylodes, wearing sachets, etc. Dragon boat racing is very popular in the coastal areas of southern China. After being spread abroad, it is deeply loved by people of all countries and has formed an international competition. The custom of eating zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival has been popular in various parts of China since ancient times and has become one of the most influential and widely covered folk food customs of the Chinese nation. During the Dragon Boat Festival, traditional folk activities can not only enrich the spiritual and cultural life of the masses, but also inherit and promote traditional culture well. The Dragon Boat Festival culture has a wide influence in the world, and some countries and regions in the world also have activities to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.