Dragon Boat Festival is one of the most important traditional festivals in Chinese culture, where people enjoy sticky rice dumplings and race dragon boats. It’s the 5th of May in the lunar calendar, and is also associated with one of the 24 solar terms - the Summer Solstice, indicating the arrival of summer.
Although named after one of its traditional events, dragon boat racing, the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival is actually very practical. When summer starts to build up with the Summer Solstice, the temperature increases, insects start to become more active and so do diseases. After noticing such incidents, ancient Chinese people selected a date as a reminder to be prepared for such changes of season and to stay healthy.
But why May 5th? Because 5 is an evil number in ancient Chinese culture. The 5th and the 5th month (aka May) are “evil day” and “evil month”, and are therefore selected as a time to avoid harmful things. Thus, the original activities are not related to food, but rather focusing on avoiding disease and reinforcing health.
For example, people used to dip realgar wine with their fingers and wipe on children’s forehead, as such wine helps repel insects. People also take herbal baths or hang the portrait of Zhong Kui, who is a Taoist practitioner who is a master of exorcism. All in the hope of keeping oneself safe. Pharmacies would offer ointments or simple medicines for free to the public to help people build up immunity.
One of such traditions that are still commonly practiced today is hanging wormwood on the front doors of one’s house. Wormwood is a plant that repels insects, usually burnt on the day of Dragon Boat Festival to clean up the house, and is an ingredient commonly used in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) to dispel the coldness within one’s body.
Besides being a serious health-related day, there are also entertainments, including the Dragon Boat racing one can tell from the name. There are also markets around the time for fun and relaxation. People also start to eat sticky rice dumplings in memory of Yuan Qu, the great poet in the Zhanguo era.
As Dragon Boat Festival is an important yet less commonly celebrated festival outside of mainland China, INCENZO would like to pass on the tradition and offers Rewild, an incense stick using the core ingredient wormwood. The herbal scent could be a bit spicy and different from what a common pleasant scent might be, but is both a precious embodiment of traditional culture and a practical tool whenever you’re outdoors or want to clean up the air in your house.