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| 2009-6-1 3:11:27 View:2045 |
One of the most interesting traditions was the drinking of a medicinal, toxin-expelling beverage xionghuang, realgar wine. Realgar is arsenic sulfide, a toxic (in large quantities), orange-red ore that was ground into powder and mixed with white spirit or wine. It is prescribed in traditional Chinese medicine (it expells toxins) and was made into pots and household ornaments so that its magical properties would always be around.
Realgar is known to pack a punch and produce hallucinations: it was widely believed to possess magical powers, largely due to the household story of "Legend of White Snake."
Although few Chinese people drink xiong huang any more, almost everyone knows about White Snake and her sad love story.
The beautiful snake-woman fell in love with a mortal, but disguised her serpent identity to her husband. But on Dragon Boat Festival, after drinking realgar, she was revealed to her husband to be a huge white serpent lying in bed. He died of fright.
It seems the magical power of xionghuang could even conquer a thousand-year-old sorceress.
"I used to sprinkle xionghuang in the four corners of my house to ward off evil or put a daub of orange powder on the foreheads of my kids for luck," says Chen, the retired worker.
"But I no longer maintain the ritual, because my family feels uncomfortable with my behavior," she says.
Christine Wu, a white-collar worker in her 30s, doesn't have time for lots of tradition.
"Due to the pressure of city life, I really don't want to add some old tradition to my list of daily chores," she says. "But buying zongzi is still on my list, it's a necessity like setting off firecrackers." Previous [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Next
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