small farmer

Chapter 640 The Legend of Wormwood (12)

With the Dragon Boat Festival approaching

The festive atmosphere in the village is getting stronger and stronger.

Early the next morning, Zhang Feng and Yiyi took their grandparents and walked slowly towards the back mountain.

Everyone is going to pick some wormwood on the mountain, because it is a customary tradition to hang wormwood at the gate on the Dragon Boat Festival, and this custom has been passed down for many years.

"Grandpa, why do you hang wormwood during the Dragon Boat Festival?" On the way, Yiyi asked her grandfather curiously.

"Hehe, there are so many people who hang wormwood on the Dragon Boat Festival..." The old man smiled and began to talk slowly, teaching the young people all kinds of knowledge about the Dragon Boat Festival.

Hanging mugwort not only has the meaning of praying for peace and auspiciousness, but also has the function of exorcising ghosts and evil spirits in legend.

Ordinary people also have the custom of planting wormwood in front of and behind their houses for auspiciousness.In some areas, there are also "Wushi couplets" posted on the Dragon Boat Festival, which have the same function as talismans. Some Wushi couplets have the following sentence: "Holding an Ai flag in your hand invites all blessings, and hanging a catfish sword at the door cuts down thousands of evils."

In addition to hanging wormwood at the door during the Dragon Boat Festival, there are calamus (pu sword) or pomegranate, garlic and so on.

Generally, people usually tie moxa, banyan and calamus into bunches with red paper, and then insert or hang them on the door.Because calamus is the head of the five auspicious signs in the sky, it symbolizes the sword that drives away bad luck, and because of its growing season and shape, it is regarded as a sense of "aura of Yin". The leaves are sword-shaped and can be inserted at the door to avoid evil spirits.So the alchemists called it "Water Sword", and later the custom was extended to "Pu Sword", which can cut thousands of evils.

"Hold the Ai flag in your hand to recruit Baifu, and hang the Pu sword on the door to kill thousands of evils."

Hanging wormwood and cattail grass at the door during the Dragon Boat Festival is like pasting a magic talisman, which can seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.Wormwood represents Zhaobaifu, and it is a medicinal herb that can cure diseases. Inserting it at the door can make the body healthy.

In ancient my country, it has always been a medicinal plant. The moxibustion method in acupuncture and moxibustion is to use wormwood as the main ingredient, and put it on the acupoints for burning to treat diseases.

The legend that wormwood can exorcise evil spirits has been circulating for a long time, mainly because it has the function of medicine. For example, in Zong Mo's "Jingchu Sui Shi Ji" it is recorded that "when the chicken is not crowing, the person who picks the wormwood looks like a human, and picks it up. Therefore, it is very effective to collect moxibustion diseases. The moxa is harvested every day to form a human body, and it is hung on the door to dispel poisonous gas."

"Grandpa, did the hanging of wormwood on the Dragon Boat Festival start after Qu Yuan's death?" Yiyi asked the old man, blinking her big eyes like a curious baby.

"Hehe, that's not true. It is said that at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Huangchao Rebellion swept across the land of China..." Although the old man is only a chef, he has read a lot of books, just like a knowledgeable old professor. The customs of wormwood come one by one.

It turns out that it is said that when Huang Chao's rebel army attacked the Central Plains, it happened to be the Dragon Boat Festival.

The local officials then released the rumor: "Huangchao shakes the knife across the mountain, and the head falls to the ground!" Mobilizing the people to flee their homes is to get away from Huangchao.In fact, it is to prevent the rebel army from contacting the people, so as to control the continuous expansion of the rebel army.

In a certain family in the Central Plains, all the men have gone out. There is only one woman and two children in the family. One child is the biological child, and the other child is the orphan of her sister-in-law.Her own child was just able to walk, and her sister-in-law's orphan was one year older than her own.The woman fled with her two children alone, carrying her sister-in-law's orphan on her back, but let her own child, who was barely able to walk, walk, but fell behind.

