The Double-Second Festival
二月二
The Double-Second Festival (or the Spring Dragon Festival) is traditionally named the Dragon Head Festival, which is also called “the Day of Legendary Birth of Flowers”, “the Spring Outing Day”, or “the Vegetables-Picking Day”. It came into existence in the Tang Dynasty (618AD --- 907 AD). The poet, Bai Juyi wrote a poem entitled The Second Day of the Second Lunar Month:” The first rain stops, sprout grass and vegetables. In light clothes are young lads, and in lines as they cross the streets.” On this special day, people send gifts to each other, pick vegetable, welcome wealth and go on a spring outing, etc. After the Ming Dynasty (1368 AD --- 1644 AD), the custom of spreading ashes to attract a dragon was called “dragon lifting its head”.
二月二，又称“花朝节”、“踏青节”、“挑菜节”，俗称“龙抬头日”。大约在唐代就已形成。白居易有《二月二日》诗：“二月二日新雨晴，草芽菜甲一时生。轻衫细马春年少，十字津头一字行。”在这一天，民间相互送礼，还有挑菜、迎富、踏青等活动。明代以后，又有撒灰引龙的习俗，称为“龙抬头”。
Why is it called “dragon lifting its head”? There is a folktale in northern China.
为什么叫“龙抬头”呢？北方民间有这么一个传说。
It is said that once the Jade Emperor ordered the four Sea Dragon Kings not to rain on the earth in three years’ time. At a time, life for the people was intolerable and the people suffered untold misery and hardship. One of the four Dragon Kings --- the jade dragon was sympathetic with the people and secretly dropped a soaking rain on the earth, which was soon discovered by the Jade Emperor, who banished him to the mortal world and put him under a huge mountain. On it was a tablet, which said the jade dragon would not go back to Heaven unless golden beans blossomed.
说是有一年，玉帝传谕四海龙王，三年内不得向人间降雨，一时间民不聊生，百姓苦不堪言。有一条玉龙不忍心了，就私自向人间下了一场透雨。这事很快就被玉帝发觉，便把玉龙打下凡间，压在一座大山下受罪。山上立了块碑，说是除非金豆开花，玉龙才能重新上天。
People went around telling the news and were thinking of ways to save the dragon. One day, an old woman carried a sack of corn for sale on the street. The sack opened and the golden corn for scattered on the ground. It occurred to people that seeds of corn were the gold beans, which would blossom if they were roasted. Therefore, people coordinated their efforts to roast popcorn and place it in the yards on the second day of the second lunar month. The God Venus had dim eyesight with old age. He was under the impression that golden beans blossomed, so he released the dragon.
老百姓知道了，奔走相告，大家都在想办法要拯救玉龙。一天，一个老婆婆背了一袋玉米，上街去卖，不小心袋口松开，金黄金黄的玉米籽撒了满地。人们心头一亮，心想，玉米籽不就是金豆吗，炒炒不就开花了吗？于是大家齐心协力，约定在二月二这天，家家炒玉米花，放在庭院里，太白金星人老眼花，一看，果然是金豆开花了，就把玉龙给放了出来。
From then on there was a custom on the earth that on the second day of the second lunar month, every family would roast popcorn. Some people sang while roasting:”The dragon lifts its head on the second day of the second lunar month. Large barns will be full and small ones will overflow.”
从此以后，民间便有了这个风俗，每年二月二这天，家家户户都要炒玉米花。有的还边炒边唱：“二月二，龙抬头，大仓满，小仓流。”
While the Hani ethnic group inhabiting in Mount Ailao on the southern bank of the Red River referred to third day as the Day of Worshipping Dragons, with a moving folktale of two brave young men slaughtering a demon.
聚居在红河南岸哀牢山中的哈尼族，则把二月二当做“祭龙日”，这一带民间传颂着两个勇敢的小伙子诛杀恶魔，为百姓除害的动人故事。
The festival is also know as the Day of the Legendary Birth of Flowers, which falls on the 12th or 15th of the second lunar month in some other places. Since spring is round the corner and all flowers will soon be in bloom, the day is set as the birthday of the Flower God, which is believed to be in spring. It later gets an elegant name of the Day of the Legendary Birth of Flowers from men of letters.
