Dragon Boat Festival is one of the most representative traditional festivals in China. When it comes to Dragon Boat Festival, we have to talk about all kinds of folk customs related to it. Drinking realgar wine is one of them. On the Internet shopping platform, many stores sell realgar wine. Some online stores indicate that the products are not drinkable, while others say they are drinkable.
In the legend of the White Snake, lady white snake drank realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival, thus showing his true colors. So can ordinary people drink realgar wine?
Many online stores sell realgar wine, and there are different opinions about whether it can be drunk.
The reporter searched for "realgar wine" on an Internet shopping platform and found many stores selling realgar wine. Different stores have various attitudes towards realgar wine.
Most stores will emphasize that the main function of realgar wine is to "ward off evil spirits", followed by insect repellent. In many online stores selling realgar wine, the function of realgar wine to exorcise evil spirits will be highlighted, and some stores will write more specifically that the function of realgar wine is to "modulate vermilion powder, open the light and draw symbols" and "enlighten wisdom". A few stores will emphasize that it has the effects of insect repellent and itching relief.
In the use of realgar wine, most stores are cautious and generally require "dripping or smearing" to avoid a lot of contact. There are also a few stores that have marked the precautions such as "No forehead writing", "High risk, please be careful" and "Only suitable for writing arms". Some customer service staff also told reporters that their own realgar wine can be drunk, and the alcohol degree is 42 degrees.
Drink or not? The custom of drinking realgar wine caused controversy.
In many places, the custom of drinking realgar wine on Dragon Boat Festival has been preserved to this day. However, different from the custom of eating zongzi, which has been developing continuously in the process of spreading, people have been talking about it more and more. Whether or not to drink realgar wine has aroused everyone’s discussion.
According to traditional customs, realgar wine has the functions of exorcising evil spirits, killing insects and detoxifying. People add a small amount of realgar to wine, hoping to sterilize and repel insects. While children are not old enough to drink, they smear realgar wine on their bodies in order to disinfect and prevent diseases.
Modern medicine has found that the main component of realgar is arsenic sulfide, which has strong toxicity. Therefore, more and more people call for people to abandon the custom of drinking realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival.
Appropriately adjust the form of festival customs, and have a happy and safe holiday.
Can you drink realgar wine after the Dragon Boat Festival? Is it necessary to drink realgar wine at present? The reporter interviewed Yu Bo, director of the Center for Prevention of Diseases of Nanjing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Director Yu told reporters that the Dragon Boat Festival is in midsummer, the weather is very hot and there are many mosquitoes. The level of medical care in ancient times was far less than that at present, so it was easier to get sick at this time, which is why the custom of Dragon Boat Festival is often related to health and epidemic prevention.
Realgar is a traditional Chinese medicine blindly. According to Compendium of Materia Medica, realgar has the efficacy of "treating sores and killing viruses" and can "avoid all evils and kill all insects". However, Compendium of Materia Medica also points out that realgar itself is toxic, and many people exaggerate the role of realgar blindly, which eventually leads to poisoning.
Director Yu pointed out that because the sanitary conditions of the ancients were far worse than now, it was understandable that they chose realgar to disinfect and kill insects, but drinking realgar wine was obviously not correct. "In fact, the ancients used realgar wine, which was rarely taken orally, and it was not taken many times. At most, it was ingested in a small amount. Realgar wine is more used as an external medicine to get rid of snake venom and drive away mosquitoes. " Realgar wine is not easily absorbed by human body when used externally, so it is basically safe to apply it or spray it indoors, but these functions actually have substitutes such as mosquito bites, mosquito incense and pesticides, so "just use it on the Dragon Boat Festival."
Director Yu said that we can reform this traditional habit, such as replacing realgar wine with ordinary yellow wine.
Correspondent Zhang Ming Mo Yufan
Yangzi Evening News/Zi Niu Journalist Zhou Biying