May 5th, the Dragon Boat Festival arrives. The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the most important and grand traditional festivals in China, which has always been loved by Chinese descendants all over the world. The fifth month of the lunar calendar has many alternative names such as Gao Yue, Tianzhong, Xiao Xing, Rui Bin, Jian Wu, and Pu Jie. The arrival of the fifth lunar month means the coming of summer. Huayi Network provides more information about the fifth lunar month of 2019, welcome to learn more!

Can you visit your parents' home during the Dragon Boat Festival?

Yes, it is customary to visit your parents' home during the Dragon Boat Festival, and there are many related folk customs associated with this tradition.
In ancient times, when a daughter got married, she lived with her husband's family and rarely saw her own parents. From the Tang Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, there was a custom of visiting the parents' home during the Dragon Boat Festival, known as "Guining." According to Shen Bang's "Wan Shu Zaji" from the Ming Dynasty: "On the Dragon Boat Festival, daughters should wear a dragon boat bag, carry mugwort, and wear five poison talismans. In the area of Wan, the custom is from the first to the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, where young daughters are dressed up to show their beauty. Married daughters also return to their parents' home." Therefore, the Dragon Boat Festival is also known as the "Daughter's Festival."
The custom of visiting parents' home during the Dragon Boat Festival exists in many places. For example, in the folk traditions of Zigui, Hubei, there is a saying that "the Dragon Boat Festival is more important than the Spring Festival, and daughters return to their parents' home." The Dragon Boat Festival is even more solemn than the Spring Festival, and married women bring their husbands and children back to their parents' home to pay respects to their parents. They may walk, ride in a sedan chair, horse, or boat to reunite with their family for the Dragon Boat Festival. The parents of the daughter prepare wine and dishes and invite relatives and friends to spend a joyful day together. In addition, various places such as Beijing and Guangzhou also have the custom of returning to the parents' home during the Dragon Boat Festival, but specific customs may vary from place to place.

Are there taboos about visiting parents' home during the Dragon Boat Festival?

In Chinese folklore, there is a saying that once a daughter is married, she cannot visit her parents' home during the Dragon Boat Festival, otherwise she might encounter bad luck.
To this day, some areas still require daughters-in-law not to eat the zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) from their parents' home during the Dragon Boat Festival, for example in Shandong.

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