The root of papyrus grass, also known as mat grass root, is a rhizome of the sedge plant called water hair flower. It has a mild and slightly bitter taste and a cooling nature. It belongs to the stomach, bladder, and kidney meridians.
Wild papyrus grass roots cannot be consumed directly and need to be processed before use. It is especially important to note that papyrus grass root has a cooling nature and should not be taken during menstruation.
On the Dragon Boat Festival, it is customary for everyone to drink a cup of wine early in the morning, which is believed to ward off evil spirits. Drinking and spraying realgar wine is a traditional folk custom of the Dragon Boat Festival. There is a saying: "On the fifth day of May, realgar wine is used on the Dragon Boat Festival."
Because people in ancient times believed that the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, is an "evil month and evil day," it is the day with the heaviest toxic gas.
Therefore, on this day, people would finely chop and dry the harvested papyrus grass roots, mix them with a little realgar, and soak them in white wine, believing that it can drive away snakes and evil spirits.
Papyrus grass roots grow in ditches, ponds, lake shores, and grasslands along rivers. Except for Xinjiang and Tibet, it is widely distributed throughout the country.
