What are the customs of Hengyang Dragon Boat Festival?

Dragon Boat Festival customs: dragon boat racing, wearing sachets, painting realgar, etc.

On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, people go for an outing in the wild and pick various herbs. People tie colorful ribbons to their arms to ward off diseases and eliminate disasters, and hang mugwort on the door to pray. To dispel the poisonous miasma, dragon boat races and other activities will be held.

Dragon boat racing, also known as dragon boat racing, has a history of more than 1,500 years.

As early as the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were three theories about the origin of dragon boat racing.

One thing is to commemorate Qu Yuan. It is said that Qu Yuan threw himself into the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. When he was discovered by the local people, everyone rowed desperately to rescue him. Later, it evolved into the custom of holding a dragon boat race during the Dragon Boat Festival; the second is to commemorate Wu Zixu, the general of Wu State; the third is to have a relationship with Yue King Gou Jian related. Both Wu and Yue are located in water towns in the south of the Yangtze River, where rivers and lakes intersect. Folks are accustomed to using boats instead of cars, so they are well-positioned to form the custom of ferry racing.