That sudden rainstorm two days ago means that the Dragon has awoken! Go get a haircut! Quick, before you're cursed!

What are you talking about?

Don't you know? It's Spring Dragon Festival today!

What is Spring Dragon Festival?

Actually it's commonly known as Lóngtáitóu (龙抬头), but also Chūnlóngjié (春龙节), which is where Spring Dragon Festival comes from, or Zhōnghéjié (中和节) and a bunch of other names. This festival takes place on the second day of the second month of the Chinese lunar calendar. What's the celebration for? Perhaps this idiom will help you understand;

èr yuè èr, long tái tóu (二月二，龙抬头)

"On the second day of the second month, the dragon lifts its head."

Not clear why that's worth celebrating? Why are there suddenly insects everywhere? What does this have to do with getting a haircut? Let's find out.

How did Lóngtáitóu originate?

 There are a bunch of myths behind the origin of Lóngtáitóu, as with most Chinese festivals. One of our favorites involves Empress Wǔ Zétiān (武则天), a badass female emperor who reigned from 690 to 705 CE.

Enraged that a woman would be so unbelievably rude, trying to rule the country, Chief Patriarch of the Taoist Heavenly Hierarchy, the Jade Emperor, cursed the land with three years of drought. Taking pity on the poor farmers, the rain dragon Tiānhé Yùlóng (天河玉龙) brought a whole bunch of rain, and got a mountain dropped on his head by the Jade Emperor for his rebellion. The Jade Emperor said that the dragon would only be free when golden beans flowered.

Three years later, farmers working in the fields on the second day of the second month, saw a bunch of corn seeds and thought to themselves "hang on, these look kind of gold, and don't they 'flower' when you cook them…?"

So they ran home, cooked all of the corn seeds until they exploded into a sea of popcorn and then spread them all over the fields. The dragon, who was probably a bit sore after three years under a mountain, saw they were trying to rescue him, and so he raised his head (see?) called out to the Jade Emperor to free him. The Jade Emperor saw the popcorn everywhere, presumably said something along the lines of "damn, they figured it out," and let the dragon go.

It's still unclear why the Jade Emperor wanted popcorn all over the fields.

You mentioned insects? What does Lóngtáitóu have to do with insects?

It was thought that Lóngtáitóu marked the coming of the spring rains, something farmers are very excited about for reasons that people who in live in cities have probably forgotten. A side-effect of all that rain is that insects suddenly start to appear in big numbers, so Lóngtáitóu isn't just associated with the dragon raising its head, but insects too!

So that sudden rainstorm the other day was probably the dragon raising his head, and you can expect the mosquitos and flies to be following soon after. Enjoy!

Yuck. My calendar says today is Zhōnghé Festival, what's up with that?

Zhōnghéjié (中和节) was a different festival in the old, old days, probably taking place on the first day of the second month. Since both festivals were based on springtime renewal, which often feature dragons, over time, the two festivals slowly merged into one, possibly helped by the simplification of the festival calendar that occurred after 1949. So, Zhōnghéjié used to be something else, and now it's the same as Lóngtáitóu. Simple!

How do we celebrate?

Go dance the Dragon Dance, if you can find anyone in Shanghai still interested in doing it these days! Otherwise, no one's stopping you from making it up yourself as you go along.

Get a bunch of ash from your stove (you have one of those right?), and make a big circle with it in your courtyard (got one of those too?). Then you put grain in the middle (any food will do if you've finished all your grain stores), and wish real hard for a bountiful harvest. Or a raise.

Eat popcorn! Except today you're allowed to call them lóngzǐ (龙子) or dragon seeds. Oh, and húntún (馄饨) folded in the old lóngyǎn (龙眼) style, so they look like dragon's eyes in old paintings. 

And go get a haircut!

What's with the obsession with getting a haircut?

This one probably has less to do with dragons and more to do with the fact that it’s considered bad luck to cut your hair during the first month after Spring Festival. 

In fact, there's a Chinese saying that goes:

zhēngyuè lǐfà sǐ jiùjiu (正月理发死舅舅)

"cut your hair in the first month and kill your uncle."

So after a month of letting your hair grow wild and free for the sake of dear Uncle Morris, Lóngtáitóu is the perfect opportunity to get a New Year's shave, and the festival'ss association with the dragon's head makes anything related to your head good luck!

By:Enjoyshanghai