Jiangxi Yichun customhouse

Yichun Festival Custom "Eating Zongzi and Supporting Bamboo Rafts" Dragon Boat Festival Notes Tonggu Hakka Custom The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is a traditional folk festival in China, and celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival has been a traditional habit of China people for more than 2,000 years. Because of its vast territory, numerous nationalities and numerous stories and legends, it has different contents. Tonggu County, Jiangxi Province is located in Yichun area in the northwest of Jiangxi Province. At the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, a large number of Hakkas from eastern Guangdong and western Fujian immigrated here, resulting in a mixed situation of Tonggu residents and Hakkas. Today, Tonggu County still retains the quaint Hakka folk customs. Jiangxi Tonggu people also call Dragon Boat Festival May Festival and Duanyang Festival. So what is the custom of celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival with bronze drums? Zhu Keshan, a Hakka folklore expert, said: "Every household should insert wormwood, calamus, eat zongzi, red salted eggs, support bamboo rafts or row dragon boats in front of the door. During the Dragon Boat Festival' noon' (11:00-12: 00), you should sprinkle realgar water around the house, cook soybeans with licorice, and clear the fire and detoxify. Hang a string of atractylodes on the child's chest and cover his head with realgar water. Hakka pay attention to hygiene. In addition to taking a bath at ordinary times, they will use the fruits of mugwort, calamus and maple to cook and cool down tonight. Of course, it is also essential for relatives and friends to send meals to each other and have dinner together. " Tonggu County is located in the northwest of Jiangxi Province, where the three rivers meet. The Dingjiang River, Jinsha River and Huangxi River, which originated in Dawei Mountain, all flow through here. Therefore, during the Dragon Boat Festival, local Hakkas like to support bamboo rafts. Supporting a bamboo raft is similar to rowing a dragon boat, but it is simpler to make. Cut seven or eight bamboo shoots and tie them together with bamboo strips. Of course, there are also exquisite: the bamboo used to make bamboo rafts should be scraped off with a knife to reduce the weight of bamboo rafts under the condition that the displacement is basically unchanged. In addition, the bamboo tail in front is inclined, so the natural resistance is less when rowing forward. One way to bend the bamboo tail is to roast it on the fire. After baking, bend slowly, then press it for a while with a towel dipped in cold water, bake it for a while, bend it for a while, and press it for a while. The bamboo tail will bend to the satisfaction of the platoon leader. After the bamboo raft is completed, the platoon leader of Tonggu begins to row, so that you can judge where there are reefs and shoals along the way, so as to master the tide. Three rivers meet in Tonggu County, which is called Sanjiangkou. Before 1950s, it was a rocky beach, with mountains of trees or tied rafts and bamboo rafts. There was no road before, and these rafts and bamboo rafts were both vehicles and goods, so many bamboos were transported by water to Xiushui in Jiujiang City and then to cities along the Yangtze River. Tonggu platoon leader, Fengxin blacksmith and Gaoan cobbler are three famous outstanding figures in central Jiangxi. One legend is that a song from the beach to Wucheng written by Ma Xiucai shows the heroic spirit of the bronze drum platoon leader. The song goes like this: After crossing Gongling Port, getting off Xutan, and getting to Xitan, the shoal makes a sharp turn for 300 miles, and every shoal should be clearly remembered. If you ask how many beaches are there? Hold your hand, bend your hand and sing all the beach songs. In front of you, it's Wu Cheng. After the Dragon Boat Festival, Hakka people in Tonggu like to eat zongzi with alkaline water for three reasons. The first one is beautiful color, and the glutinous rice is golden yellow after alkalization, which is very beautiful. The second restaurant is delicious, and jiaozi is not so boring. The third is easy to eat on the way out for a long time. Alkaline water is made by Hakkas. Zhu Keshan, an expert in Hakka folklore, said: "There are two ways to make alkaline water: one is that the ash burned by Hakka people in bronze drums is called Zaohe stalk, and it is boiled in boiling water to make alkaline water. The other is very distinctive, that is, our bronze drum is made by breaking a branch called Vitex negundo with alkaline water. In May, the climate began to get hot, prone to various diseases such as heatstroke. Eating zongzi with alkali made of Vitex negundo can prevent such diseases. " Nowadays, people still eat zongzi and bronze drums on the Dragon Boat Festival, but rarely support bamboo rafts. In order to reproduce the beautiful picture of Hakka people eating zongzi and supporting bamboo rafts on the Dragon Boat Festival, the Tonggu County People's Government has taken a series of measures. Wang Haiquan, a reporter from Tonggu County People's Broadcasting Station, said: "The county government built a river bank with granite on both sides of the county river, with a height of 6 meters. In addition, a rubber dam is being built not far from the lower reaches of the Sanjiangkou, which can shrink and shorten the dam when there is more water, so as to achieve the purpose of releasing water and storing water when there is less water. As a bending point in the east, Sanjiangkou forms a huge U-shape with the other two rivers-Jinsha River and Dingjiang River. At that time, Hakkas in Tonggu can support bamboo rafts while eating zongzi. "