Not far away, I met a man in yellow and asked, "Why doesn't my sister-in-law let the older child walk, but the younger one?" The woman told the truth, and the man in yellow was very moved when he heard it, and said, "You are walking in danger." The matter of loyalty has broken Huang Chao's knife, and Huang Chao can no longer take your head. In fact, you only need to plant wormwood at the door of your house to show that your home is a family of loyalty, and Huang Chao will have nothing to do with you.After saying that, he suddenly disappeared.

The woman thought it was a fairy's advice, so she went home and did as she said, and along the way asked the refugees to insert wormwood to break the yellow nest's knife and so on.Therefore, the woman is usually kind and does many good deeds. Many people believe that, according to the words, planting wormwood at the door of the house will not leave the yellow nest, and celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival at home.

Sure enough, when the rebel army crossed the border, they saw people planting wormwood in their homes, and no one disturbed them. The doctors accompanying the army even saw the people and asked about their sufferings.For a time, the story of a woman being instructed by an immortal spread all over the place, and the common people's homes stopped going to the yellow nest, planted wormwood for the Dragon Boat Festival, and followed the woman's example of loyalty.

In fact, the man in yellow is the forward strategist of Huang Chao's rebel army, with high martial arts skills.Wherever the rebels went, there were no people's villages, and the rebels had no one to support them, so they became a lone army.

Knowing that something was wrong, the counselor turned into plain clothes and searched for the reason alone, and met a woman.Suddenly disappeared, just jumped into the big tree to hide.The counselor made a small trick, which not only broke the rumors of the government's Huangchao shaking the knife across the mountain, and the head fell to the ground, but also won the support of the people for the rebel army, and made the people do good deeds, so the world inherited this tradition and became the custom of inserting moxa on the Dragon Boat Festival today.

After Zhang Feng finished the old man's story, he smiled and shook his head.

"Hehe, why is Xiaofeng shaking his head?" Grandma Liu asked with a smile when she saw Zhang Feng shaking his head.

"Nothing! I just think that the rebel army at that time must not have such strict military discipline. The peasant rebel army of all dynasties and generations in ancient times shouted slogans loudly, but wherever the rebellious army passed, it was like locusts crossing the ground. Almost all their families were destroyed. ..." Zhang Feng said with a wry smile.

"Ah, isn't it? Didn't you say that the rebels are all soldiers of justice?" Yiyi asked in surprise, because it was always played like this on TV!

"Hehe, how is that possible! Xiaofeng is right. The ancient rebel army's military discipline was not very good. Even Zhu Yuanzhang's Red Scarf Army killed countless innocent people. They even slaughtered the city!" The old man laughed. explained.

"Then, why is it different from the one on TV?" Yiyi still dared to believe it, because it was not said so in the textbook and on TV.

"Of course it's impossible for TV. If you write about scenes of burning and looting, you probably won't pass the censorship. Moreover, the rebel army has strict discipline, which is more in line with everyone's values." The old man said with a smile.

"The ancient army was worse than bad. As long as the rebel army is better than the imperial army, after the rebellion succeeds, it will definitely leave a reputation of strict military discipline and no crimes. This has been the case since ancient times." Zhang Feng also added with a smile.

There are also long-term purchases of wormwood in the county. In the past few years, the villagers have almost plundered all the wormwood in the village, and only sporadic omissions in the farther mountains and forests.

But with the improvement of everyone's life in recent years, the number of wormwood around the village has gradually increased.

Not long after we walked, we saw wormwood on the barren hill beside the road as soon as we entered the back mountain.

"Hey! Grandpa and grandma, look, there are several wormwood plants over there!" Zhang Feng's sharp eyes saw the wormwood not far away, and he exclaimed in surprise.

"That's right, that's right, we're really lucky. We encountered wormwood as soon as we entered the mountain, hahahaha..." The old man took a closer look and laughed happily.

Yiyi and grandma were also very happy. They didn't expect to gain something just after entering the back mountain.

(End of this chapter)