The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the three major Chinese traditional holidays, falling every year on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. The festival indicates the start of the fifth month, during the transitional phase between spring and summer when various diseases begin to spread. The ancients believed ghosts and spirits brought about the sicknesses, so they carried small fragrant sachets, or hang mugwort and calamus up on their doors to ward off evil spirits and survive the season in peace.
