Hometown's specialty Aizan composition

Artemisia argyi is a kind of weeds. Hakka people call any food made of glutinous rice flour "Zan", and the one made of mugwort and glutinous rice flour is called Aizan. Every spring in March, Hakkas are happy to make mugs to thank the gods and entertain guests. At that time, every family invited relatives and friends to get together and eat mugs. It is impossible to verify which dynasty and generation this custom originated from. But there is a beautiful legend circulating in Zijin County-

A long time ago, in the early spring, a dragon in the East China Sea escaped from the Crystal Palace in the name of going to the South China Sea to sweep the tomb and hang paper for the Dragon King, deceiving the Dragon King, soldiers and crabs. It is evil, sometimes walking in the county, sometimes making waves in Zijin. Wherever he went, strong winds blew down houses, uprooted trees, drenched crops by heavy rains, lost land, overturned boats and washed down river banks, and dragons devoured people and animals, which brought great disasters to Lebanese people and ten sufferings to Jiu Nan. The people are miserable, complaining and angry, but there is nothing they can do, so they have to watch everything being destroyed and want to cry.

On February 19, Guanyin Bodhisattva went to Zijin County and saw that the dragon was lawless, but the dragon was not under Guanyin's jurisdiction, so she could do nothing and could not surrender. However, Guanyin Bodhisattva also knows the fatal weakness of dragons. She is afraid of the crowd and the sound of smoke, especially the smell of mugwort. As soon as the dragon smells mugwort, it runs away, just like a snake sees realgar.

So, Guanyin became a kind old woman and came down to tell people this and that to subdue the dragon. Hard-working and smart people do what they say, and soon make hairpins out of mugwort leaves and flour for relatives and friends to eat. People who have eaten mugwort smell like dragons. In order to make the smell stronger, families also put plates of mugs on the table in front of the screen, or hang them high, so that the smell of mugs can be slowly distributed and steamed upwards. In addition, incense sticks are lit and firecrackers are set off, and people come and go on the road. The whole world is so active that it almost boils. The dragon has never seen this scene, and he is scared out of his mind. He was half-dead by the smell of mugwort leaves and had to go back to the sea. From then on, I never dared to act rashly, even if I went out to sea, the wind and rain were small.

There is another legend about the origin of short hairpin in Hakka area. During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Wang Haiyang and Kang Wang fled to a Hakka village to avoid the Qing soldiers. He saw many villagers working in the fields. In order to avoid pursuers, he pretended to be a farmer in the field and bent down to transplant rice seedlings. The local old farmer grabbed a handful of wormwood by the field, wiped it with a hairpin he brought from home and threw it in the field. Kang Wang guessed his intention, so he picked it up and stuffed it into his mouth. When the Qing soldiers saw it, they thought he was eating cow dung, just thinking that he was a crazy old farmer. They didn't find Kang Wang, so they went out with their troops, and Kang Wang Shunli escaped. Later, in memory of Kang Wang, Hakkas ate mugwort leaves in Tomb-Sweeping Day. Artemisia argyi is turquoise, also called cow dung. There is a saying in Hakka area that ghosts eat cow dung, so they take mugs to worship their ancestors and worship the mountains. In addition, it is recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica that Folium Artemisiae Argyi is warm, bitter, non-toxic and pure yang, and has the functions of restoring yang, regulating qi and blood, eliminating dampness and dispelling cold, stopping bleeding and preventing miscarriage. The wormwood is warm, and the weather is wet during the Qingming period. Eating wormwood can dispel dampness and tonify the body. Wormwood is not only used for eating, but also hung in front of the door to ward off evil spirits. Children taking a bath with wormwood boiling water can also prevent sores.