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BETHANY ORTIZ

Apart from eating the 'Five Poisons' and bathing in orchid-infused water, what other customs are there for the Dragon Boat Festival?

The Dragon Boat Festival, originating in China, is also known as Duan Yang, Double Fifth, Tianzhong Festival, Bathing Orchid Festival, May Festival, and Dragon Worship Day, among other names. In the region of Wu and Yue before the Spring and Autumn period, there was a custom of tribal totem worship in the form of dragon boat races on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Later, the festival became associated with the commemoration of historical figures such as Qu Yuan, Wu Zixu, and the filial daughter Cao E. The Dragon Boat Festival customs in Jiaxing, which originated in the Southern Song Dynasty, include eating zongzi (rice dumplings), drinking realgar wine, consuming the 'Five Yellows', painting tiger heads, picking herbs, fumigating against mosquitoes, wearing multicolored threads, donning longevity threads of five colors, wearing fragrant pouches, bathing in orchid-infused water, hanging mugwort and calamus, displaying (Zhong Kui) talismans, and dragon boat racing. Since the Han Dynasty, during the Dragon Boat Festival, the emperor would bestow owl soup banquets to officials to promote filial piety. The shooting of powder balls was an entertainment custom of the Tang Dynasty imperial court. Since the Jin Dynasty, the activities of jumping over Zhong Kui and making a ruckus with Zhong Kui figures have been important parts of both the Dragon Boat Festival and the Spring Festival. 'With an ai flag in hand to attract a hundred blessings, a calamus sword hung on the door to slay a thousand evils.' According to the Jin Dynasty 'Geography Records', people made figures out of mugwort leaves and tigers, and 'swords' out of calamus mixed with garlic heads, hanging them on the door lintel to ward off plague and poison. Jiaxing, located at the junction of Wu and Yue, holds the belief that eating the 'Five Yellows' can ward off the harm of the 'Five Poisons'. The 'Five Yellows' refer to eel, yellow croaker, cucumber, preserved eggs in yellow mud, and realgar wine. The 'Five Poisons' are venomous snakes, scorpions, centipedes, geckos, and toads. In addition to dragon boat races, Jiaxing also has a tradition of 'making victory gatherings', where the wealthy and nobles would throw geese and ducks into the water during the dragon boat races, and the participants in the dragon boats would dive in to compete for them as a form of entertainment.
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*Created by local travelers and translated by AI.
Posted: May 20, 2024
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