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Next: 9 Jun 2027

Dragon Boat Festival

Five-colour silk threads tied on children’s wrists, green leaf-wrapped rice dumplings and boats with painted dragon heads.

Photo: After Wen Jia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The colours of Dragon Boat Festival

The fifth day of the fifth Chinese month was long thought a dangerous time, when heat brought illness and insects. Many of its customs are for protection. Children have threads of five colours, blue-green, red, yellow, white and black, tied round their wrists and ankles. The five match the five elements and directions, and the threads are meant to ward off harm; they are cut and thrown into the first rain after the festival. Green mugwort and calamus are hung on doors. Small silk sachets of herbs are worn. Zongzi, sticky rice wrapped in green bamboo leaves, is eaten. On the rivers, long narrow boats with painted dragon heads and scaled sides race to drums.

#D62828Thread redOne of the five protective threads: fire, south.
#F5C518Thread yellowEarth, the centre.
#2A9D8FThread qingBlue-green: wood, east.
#667F3BZongzi leafBamboo leaves round the rice dumplings.
#1A1A1AThread blackWater, north.

Values are fair approximations, not official shades.

Read about the colours

RedOne of the five colours.YellowOne of the five colours.CyanQing, the blue-green of Chinese tradition, lies near it.BlackOne of the five colours.
About this page

Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Dragon Boat Festival" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

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