Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills/Book 6/Midsummer Feast
Midsummer Feast (端陽節), tuan yang chieh
This feast is held on the fifth of the fifth moon, this being the time when the sun is believed to be overhead, and the dragon festival is observed.
The story of Ch‘ü yuan is well known: he was a statesman of Ch‘u, accused to and cast off by his prince, he saw his country ruined, sat down and wrote the poem Li sao then went and committed suicide by drowning. The people oughtfor his body and afterwards started the dragon boat festival on this date to commemorate his merits. The dragon boat is long and narrow with a dragon's head and tail; it is well manned and simply flies over the water. In the centre of the boat is a drum, with a man to beat time to the rowers, a clown rises up and down making fierce grimaces, and armed men stand on the prow of the boat brandishing their weapons to frighten the demons so that they may give up Ch‘ü Yüan. This festival has, however, become degraded by the influence of Sui Yang Ti (隋煬帝, A.D. 605), and is chiefly composed of and managed by the inconstant and vagabond set, who amuse themselves by throwing plums at the women of the crowd.
One of the ideals of this feast is to take a bath, hsi tsao. People wander round the country to find special herbs and different kinds of grasses, yu pai ping (遊百病), which are taken home and boiled and the concoction used for the healing of disease, or they are mashed into a salve for boils called pai ts‘ao kao (膏). Others bathe in the water in which the herbs and grass have been boiled. Even prescriptions prepared on this day are believed to be more efficacious than those prepared on other days.
A small bag is carried near the breast in which incense, camphor, and other medicines are put to draw away disease; the shapes of these bags are varied, being like frogs, monkeys, tigers, and cats, or like a red pepper-corn.
Frequently the bodies of children are smeared all over with hartall wine, hsiung huang chiu, as it is believed it will protect from snake-bites.
Hsiung huang suan (雄黃蒜), garlic dipped in a preparation of hartall, is hung at the door. Mashed garlic and hartall wine is sprinkled on the floor and door posts of the house to keep away snakes and ants; it is said that if a snake touches hartall its body will decompose. A few ounces of pork is dipped in this hartall and then hung up over the door.
This practice of hanging artemisia over the doorway seems to have some foundation in history. It is said that in the T'ang dynasty, a rebel, Huang Ts‘ao (黃曹), who ravaged the country, captured a woman fleeing with two children; the woman carried the big child on her back and made the little one walk. The rebel chief asked the reason for this and she explained that the big one belonged to the elder brother of the family and the little one to herself, but the elder brother's child being the more important she carried it on her back. Seeing her piety he gave her a sprig of artemisia and sent her home, telling her to put the sprig over her door, and when the rebels came to the place they would not harm her.
Nearly every one stops work at least half a day, and in the afternoon houses are almost deserted, every one going out to the country to walk off their sickness. All business is suspended and theatricals are held in the country temples.
An old custom was to put millet in a cow's or sheep's horn chüeh shu (角黍), and drop it in the river to find Ch‘ü Yuan. This custom has now changed into eating tsung tzŭ (糭子) or glutinous rice balls, rolled up in bamboo leaves. They are eaten by almost every family and are freely given as presents on this occasion.
It was a custom in Ch‘eng-tu for men to throw plums at women of doubtful character; the plums were afterwards taken home in the hope that male issue might be given. The custom has been stopped for some years in Ch‘êng-tu.
This is a time when teachers' salaries are due, and school fees paid. Teachers give scholars fans and scholars give money to the teachers. Presents are freely exchanged in many walks of life from the magistrate to the humblest citizen. People like to dress well at this feast, and policemen and beggars expect their gratuities. It almost seems as if it was the children's feast, because they get a great deal of attention at this time.
The image of Chang Tao-ling, the ancestor of the Taoist popes, a fierce-looking idol, is carried out in an open chair with a canopy to keep off the sun or rain.
He is said to be riding a tiger probably because of the t‘ien shih (天師) belonging to Lung hu shan in Kiangsi province. When he comes out it is in style of an official, with umbrellas, flags, and boards as evidence of his position, but besides these, there are many persons dressed up as his underlings and assistants. Thus, two children, each on horseback, carry the credentials of the idol, ch‘ih shu (勅書), and the seals of office.
P‘an Kuan, the decider of fate in Hades, rides a horse in front of the idol. He is masked and in his hand he holds the book in which the fates are written. During the procession he is supposed to take note of all he sees and record it in the book.
The T‘u ti, precinct god, rides behind the decider of fates and is supposed to impersonate the Shan mên t‘u ti, who is said to control the demons of the city. On this day he comes out on a tour of inspection.
There are four judges of appeal in Hades, ssŭ chih kung ts‘ao (四值功曹). One judge holds power for a year, another for a month, and another for a day, and the fourth for one Chinese hour (two hours). These are the messengers of the idol to run at his bidding and are all impersonated on this occasion.
The five thunders, wu lei, are represented by five men riding on horses with a frame and drum (for thunder) slung on their backs, with a chisel which represents lightning in one hand and a kind of clapper in the other.
The five poisonous creatures, wu tu (五毒), are snakes, toads, spiders, centipedes, and scorpions. These are made of paper and tin-foil and carried through the streets before the idol, alternating with the five thunders.
The chicken-footed god, chi chüeh shên, is represented by a man with a hideous mask and a garment covered with chickens' feathers. His mission is to call people to repentance. The true characters are said to be 機覺, and the meaning 知機警覺; that is, "know of this opportunity and repent."
Some persons paying their vows hang lamps on their bodies, kua shên têng. Thus, a son may have made a vow that if a sick parent got better he would walk in the procession of the idol with a certain number of lamps hung from his skin. This custom is said to be derived from the jan têng Fo (燃燈佛), the "light lamp Buddha"; when these men walk the streets a dozen or more persons walk alongside of them with split bamboos which they shake and rattle all the time to keep people from coming near their persons, as if they were sacred.
Others of less note pay vows by having a sword handle glued to the abdomen and the point glued to the backbone, giving the appearance of being stabbed through the body, k‘ai ch‘ang p‘o tu. It is believed that this custom had its origin in the aboriginal tribes, who have an image of this kind.