American interpretation: Dragon Boat Festival is the earliest "Health and Epidemic Prevention Festival" in China
Relevant experts said that based on the analysis of Dragon Boat Festival customs such as planting mugwort, hanging calamus, eating garlic, drinking realgar wine and calamus wine, the Dragon Boat Festival is the earliest "Health and Epidemic Prevention Festival" in China.
Li Jianguo, a professor at the School of Liberal Arts at Nankai University, believes that the fifth month of the lunar calendar was called the "evil moon" in ancient times. From a climate point of view, summer is gradually entering, dampness and heat are spreading, and people are prone to diseases. Therefore, around the Dragon Boat Festival, it is popular among people in our country to eat garlic, and at the same time, mugwort, hanging calamus, and hanging garlic are planted on the door. Mugwort, calamus and garlic are called the "Three Friends of Dragon Boat Festival". On the Dragon Boat Festival, people use calamus calamus as swords, moxa as whips, and garlic as hammers. They are also known as the "three weapons". They believe that they can repel snakes and insects, kill bacteria, kill demons, and drive away poison and evil spirits. At the same time, people in China believe that May is the poison moon, and the fifth day of the lunar new day is the poison day. There is a saying of "five poisons." This month was full of disasters, so I thought of many ways to deal with it, such as sewing "Five Poison Clothes" and "Five Poison Vest", pasting Dragon Boat Festival Talismans, etc. Avoiding the "five poisons" is the original intention of celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival.
In addition, the early summer season is around the Dragon Boat Festival. The weather is hot, rainy and humid, and mosquitoes breed. It is a season with high incidence of infectious diseases. In order to avoid the occurrence of diseases, the ancients planted mugwort leaves and hanging calamus before and after the Dragon Boat Festival to drive away mosquitoes, flies, insects and ants, and purify the air. Later, they added pomegranate flowers, garlic and dragon boat flowers, collectively known as the "Five Ordnance in the Sky".
Mugwort, also known as mugwort and mugwort, is a perennial herbal medicinal plant in the Compositae family. It has strong bactericidal ability, and has the effect of removing insects and treating pests. In traditional Chinese medicine, moxa is used as medicine to regulate qi and blood, warm the uterus, and dispel cold and dampness. Mugwort oil has obvious antiasthmatic, antitussive, expectorant and other effects. The ancients inserted mugwort during the Dragon Boat Festival had a certain effect on preventing diseases.
In southern China, the custom of hanging calamus on the door is popular during the Dragon Boat Festival. Calamus is also a perennial herb and aromatic plant. It has the effects of removing cold and heat, refreshing and opening orifices, strengthening bones and eliminating stagnation, and killing insects and sterilization. Before the fifth sunrise of May, people go to the wild to collect calamus, hang it on the door, and tie it around the neck of a child, or cut the collected calamus in advance, mix it with realgar, and immerse it in wine for easy drinking during festivals.
Li Jianguo said that from today's perspective, although some of the ancients 'prevention and epidemic prevention measures and methods seem backward and primitive, and even superstitious, the ancients' strong awareness of health and epidemic prevention is still worth learning from today's people. Li Jianguo said that although some of the folk activities in traditional festivals such as the Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Spring Dragon Festival, Shangsi Festival, and Qingming Festival before the Dragon Boat Festival also involve health and epidemic prevention, the Dragon Boat Festival contains the most relevant content and knowledge and is the most fully reflected. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to call the Dragon Boat Festival the earliest "Health and Epidemic Prevention Festival" in China.