What do the five poisons of Dragon Boat Festival mean?

The five evils of Dragon Boat Festival refer to scorpions, snakes, centipedes, geckos and toads.

People think that May is the time when the five poisons (scorpion, snake, centipede, gecko and toad) appear. The folk song says, "Dragon Boat Festival, the weather is hot, the five poisons wake up, and there is no peace." The purpose of driving away the five poisons during the Dragon Boat Festival is to remind people to prevent harm and disease.

Every Dragon Boat Festival, people should use various methods to prevent the harm of the five poisons. Generally, a map of five poisons is posted in the house, five poisons are printed on red paper, and then five needles are stuck on the five poisons, that is, the poisons are stabbed to death, and they can no longer be rampant. This is a witchcraft legacy to ward off evil spirits. Folk people also embroider five poisons on clothes and decorate five poisons on cakes, all of which mean expulsion. In some places, people cut the five poisons into images (that is, paper-cut) with colored paper, or stick them on doors, windows, walls, kang, or tie them on children's arms to avoid poison. Some also cut out the shape of the five poisons with paper and stick it on the gourd, and hang it on the door to show that the five poisons will be exhausted, which is called "exorcism gourd".