Dragon Boat Festival

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Dragon Boat Festival

• About Dragon Boat Festival
• Legend
• Activices
• Hsiung Huang Wine
• Dragon Boat Race
• Rice Dumpling
• Chinese mugwort
• Poems

By Nicole
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About Dragon Boat Festival
Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the fifth
day of the fifth lunar month, and together with
Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival forms
one of the three major Chinese holidays. Since
the summer is a time when diseases most easily
spread, Dragon Boat Festival began as an occasion
for driving off evil spirits and pestilence and
for finding peace in one's life. The festival was
later enriched by the legend of the patriot Chu
Yuan.
Dragon Boat Festival
Chung Kuei
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Story of White Snake

• There is a very famous traditional Chinese story
  that has a close connection to the Dragon Boat
  Festival. Once upon a time on E-Mei mountain
  there lived two snake spirits, White Snake and
  Green Snake. These snakes, being magical, turned
  themselves into beautiful maidens and set off on
  a journey to the West Lake of Hang Zhou.
• When they arrived at West Lake they met a man
  named Xu Xian. White Snake quickly fell in love
  with Xu Xian and they were soon married.

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• On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival White
  Snake wished to stay home so as to avoid the Ay
  Tsao, used for protection from spirits, hanging
  on the doors of people's houses. Her husband
  prepared, according to Fa Hai's instruction, some
  realgar wine, as this was a tradition during the
  Dragon boat festival. White Snake, thinking her
  magic would protect her from the effects of the
  realgar wine accepted a cup. After she drank the
  wine she became very ill and was barely able to
  get to her bed. When her husband came to her
  side, he found not his wife but a huge white
  snake. So great was Xu Xian's shock that he fell
  to the floor dead. She set off on a journey to
  obtain a potent medicinal herb, which could
  revive her husband. Returning and reviving her
  husband with the medicine.

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Standing an egg on end on the Spring Equinox

• At any day of the year, take a carton of eggs and
  try to stand each one. Usually you cannot stand a
  raw egg because the inside of an egg is a very
  viscous (thick) liquid, and the yolk sits in this
  liquid. Making it very difficult to balance.
  However, with patience, you can usually make an
  egg stand up. It may take a lot of patience! If
  you can successfully stand an egg on its end
  exactly at 1200 noon, then the coming year will
  be a lucky one.

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Hsiung Huang Wine

• Adults drink hsiung huang wine and children are
  given fragrant sachets, both of which are said to
  possess qualities for preventing evil and
  bringing peace. Another custom practiced in
  Taiwan is "fetching noon water," in which people
  draw well water on the afternoon of the festival
  in the belief that it will cure illness.

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Dragon Boat Race

• Traditions At the center of this festival are the
  dragon boat races. Competing teams drive their
  colorful dragon boats forward to the rhythm of
  beating drums. These exciting races were inspired
  by the villager's valiant attempts to rescue Chu
  Yuan from the Mi Lo river. This tradition has
  remained unbroken for centuries.

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Rice Dumpling

• A very popular dish during the Dragon Boat
  festival is Rice Dumpling. This tasty dish
  consists of rice dumplings with meat, peanut, egg
  yolk, or other fillings wrapped in bamboo leaves.
  The tradition of tzung tzu is meant to remind us
  of the village fishermen scattering rice across
  the water of the Mi Low river in order to appease
  the river dragons so that they would not devour
  Chu Yuan.

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Chinese mugwort

• The time of year of the Dragon Boat Festival, the
  fifth lunar moon, has more significance than just
  the story of Chu Yuan. Many Chinese consider this
  time of year an especially dangerous time when
  extra efforts must be made to protect their
  family from illness. Families will hang various
  herbs, called Ay Tsao, on their door for
  protection. The drinking of realgar wine is
  thought to remove poisons from the body. Hsiang
  Bao are also worn. These sachets contain various
  fragrant medicinal herbs thought to protect the
  wearer from illness.

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These are poems about Dragon Boat Festival.
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