What are the customs of Dragon Boat Festival? Can’t I go back to my parents’ home during the Dragon Boat Festival?

What are the customs of Dragon Boat Festival? Can’t I go back to my parents’ home during the Dragon Boat Festival?
"Shuowen Jiezi" says: "Duan means the beginning of things", which means that Duan means the beginning, so the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of May is called "Duanwu Festival". So, what are the special things about the Dragon Boat Festival? Can’t I go back to my parents’ home during the Dragon Boat Festival? The fifth month of the lunar calendar is a beautiful time as described by the ancients: "The ground is covered with shade from the trees, the sun is at noon, and I wake up from my dream by the sound of a nightingale." For more information about the auspicious and inauspicious days in the fifth month of the lunar calendar in 2019, please visit Mr. Shuimo's website.

What are the traditions of the Dragon Boat Festival?

In the eyes of ancient Chinese people, the days are longest and the nights are shortest in May, which is the time when yang is at its peak and yin is at its lowest. However, everything will turn to the opposite extreme, and it is at this time that yin will quietly grow. In addition, the living environment of the ancients was harsh, and epidemics were common in midsummer, so May was considered an unlucky month and was called the "evil month." Therefore, there are also many considerations. like:
1. Avoid swimming
People believe that "drowned ghosts" are at their most vicious on the Dragon Boat Festival, and they will wait for an opportunity to find a substitute to "return to life." In addition, Qu Yuan died by jumping into a river, so swimming is especially taboo on the Dragon Boat Festival, especially in places where people have drowned.
2. Avoid losing the sachets worn by children
In the north, children have the custom of wearing sachets. The sachets worn by children must not be lost. Legend has it that if a child loses the sachet he is wearing, there will be a major disaster within a year. After the Dragon Boat Festival, children are required to throw the sachets they are wearing into the water to avoid fire.
3. Taboo Day
As May is an "evil month" and Double Fifth is an unlucky day, there is a custom of "hiding from Wu" on this day, that is, babies under one year old should be sent to their grandmother's house to hide to escape disasters.
4. Avoid the five poisons
Folks believe that May is the time when the five poisonous creatures (snakes, centipedes, scorpions, lizards, and toads) appear. A folk song says: "Dragon Boat Festival, the weather is hot, and the "poison-free" ones wake up, and there is no peace."
The purpose of driving away the five poisonous animals during the Dragon Boat Festival is to remind people to prevent harm and disease. Every Dragon Boat Festival, people use various methods to prevent the harm of the five poisons. Generally, a picture of the five poisonous creatures is posted in the house. Five poisonous creatures are printed on red paper, and then five needles are pricked on the five poisonous creatures. It is believed that the poisonous creatures are stabbed to death and cannot run rampant anymore. This is a relic of witchcraft custom to ward off evil spirits. People also embroider the five poisonous creatures on their clothes and decorate their skirts with patterns of the five poisonous creatures, both of which are meant to drive away evil spirits. In some places, people use colored paper to cut the five poisonous creatures into images (i.e. paper-cuts), or paste them on doors, windows, and walls. It can be placed on the kang or tied around the arm of a child to ward off poison.

Can’t I go back to my parents’ home during the Dragon Boat Festival?

You can go back to your parents’ home during the Dragon Boat Festival. Even now, some areas still retain the custom that married daughters must return to their parents' home on the Dragon Boat Festival.
This is because the Dragon Boat Festival is the first day of the Nine Poisons, when poisonous gases attack the body and evil spirits are strong, sexual intercourse is strictly prohibited. At the same time, the Dragon Boat Festival is a day when heaven and earth come into harmony, and is also not suitable for sexual intercourse between men and women. From a scientific point of view, when the energy field of heaven and earth is not right, it will inevitably affect people's body and mind. Therefore, if you have sex on the Nine Poisonous Days, you will be poisoned and injured. The wife returns to her parents' home to prevent some people from losing self-control and breaking taboos. Objectively, it eliminates the conditions for careless sexual intercourse and also protects the health of the parties involved.

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