| 英文摘要 |
The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival and the Midsummer Festival in the West both feature customs that make use of plants and water with exorcistic properties to expel evil. The plants that are used are even species of the same genus. The similarities arise not from coincidence, but from customs related to the summer solstice. In this article, I shall compare similar Eastern and Western summer solstice customs and elucidate their meanings with regard to the correlation between the sun and worldly affairs. With the help of research into the use of water and plants in Western summer solstice customs, this article will focus on discussing the special powers endowed by the midsummer sun on water and particular kinds of plants. Because of an association between the sun and eyes, this combination of plants and water that have been endowed with the ability to expel evil at this time of year is considered an especially efficacious remedy for eye diseases. Due to the summer solstice being the time of year at which the power of the sun peaks, people stage various competitions to mimic the struggle between night and day, yin 陰 and yang 陽, and summer and winter, rendering it in a dramatic fashion. Several legends and customs connected with this time allude to a martial theme. Legends relating to the Dragon Boat Festival, for example, serve as metaphors for the aforementioned fight. Objects hung on the door to ward off evil spirits are actually used as a medium to avoid disaster and misfortune. I shall describe the use of martial themes in the exorcistic tradition, and also explain the folkloristic connotations embedded in the exorcistic objects featuring in such martial legends. |
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