The Custom of Eating Zongzi

It is a tradition to eat zongzi，pyramid-shaped dumplings made of sticky ricewrapped in bamboo or reed leaves，with different fillings added for interest.

According to one popular story，such dumplings were thrown into the river as food for the fish and shrimp to keep them from eating QuYuan’s body.These dumplings now are boiled and eaten on the holiday.Suzhou in Jiangsu province and Ningbo and Jiaxin in Zhejiang province are known for their zongzi with date and sweet bean paste，ham，or bacon filling.Beijing is famous for date and preserved fruit fillings.They are made in various shape，three-or four-cornered，or in the shape of a pillow，ax，ox horn andpagoda.The largest ones may weigh half a kilogram.For more than 2 000 years，peoplenot only in China but also in Southeast Asia，Japan and Vietnam have maintained the tradition of eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival.

Chinese Mugwort

Chinese mugwort was considered a magic herbal medicine to cure heat and damp related disease in ancient time.As a result，Mugwort became a legendary panacea to idol.According to the Chinese local chronicles，”Use cattail on the Dragon Boat Day and insert mugwort at the door side prevent bad luck and get rid of illness”，and “paste cattail and mugwort paper cow on the door on The Dragon Boat Day keeps sickness away.”In the fifth Lunar month，every household started hanging red ornaments，putting out cattail dragon or mugwort tiger，and decorating windows with auspicious red paper toad.

Young girls cut out letter”Fu”in layers for good luck；and small kids wore bright red toad made of broomcorn，garlic，and other plants to ease the heat of the summer and keep off disease.These customs are still widely practiced today as folk festivities on the Dragon Boat Day.

hancheng

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