What flowers are best to give at the Dragon Boat Festival? A detailed explanation of the festival's origins
The 2018 Dragon Boat Festival is coming tomorrow. The Dragon Boat Festival is a festival in which our people commemorate the ancient patriotic poet Qu Yuan. According to the "Record of the Seasons of Jing and Chu," because of climbing high in midsummer, with the ascending yang above, the fifth month is midsummer, and its first wu day is precisely the day for climbing high and following the yang in fine weather, so the fifth day of the fifth month is also called the "Duan Yang Festival." At every festival everyone surely visits relatives and friends, and a gift to bring along is a must. For the Dragon Boat Festival the first choice is generally the festive and delicious zongzi, but in fact you can also give flowers at the Dragon Boat Festival to express blessings to relatives and friends, so what flowers are suitable to give at the Dragon Boat Festival? The Huacaole editor will tell you.
The origins of the Dragon Boat Festival and what flowers are best to give at the Dragon Boat Festival
What flowers are best to give at the Dragon Boat Festival
One: Acorus calamus. Acorus calamus is the flower representing the spirit of the Dragon Boat Festival. At the Dragon Boat Festival there is the custom of every household inserting Acorus calamus and mugwort leaves on the door, which can ward off evil and drive away pain. The flower language of Acorus calamus is warding off evil and suppressing disaster. On the occasion of the Dragon Boat Festival, Acorus calamus flowers are very suitable to give to friends who have had bad luck recently.
Two: Codariocalyx motorius, the dancing grass. The leaves of the dancing grass have the characteristic of moving naturally, and it is the only plant in nature that can respond to sound. In an environment of normal temperature, strong light, and no wind or rain, the 2 small lateral leaflets of the dancing grass will sway ceaselessly; within half a minute, each small leaf can complete one elliptical movement, and after each leaf rotates 180 degrees it springs back to its original position, and then dances again.
Three: Ixora chinensis, the dragon boat flower. The dragon boat flower is the national flower of Myanmar. Legend says that when the dragon boat flower has not yet bloomed, it looks very much like tiny slender hairpins piercing straight into the blue sky, and after it opens, four petals spread flat into crosses. In ancient times, the cross shape represented a talisman for warding off evil and driving out demons and for eliminating disease and plague, so every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, the common people rowing dragon boats, in order to ward off evil and drive out demons, eliminate disease and plague, and seek good fortune, inserted this flower together with Acorus calamus and mugwort on the dragon boat, and over time it came to be called the dragon boat flower.
The origins of the Dragon Boat Festival
The Dragon Boat Festival was originally a festival for the tribes in China's ancient Baiyue region (the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the area to the south) that worshipped the dragon totem to hold totem sacrifices. Before the Spring and Autumn period, the land of Baiyue had the custom of holding tribal totem sacrifices in the form of dragon boat races on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Later, because the poet Qu Yuan of the State of Chu (present-day Hubei) during the Warring States period drowned himself in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month while clutching a stone, the rulers, in order to set up the label of loyalty to the ruler and patriotism, made the Dragon Boat Festival a festival commemorating Qu Yuan; some regions also have sayings about commemorating Wu Zixu, Cao E, and others.
The Dragon Boat Festival was China's first festival to be inscribed on the world intangible cultural heritage list, and in 2008 it was designated a statutory public holiday by the state at the same time as Qingming and the Mid-Autumn Festival. The original public holidays were New Year's Day, the Spring Festival, Labor Day, and National Day, among which only the Spring Festival was a traditional festival. The inclusion of Qingming, the Dragon Boat Festival, and the Mid-Autumn Festival greatly increased the proportion of traditional festivals, and the intention to revitalize traditional culture is very clear.
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