It’s the Dragon Boat Festival again, and it’s time to race dragon boats and eat rice dumplings. In this lively season, I miss the Dragon Boat Festival in my hometown.
My hometown is a small town on Mulan River, and the atmosphere of the Dragon Boat Festival is particularly strong. The Dragon Boat Festival in my hometown starts on the first day of the fifth lunar month. The customs spread during the Dragon Boat Festival in my hometown include cakes on the first day of the Lunar New Year, rice dumplings on the second day of the Lunar New Year, snails on the third day of the Lunar New Year, mugwort on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, and dragon boat racing on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.
The cake is used to worship ancestors. It is made from flour or rice ground into powder, fermented and then added with sugar. It is fluffy, sweet and delicious.
I remember that every year on the second day of May, my mother would cut a palm leaf from a palm tree, tie it to the legs of a tall square table, and tear it into strips along the lines of the leaf, with the ends still The ones connected together are used to tie the rice dumplings. The washed rice dumpling leaves and glutinous rice were brought over, along with a spoon and chopsticks. When everything was ready, a small bench was brought over and the rice dumplings were made. And I was jumping up and down next to me, constantly asking when I could have rice dumplings to eat. Watching the pieces of rice dumpling leaves magically turn into exquisite rice dumplings in my mother’s deft hands. In a short time, a string of delicate rice dumplings were hung on the legs of the table, and they were untied and held heavy in their hands. Just pick up the stems of the palm leaves and put them into the big pot. It takes a long time to cook. By the time you eat the rice dumplings, it's probably already afternoon. As soon as I opened the pot, a rich aroma of brown meat immediately hit my nostrils.
There is a custom of eating snails during the Dragon Boat Festival in my hometown. It is said that children who eat snails on this day will become smarter. Snails were not expensive at the time. One ounce could be purchased for five cents, and almost every household in the village could afford them. On the third day of the Lunar New Year, vendors selling snails will fill the village shouting. The children begged money from the adults and bought snails and then gathered together to eat them. The children ate the snails and left the shells behind, then threw them on the roof, making the old tiles rattle. They had endless fun. On the early morning of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the adults would ask the children to go to the field ridge to pull out a bundle of dew-stained mugwort and come back and insert it on the door frame. Adults say this repels mosquitoes and wards off evil spirits. When the mugwort inserted on the door frame gradually dries, it becomes medicine. In summer, children in the village tend to have bloated stomachs. Pull out a dry mugwort leaf and boil it in a pot. The steam emits a pleasant aroma and circulates around the room. After cooling, children with bloated bellies drink it, and sometimes the swollen bellies will gradually deflate.
The fifth day of the Lunar New Year is the climax of the Dragon Boat Festival. Folk customs in my hometown believe that the fifth month is an evil day, and hanging mugwort leaves like flags and Changpu like swords can drive away evil spirits and eliminate filth. During the Dragon Boat Festival on May 5th, every household has to go to the "five-flavored grass" with dew orchid, honeysuckle, iron mango, guava leaves, and banyan leaves in the early morning. Of course, they also have to go to the well at noon to fetch a bucket of sweet of clear springs. This water comes from springs without any pollution. On the Dragon Boat Festival, the water is the coldest and the most delicious to drink. Drinking the water on this day can protect your health for a whole year. Boil duck eggs with "Wuweicao" and "Wushi water", use the remaining water to bathe the children, put on new clothes and watch the afternoon dragon boat racing. It is said that there are many mosquitoes in the water town, and bathing with "noon water" can prevent bites.
Before the Dragon Boat Festival, children in the village will pester their mothers or grandmothers to make an "egg bag." "Egg Bag" is made of five-color silk threads forming an exquisite network. Boiling duck eggs with "Wuweicao" will dye the duck eggs yellow. Put it in a net and hang it on the button on the chest. The clothes on the chest are usually stained with yellow stains. As soon as I meet my friends when I go out, I take out the duck eggs and collide with each other. Whoever's egg shell breaks first loses. I just peel the shell and eat it. There is a faint fragrance of five-spice grass. Children are very interested in eggs, not because they particularly like to eat them, but because they particularly like to "fight for eggs". Bring a few eggs and come to the classroom early. Groups of groups collide with eggs on the desk. Whoever's egg is broken loses. The competitive children have a lot of fun.
Dragon boat racing is a mass entertainment activity with strong folk culture. It is also a folk activity that is conducive to strengthening people's physical fitness and cultivating a spirit of courage, perseverance and determination. It is said that the dragon boat race in my hometown is also to commemorate Qu Yuan, a Chu doctor: "Qu Yuan, a Chu doctor, was slandered and threw himself into the Miluo River that day. Chu people mourned him and saved him with a boat. The Dragon Boat Festival is a legacy."
On the afternoon of the Dragon Boat Festival, children from all over the country put on new clothes, wore "sachets" and "egg pockets", and happily followed the adults to watch the dragon boat race. There are crowds of people on the shore, looking up eagerly; dragon boats are lined up in brilliant colors on the stream; the fleet's uniforms are in distinct colors, and colorful flags are flying along the shore; with the sound of a cannon, the boats are like arrows. The flag bearer stood on the bow of the ship, waving the flag and cheering; the gongs and drummers beat the gongs and drums, and the rhythm was exciting; the oarsmen went shirtless and worked together to forge ahead against the current. After the race, the winning dragon boat was draped in red silk, decorated with red flowers, set off firecrackers, shook its head and swung its tail around the river to greet the audience, like a proud hero singing a triumphant song... It has been many years since I left my hometown, and I can still smell the brown color across the distance of time and space. The fragrance of the leaves. My wife and I are both from our hometown. Every Dragon Boat Festival, my wife will boil some duck eggs with "five-flavored grass" and buy some snails from the market to cook for our daughter. Nowadays, you can buy various kinds of rice dumplings in supermarkets, including those filled with candied red dates and those filled with egg yolk pulp. My wife also makes some rice dumplings, but I can’t taste the way my mother makes them, and I can’t feel the feeling of the Dragon Boat Festival. Noisy atmosphere.
More than 20 years later, I still miss my hometown and the people in my hometown - hard-working and kind people, simple and unsophisticated people full of fun in life. I will never forget the Dragon Boat Festival in my hometown!
p>