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Taiwan Province

Taiwan Island lies in subtropical zone. In the ancient time, people migrated from main land of China experienced a hard time to adapt to the climate here, and often died of local diseases or plagues. Therefore, Dragon Boat Festival, whose fundamental principle is to dispel diseases and evade spirits, looms large to them.

The local customs on Dragon Boat Festival in the first half of Qing dynasty can be represented by the records in appendix of volume 3 of The Revised Annuals of Fengshan County by Wang Yingzeng: In the morning of May 5, people would light up a bunch of rice straw, and put in the corner of the house. They also burn mulberry paper money at roadside, calling sending off mosquitoes. On doors, people hang calamus and wormwood grass, saying it would expel mosquitoes and insects. A branch of banyan will be hung up on door to pray elderly people be healthy. People would send water melon and Zongzi to each other. Busybodies would play games at places where water is shallow. The stakes would be money or cloth, and would race with their fishing boats. The winner will be praised with music. This game is called dragon boat race. At noon, parents would knit five colored threads into ropes for their young boys and girls. The rope will be tied onto the boy’s left wrist, and onto the girl’s right wrist, calling divine chain.

There is another viewpoint among people, believing that putting up wormwood and banyan branches would ensure health. The popular saying goes, “Wearing banyan branches ensures you good luck, and wearing wormwood grass ensures you good health.” On Dragon Boat Festival, students in private schools would follow the custom to give red pack to the teacher, while the teacher would give the student a fan in return.

According to the records of Practices of Marriage and Funeral in Taiwan compiled by Seiichiro Suzuki, families in mourning would not wrap Zongzi, but instead relatives and friends would offer to them. Farmers would stick Fujin paper on bamboo poles, and insert in field, as it is said it can dispel harmful insects and ensure harvest. Some places have the habit of making salty tea on Dragon Boat Festival, i.e. to pickle perilla leaves and pomegranate leaves, which the local people believe can be used as medical tea to eliminate all poisonous gases.

In Jiadong Township Pingdong County, when it was ruled by Japanese invaders, there was a special custom of stone fighting on Dragon Boat Festival. This custom has lasted for hundreds of years. Each year, in the several days before Dragon Boat Festival, people were busy to prepare for a tough fight. People of the same village would be organized like an army, and had the position of chief of staff. Men would throw stone to the enemy in the front, while women were responsible for moving stones. When the fight gets tough, injury and death would often occur. Villagers of the winning party would enjoy a good meal in the village which was defeated. The defeated villagers would flee away rapidly, if he was unfortunately caught, he would be forced to pull down his trousers to get a good humiliation in front of the public. It is said that this strange custom can guarantee a whole year’s good luck, so the local people here would not feel tired of it. But this kind of stone battle often cause serious casualty, plus the local government continuously forbade it, it finally disappeared at the end of Japanese occupation.

On Dragon Boat Festival, there was a custom that every family would draw noon water, which means water from wells drawn up at the noon on Dragon Boat Festival. It is said that the water drawn at noon has a very special scent for making tea and wine. The cold water can cure disease if the people drink. There is a proverb saying, “Washing eyes at noon would ensure their long health.” Another saying goes, “Drinking a mouthful of water at noon would be better than eating tonic medicine for three years.” The most legendary noon water comes from the Sword Well on Zhenshan Mountain of Dajia Town. It is said the position of the well is where Zheng Chenggong put his sword for praying springs, and Zhenshan Mountain is abundant for various medical herbs, so the efficacy of sword well water at noon is exaggerate to the extreme. Every year, on Dragon Boat Festival, there were a lot of people come to draw water from this well. It is said that if you observe the well carefully at noon, you can see the image of the sword of Zheng Chenggong. People who indeed see the image would have no disaster in the whole year.

(Source: bjchinese.bjedu.cn)