The Historical Origin of Drunken Dragon Dance

As an ancient Han folk activity, it has a history of more than 200 years. According to legend, more than 200 years ago, on the "Bathing Buddha Festival", a monk came to Longtang in Xiangshan County (now Zhongshan City). Hardly had he taken off his clothes when a boa constrictor rushed out and came at him. The monk drew his sword, cut the python into several pieces and threw it into the river. At this moment, an old fisherman happened to come. He grabbed the snakehead, moved to the snakehead, and danced wildly. This dance brings the python back to life. It turned into a dragon and flew away. The rest of the snake body became a few small trees by the river, which is now maple. One summer, a local plague prevailed and many people died. There is a poor family by the river, and there is no money to ask a doctor to buy medicine. When they smelled the faint fragrance of Acer truncatum leaves, they picked one, broke it at home, drank it with water and soon recovered. The story spread like wildfire. People picked the leaves of Acer negundo, drank them with water and made cakes to eat. Later, on April 8 every year, people even made cakes of Acer truncatum to pay homage to the gods!