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Dragon Boat Festival and its protective herbs
The fifth day of the fifth month, a time believed dangerous for illness, met with mugwort, calamus and scented sachets.
About Dragon Boat Festival and its protective herbs
The fifth day of the fifth lunar month falls at the start of summer, and traditional belief held the whole month to be one of poison, with snakes, insects and disease at their height. Bundles of mugwort and calamus are hung on doors, children wear coloured threads on the wrist and small scented sachets filled with herbs, and some families drink or sprinkle wine made with realgar, a mineral now known to be toxic and not recommended. Boat races recall the poet Qu Yuan, and sticky-rice dumplings (zongzi) were first thrown into the water for him. Noon on the day is thought to be the point of strongest yang energy, so charms are made then.
Also part of it, and being written: Dragon Boat Festival (The festival and the races.), Mugwort (Hung on doors as a ward.), Realgar (The mineral once used in festival wine; it is poisonous.), Zongzi (The dumplings eaten for the day.).
More entries linked to Dragon Boat Festival and its protective herbs
Written by the EveryJaadu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Dragon Boat Festival" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family, and are described as belief and practice. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.