人们又把二月二叫做花朝节。也有些地方把二月十二，或是二月十五叫做花朝节的。总之，意思是说春天快要到了，百花又要争相开放了。人们以为掌管百花的花神应该是有生日的，她的生日就应该在春天，如果就把某一天定做“百花生日”。民间说是百花生日，在了文人嘴里，说得雅一些，就成了花朝节。
A series of activities are held on this day, including appreciating flowers, growing flowers, going to a spring outing, and attaching red straps to branches. Sacrifices are offered to the Flower God at Flower God Temples in many places. Red straps of paper or cloth are tied to the stems of flowers. The weather that day is seen as the divination of a year’s yield of wheat, flowers and fruits.
这一天，往往有赏花、种花、踏青和赏红等一系列活动。旧时，在许多地方都还有花神庙，于是就要在这一天祭祀花神。人们用红的纸带、布条系在花枝上，称为“赏红”，还有以这一天的阴晴来占卜全年小麦，花果丰歉的俗信。
People of the Zhuang ethnic group name it the Day of Hundred-Flower Fairy. Youngsters will gather around a dam with bombax trees, singing a musical dialogue in antiphonal style, throwing embroidered balls to their loves and exchanging gifts. They will sing songs worshipping the Hundred-Flower Fairy. The embroidered balls they get will be hung on the bombax trees, where the Hundred0Flower Fairy is believed to live in. In this way, the Hundred-Flower Fairy will bless them with pure and sweet love forever.
壮族同胞把二月二叫做“百花仙子节”，每年这天，男女青年都要聚集在长有木棉树的平坝对歌。对歌中必定有歌颂百花仙子的内容。他们还要抛绣球，互赠礼物。得到绣球的青年会把绣球挂在木棉树上。人们以为，百花仙子就住在木棉树上，他们用这种办法祈求百花仙子保佑爱情常红，心底洁白。
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It is also considered as the birthday of the fruit trees in the south of Yangtze River. Women used to hoe up weeds and loosen the soil around each tree. At noon, a piece of red paper would be pasted on the trunk of each tree, and then people would cover it with straw. A stone was put on the crotch. People would put both hands on the tree, whispering “will there be a good harvest of peaches? Yes! Will peaches be big? Yes! Will peach be moth-eaten? No! Will peaches drop? No!” Then they would lift a bamboo knife and cut the middle part of the trunk with moderate strength. The process was repeated for each fruit tree and could be carried out with the joint effort of two people, with on asking the questions, representing the host, and the other answering the questions, standing for the tree. It was originally a form of the ancient witchcraft, and is now only a good wish of the fruit growers. According to the experts, to cut the tree with moderate strength has its scientific foundation. If the growing of the trees is too fast, fruits tend to drop. The cutting has the function of “retaining nutrition”, to help to bear fruits, which shows that some knowledge from the populace is precious.
江南的花果农要给果树做生日。旧时的这一天，妇女们会将果园的杂草锄掉，在每棵果树四周松土。中午时分，在一棵棵树干上贴一方红纸，再用稻草捆住，树枝叉处压一块石头，然后双手扶着果树，轻轻叨念：“桃子今年多吗？多的！桃子今年大吗？大的！桃子今年蛀吗？不蛀！桃子今年脱吗？不脱！”念毕，举起小竹刀，在树干中部不轻不重的斫上一刀。如此这般，一棵棵果树轮着都这么做一遍。也可以是两人配合着，一问一答，一人代表主人，一人代表果树。这里似乎还可以窥见远古时代巫术残存的痕迹，不过时至今日，恐怕也只是在表达果农们的一种心愿罢了。据专家说，果农们在果树上不轻不重的斫这么一刀，却是蛮有些科学依据的。果树如果长势过旺。果实容易脱落；倘若恰到好处的斫上一刀，恰恰可以起来“回滋”的作用，有利于果树结实。由此可见，保存在民众中的一些知识，其实很是宝贵。
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