Sihaiwang: eating zongzi, rowing dragon boats, hanging colorful ropes and hanging wormwood are all traditional habits. Many people don't understand why we should hang wormwood on Dragon Boat Festival. According to the folk saying: 'insert willows at Qingming Festival, and insert wormwood at Dragon Boat Festival'. So why do we hang wormwood at the gate of Dragon Boat Festival? Do you know?
Why to hang wormwood on Dragon Boat Festival
1. Scientific significance of health preservation
Hanging wormwood at the gate of Dragon Boat Festival can cure and prevent diseases.
On the day of Dragon Boat Festival, people take planting wormwood and cattail as one of the important contents. AI, also known as AI, AI Hao. Its stems and leaves contain volatile aromatic oil. Its peculiar fragrance can drive away mosquitoes, flies, insects and ants, and purify the air. In traditional Chinese medicine, AI is used as medicine, which has the functions of regulating qi and blood, warming the uterus and removing cold and dampness. The processing of wormwood leaves into 'wormwood' is an important medicinal material for moxibustion.
The ancients have certain disease prevention effect. Dragon Boat Festival is also a "Health Festival" passed down from ancient times. On this day, people sweep the courtyard, hang mugwort branches, sprinkle realgar water, drink realgar wine, stir up turbidity, remove corruption, sterilize and prevent diseases. These activities also reflect the fine traditions of the Chinese nation. It is a common custom of all ethnic groups in China to pick herbs on the Dragon Boat Festival.
In addition, Pucao is a perennial aquatic herb. Its long and narrow leaves also contain volatile aromatic oil, which is a drug for refreshing and opening the body, strengthening the bones and eliminating stagnation, killing insects and sterilization. It can be seen that the ancients inserted Artemisia and cattail have certain disease prevention function, and these activities also reflect the fine tradition and great wisdom of the Chinese nation.
2. Traditional cultural significance
(1) Pray for good luck
General people also have the custom of planting wormwood in front of and behind the house for good luck. There are also "noon couplets" posted by Taiwanese people at Dragon Boat Festival, which have the same function as spirit charms. Some noon couplets have the following sentences: "holding AI flag in hand to summon hundreds of blessings, hanging Pu sword at the gate to kill thousands of evils". The significance of banyan branch in the folk can make the body vigorous and healthy. There is also a local custom of hanging pomegranate, garlic or Shandan, which is used to eliminate evils and insect poisons; Shandan prescription is used to treat mania, and the pomegranate flower is the flower of this season, which also has the function of curing diseases. Pomegranate peel is a common Chinese medicine.
There is a story about the relationship between pomegranate flower and yellow nest. When Huang Chao was in chaos, once Huang Chao passed a village and saw a woman with a big child on her back and a young one in her hand. Huang Chao was very curious and asked why. The woman didn't know Huang Chao, so she said that because Huang Chao came, she killed her uncle's family, leaving only this unique lifeline, so if she couldn't take care of it, she had to sacrifice her own flesh and bones to protect his uncle's flesh and bones. Huang Chao was greatly moved and told her that if pomegranate flowers were hung on the door, she could avoid the disaster of Huang Chao.
(2) Exorcism and Exorcism
There are reasons for hanging wormwood, calamus (Pujian), pomegranate and garlic at the gate of Dragon Boat Festival. Usually, the wormwood, banyan and calamus are bound into a bunch with red paper, and then inserted or hung on the door. Because the head of five auspicious in Acorus calamus is a symbol of expelling the ominous sword. Because the growing season and shape are regarded as feeling the "hundred Yin Qi", the leaves are sword shaped, which can be inserted in the door to avoid evil. So they called it "water sword", later customs extended to "Pujian", which can kill thousands of evils. Gu Tieqing of Qing dynasty recorded in the book of Qing Jialu that "cutting a cattail as a sword, cutting a spear as a whip, with peach stalks and garlic as a pair, hanging in bed, all of them are ghosts".
In the Jin Dynasty, there was a tiger shaped AI, or a small tiger with a ribbon cut, and the AI leaf was pasted on it, so the insiders competed to cut it. Later, it was more like a calamus, or a human, or a Xiao sword, called a Pujian, to drive away evil spirits.
(3) Recruit hundreds of blessings
"Hold AI flag in hand to summon hundreds of blessings, and hang Pu sword at the gate to cut off thousands of evils.". On the Dragon Boat Festival, wormwood and dandelion are hung at the gate, just like a talisman, which can seek benefits and avoid harm. Wormwood represents zhaobaifu, which is a kind of herb that can cure diseases. It can be inserted in the door and make the body healthy. In ancient China, it has always been a medicinal plant. The moxibustion method in acupuncture is to use wormwood as the main component and put it on the acupoint for burning to cure the disease. The legend that wormwood can drive away evil spirits has been circulating for a long time, mainly because it has the function of medicine. It is recorded in the book of Jingchu's age that when the chicken is not crowing, people who pick up wormwood like human form will take it and receive moxibustion, which is very effective. It is in the shape of a human, hanging on the door, which can be used to poison gas. '