The Health Secrets of Dragon Boat Festival Customs
In two days, it will be the Dragon Boat Festival. Among China's traditional festivals, the Dragon Boat Festival is an important one. During these days, people will hang calamus, mugwort, and mugwort leaves on their doors to ward off evil, drink realgar wine and Wu Jia wine, eat zongzi (glutinous rice dumplings), and wear sachets to express their beautiful wish of maintaining good health. In the modern lifestyle, some ancient customs of the Dragon Boat Festival have been gradually abandoned, but it turns out that our traditional customs contain many health secrets.
Eating Zongzi to Clear Heat and Relieve Irritability
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), glutinous rice has the effect of replenishing qi, strengthening the spleen, whetting the appetite, and aiding digestion. The leaves used to wrap zongzi are even more particular. In the north, reed leaves are mostly used, while in the south, bamboo leaves or lotus leaves are more common, and these leaves have good medicinal functions. For example: reed leaves can clear heat, promote the production of body fluids, relieve irritability, and quench thirst; bamboo leaves can clear heat, relieve irritability, promote urination, and expel toxins; lotus leaves can clear heat, promote diuresis, drain dampness, harmonize the stomach, and calm the spirit. In general, zongzi have the effects of clearing heat, relieving irritability, aiding the spleen, and whetting the appetite, and are especially suitable for consumption in early summer.
When eating, it should be noted that the main ingredient of zongzi, glutinous rice, is quite sticky. Overconsumption can easily cause indigestion, so one should not be greedy.
Mugwort and Calamus to Expel Toxins and Ward off Plagues
There is a saying: "On Qingming, willow branches are planted; on Duanwu, mugwort is hung." On the Dragon Boat Festival, every household inserts calamus and moxa sticks on their door lintels and hangs them in their halls. Mugwort leaves (also called mugwort) are a TCM herb that aromatically transforms turbidity and has a strong effect of expelling toxins and warding off plagues. Modern research shows that hanging and burning mugwort leaves does have the effect of sterilizing and disinfecting and preventing the spread of plagues. Mugwort and calamus also repel mosquitoes, and slowly burning mugwort leaves is even more effective for this purpose.
Modern people rarely hang herbs like mugwort and calamus at their doorways. To solve this problem, experts say that methods such as fumigation and spraying aerosols can be adopted. An ordinary family can choose to seal doors and windows tightly before and during the Dragon Boat Festival, and then fumigate with a mixture of calamus, mugwort, and realgar for 2 to 4 hours or more, which can have a sterilizing effect. Additionally, one can go to a store to buy insect-repellent aerosols to achieve the goal of eliminating pests.
Applying Realgar Wine to Kill Insects and Detoxify
Before and after the Dragon Boat Festival, many southern regions of China have entered the plum rain season, and weather conditions are favorable for the activity and reproduction of mosquitoes, flies, and other pests. Realgar is a TCM herb for detoxification and killing insects, which contains toxic arsenic salt components. Pests that smell or eat it will be poisoned, and applying it to the human body can ward off toxins. Many people also drink realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival, but since the main component of realgar is arsenic disulfide, which can decompose into highly toxic arsenic trioxide when heated, oral consumption is not recommended.
Applying realgar wine is one of the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival. On this day, realgar is mixed into wine to make realgar wine, which is then sprinkled in the corners of the room and under the bed, having a strong effect of killing mosquitoes and insects. Since realgar can be absorbed through the skin, external application should not cover a large area to prevent poisoning.
Drinking Wu Jia Wine to Expel Dampness and Ward off Evil Spirits
"On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, pick Wu Jia to brew Wu Jia wine" is a folk custom. Wu Jia refers to the cortex of Acanthopanax, which has a fragrant aroma and a bitter taste. The bark of the Wu Jia tree has a special fragrance and can nourish the liver and kidneys and strengthen the bones and muscles. Folk belief holds that drinking Wu Jia wine can help one avoid disasters and ward off evil spirits. The medicinal use of Wu Jia bark is mainly to treat hernia, abdominal pain, male impotence, residual urine dribbling, female lower back pain, and pain in both feet. Areas with a humid climate are especially suitable for drinking Wu Jia wine during the Dragon Boat Festival.
Hanging Sachets to Disperse Wind and Expel Cold
Many places in China have the custom of hanging sachets during the Dragon Boat Festival, which is also a method of preventing infectious diseases. The traditional Chinese medicines used to make homemade Dragon Boat Festival sachets include Atractylodes, Agastache rugosa, Evodia rutaecarpa, mugwort, cinnamon, Amomum, and Angelica dahurica, two grams of each, plus one gram of cloves. These several traditional Chinese medicines are ground into a fine powder and then placed in a cloth bag, which is then sewn up. It can be worn on the chest, waist, or navel, or the sachet can be hung at the doorway, indoors, or in a car. According to TCM, these herbs have the functions of dispelling wind and cold, strengthening the spleen and harmonizing the stomach, regulating qi and relieving pain, and opening the nine orifices, thereby preventing diseases.