page_title: Dragon Boat Festival
section_title: Superstition
hierarchical_section_title: Dragon Boat Festival / History / Superstition
caption_attribution_description: English: Large statue of Qu Yuan (屈原), a courtier and poet from the Warring State of Chu (楚国), in Jingzhou (荆州), China, at the site of the former Chu capital Ying (郢). Qu Yuan is generally credited with inspiring the modern Dragon Boat Festival.
context_page_description: The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional holiday which occurs on the 5th day of the 5th month of the traditional Chinese calendar.
  The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, so the date of the festival varies from year to year on the Gregorian calendar. In 2017, it occurred on 30 May; in 2018, on 18 June; in 2019, on 7 June; and in 2020, on 25 June.
context_section_description: The fifth lunar month is considered an unlucky month. People believed that natural disasters and illnesses are common in the fifth month. In order to get rid of the misfortune, people would put calamus, Artemisia, pomegranate flowers, Chinese ixora and garlic above the doors on the fifth day of the fifth month. Since the shape of calamus forms like a sword and with the strong smell of the garlic, it is believed that they can remove the evil spirits.
  
  Another origin of Dragon Boat Festival: Before the Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.), the fifth month of the lunar calendar was regarded as a bad month and the fifth day of the month like a bad day, and known as the Dragon Boat festival nowadays. Poisonous animals will appear starting from this days such as snakes, centipedes, and scorpions as well as that people may get sick easily after this day. Therefore, during the Dragon Boat Festival, people try any way to avoid bad luck. For example, people paste pictures of the five poisonous creatures on the wall and stick needles in them. People also make paper cuttings of the five creatures and wrapped these around the wrists of their children. Big ceremonies and performances developed from these practices in many areas, making the Dragon Boat Festival a day for getting rid of disease and bad luck.
  Decorating doors by hanging wormwood and calamus plants is an important ritual of the Dragon Boat Festival. People believe that doing so will drive evil spirits and diseases away.
caption: A statue of Qu Yuan in Jingzhou, at the site of the former Chu capital Ying.
exif: {}