The third day of the third month according to Chinese lunar calendar

It was a day that local residents in Qinhuai paid utmost attention to in ancient times. Since the Han Dynasty, people have been keeping the habit of playing with water and touring around by the Qinhuai River on the day of “Ji” (called Ji Festival at that time ) in the first ten days of the third month (late set on the third day of the third month) for eliminating disaster and seeking happiness, just like “Water-splashing Festival” popular in Dali, Yunnan province. On this day, almost all people would go outing while scholars would get together, drinking wine and writing poems. According to a legend among women, the third day of the third month is the birthday of shepherd’s purse. So they would pick it up to be inserted into the hair on the temple as a memory. As a saying goes: “On the third day of the third month, the flower of the shepherd’s purse is more beautiful than peony. A woman without the shepherd’s purse inserted into the hair of the temple would go broke. With it inserted, she would have rice full of her barn.” So far, people still boil eggs with a whole shepherd’s purse on the third day of the third month, wich is said to cure headache. On the third day of the third month every year, quite many farmers would sell them in the market.