The ancient Dragon Boat Festival was not just about eating zongzi and racing dragon boats. In fact, there are other customs in the Dragon Boat Festival, such as "inserting five heads", eating "Huang Wu", eating "cake with five poisons", tying colored silk thread and wearing sachets.
Since the pre-Qin period, people thought that May was a poisonous month and the fifth day was an evil day. At that time, there was a saying of "evil wish". This is because people are prone to get sick in hot and humid summer, and there are many ancient plagues. Coupled with poor sanitation, poisonous insects breed and bite people. Because people have this belief, there have been various customs of seeking peace and eliminating disasters. In ancient times, during the Dragon Boat Festival, there were many customs related to the number "five", such as "inserting five heads", "eating Huang Wu", "eating cake with five poisons", "tying colored thread" and "wearing sachets".
Eating "Huang Wu" and "Five Poisons Cake" is an important dietary custom of the Dragon Boat Festival. Huang Wu refers to yellow croaker, cucumber, egg yolk, soybean and realgar wine. According to Yijing, yellow can detoxify and control evil spirits. Chinese medicine believes that at noon on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Dragon Boat Festival, when the human body's yang is at its peak in a year, yellow croaker, egg yolk and soybean (with soybeans added to zongzi) are rich in protein, amino acids and vitamins, while cucumber and realgar all have the effects of clearing away heat and toxic materials. Although ancient people were superstitious, they also knew how to keep healthy according to the seasons.
The five poisons refer to scorpions, centipedes, spiders, toads and poisonous snakes. Udon cake is made of impressions engraved with five poisonous insect patterns, which are covered with rose cakes that people loved at that time. Eating five poison cakes means eating (eliminating) all the poisonous insects, so that no one will be hurt again.
From 2000 years ago, the ancients had the custom of wearing sachets to detoxify, prevent epidemic and ward off evil spirits, especially during the Dragon Boat Festival. The sachet is filled with male incense, cassia twig, pepper, magnolia flower, clove and other traditional Chinese medicines. Rich families should add some sandalwood and musk. From a medical point of view, these drugs do have a certain effect on getting rid of diseases and strengthening the body. In addition to wearing them, the ancients often put them in front of the bed and beside the pillow. In old Beijing, girls often cut cotton satin into various styles before the Dragon Boat Festival, and embroidered them with colorful silk threads into patterns such as Wang Zi or Five Poisonous Insects, which can be described as the annual women's red competition. Girls also paint their nails with impatiens. Because of these customs, the Dragon Boat Festival is also called "Daughter's Day".