The day after tomorrow is Dragon Boat Festival. As the old saying goes, "people are old and yellow without wearing ai during the Dragon Boat Festival." What does this mean?

The day after tomorrow is Dragon Boat Festival. If several items are used to describe the Dragon Boat Festival, wormwood is essential and the most representative one. Every Dragon Boat Festival, wormwood will be inserted on the door of every household, so what is the purpose of inserting wormwood? There is an old saying: "People are old and yellow without wearing Ai during the Dragon Boat Festival." What does this sentence mean? What is the relationship between wormwood and old turtle?

May of the lunar calendar is the most toxic time for the sun and the most prosperous time for the yang in a year. The so-called anode is the time when Yin and Yang are contending, so May is also called "Poisonous Moon" and "Evil Moon", and the fifth day of May is the first of "Nine Poisonous Days", which is also called "Evil Moon" and "Evil Day". Therefore, the Dragon Boat Festival is not only a festival to worship ancestors, but also a day to drive away epidemics.

Whether it is inserting wormwood, drinking realgar wine, drinking water at noon and tying five-color ropes, the purpose is to drive away the epidemic. Of course, in addition to wormwood, calamus will be inserted in many places. In fact, these two kinds of grass have similar functions. Acorus calamus leaves are shaped like leeks, so it is also called "Yao wine". It is a raw material for extracting aromatic oil, which is rich in fragrance and toxic. If the leaves of Acorus calamus are eaten too much, it may lead to hallucinations.

Like Acorus calamus, wormwood has a fragrance that can drive away mosquitoes and other small animals. Therefore, people often tie wormwood and calamus together, hang them under the eaves or stuff them in doors to repel mosquitoes. Because the weather is hot in May, it is the time when mosquitoes are active.

In fact, the original wormwood was used to repel mosquitoes. It is said that many people were bedridden with dysentery when King Wu attacked. There is a doctor named Xiao Ai. At that time, he also suffered from dysentery, that is, diarrhea, but he still treated the soldiers with illness. Once he accidentally tripped over a pile of weeds used to repel mosquitoes and burned himself.

As a result, he found that after being burned by this weed, the disease was actually cured, so he thought of smoking and burning patients with this weed. As a result, many people were cured by him, so King Wu named this weed "Xiao Ai", which is absinthe. Over time, wormwood has become synonymous with peace.

For example, the ancients honored the elderly as "Ai" and described the appearance of young women as "Little Ai". There is also a saying of "caring for Ai" in The Book of Songs, which means easy care for skin care. Historical records call it "Ai An", which shows how much the ancients loved wormwood.

In the former society, many diseases were spread by mosquito bites, so people were very afraid of mosquitoes. Because the smell of wormwood can repel mosquitoes, there is a custom of inserting wormwood. The Dragon Boat Festival is the time when the fragrance of wormwood is strongest, so people insert wormwood on the Dragon Boat Festival.

If you don't wear ai on the Dragon Boat Festival, you will get old.

Old soft-shelled turtle is a kind of wild soft-shelled turtle, which was often seen in rivers before 1980s. Old turtles and mosquitoes can be said to be natural enemies. The book Ya Ya says: "A raw turtle will die if bitten by a mosquito, a dead turtle will rot if cooked by a mosquito, and people who smoke mosquitoes will reuse the turtle shell. Revenge is so different. "

It means that raw turtles are most afraid of mosquito bites, and mosquitoes are afraid of turtle shell fumigation, which means turtle cover. This is the truth that everything has its vanquisher. Therefore, the previous high-grade mosquito-repellent incense is to grind the old turtle cover into powder, which is much more advanced than wormwood mosquito repellent. Of course, it is not that the effect is better than wormwood, but because of its high grade.

For example, in the list of gods, there is a virgin turtle spirit, which is actually an old turtle. After being appeased by the Taoist priest, her mana was sealed and fed in the lotus pond. As a result, she was killed by a group of mosquitoes. Because mosquitoes are the bane of old turtles. The function of inserting wormwood in Dragon Boat Festival is to repel mosquitoes.

Therefore, "if you don't insert wormwood in the Dragon Boat Festival, you will become an old turtle", which means that if you don't insert wormwood in the Dragon Boat Festival, you will be bitten by mosquitoes like an old turtle and eventually become a turtle cover.