It's the annual Dragon Boat Festival again. The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the traditional festivals in China. In addition to the custom of eating zongzi and rowing dragon boat, do you know that there is the custom of hanging gourd at the gate every Dragon Boat Festival? But why hang gourd at the Dragon Boat Festival? Let's take a look!
Why hang gourd on Dragon Boat Festival? What's the meaning of hanging gourd
In ancient times, the ancestors thought that may was a "bad month" or a "poisonous month". In May, the weather in the South has been very hot, with a lot of rain and sudden flash floods. In order to survive, people use the nature of the gourd tied to the body, survival in danger, when the gourd is known as the 'waist boat'.
Because of the special function of the gourd, it can save people's lives in a critical moment, so people worship the gourd. Later, it evolved into the custom of hanging gourds on the doors of every household on the Dragon Boat Festival. In the north, that is, there is no gourd at home, so we use paper-cut to cut a gourd and stick it on the gate.
Gourd means "fortune" and has the function of collecting fortune. Cucurbitaceae is a kind of liana, and the continuous vines mean long generations. Because the shape of the gourd is very close to the Yin and Yang of Taiji, it can absorb the bad Qi, and it is easy to enter but not easy to leave. Therefore, in the Dragon Boat Festival, the folk use the habit of removing diseases and turning evil spirits with the gourd. The peach tree and eight trigrams gourd can be hung at home or worn on the body, which can avoid evil spirits and bring good luck.
Legend of hanging gourd on Dragon Boat Festival
Legend one
There is also a folk custom. It is said that on the first day of may in a certain year, when the king of medicine came down to earth, he saw poisonous insects running rampant in the world and pestilence rising everywhere, so he hung his gourd as a god medicine at the door of a family to kill insects and reduce pestilence and save all living beings.
Legend 2
There is also an old legend about the gourd hanging on the door. It is said that in ancient times, an old man who sold oil went to the village to sell oil. He called out: "one gourd four Liang, four gourd half Jin" (Note: in the past, one Jin was sixteen Liang, half Jin was eight Liang). Therefore, many people beat four gourds for bargains.
The old man asked him why he didn't hit four gourds. The boy told him the reason. The old man thought the boy was honest, so he told him that there would be a disaster on May 5. If he hung a gourd on his door, he could avoid the disaster.
The village boy went home to tell his mother what he said and did so. As expected, a disaster was averted on May 5. From then on, the custom of hanging gourds on the gate of the Dragon Boat Festival in may became popular among the people.