Tonight, I invite you into a collection of gentle sleep stories following the quiet preparations for the Dragon Boat Festival in Tang Dynasty Chang'an.

Across this extended journey, we move in calm, unbroken rhythm from a silk merchant's inner room to the misty waters of the palace lake, and onward to festival morning itself.

We begin four days before the festival, where a silk merchant's wife twists five-colored cords by the afternoon light of her worktable.

From there, the path leads to Qujiang Pool before dawn, where a lone boatman unties the dragon boat and rows quietly through the mist.

As the journey continues, we settle into a Chang'an kitchen before sunrise, where a noodle shop owner wraps glutinous rice parcels (zongzi) in reed leaves for the neighboring households. Around the same time, there is also a story that moves within the palace walls, where court women braid cords and fold silk robes to prepare the emperor's festival gifts.

As the festival morning finally arrives, a senior official rises in the last dark to hang fresh mugwort above his gate.

A young woman from the same household finishes the last of her fragrant sachets as the household wakes around her.

Let the quiet rhythms of the Dragon Boat Festival collection carry you gently into rest. 💤

Chapters

00:00:00 Welcome

00:01:46 Story 1 – The Five Cords She Twisted Before the Festival

00:27:46 Story 2 – The Boatman at Pool Before Dawn

00:53:56 Story 3 – Glutinous Rice Parcel (Zongzi) She Made Before Dawn

01:22:29 Story 4 – The Emperor Gifts Prepared at the Inner Palace

01:52:40 Story 5 – The Mugwort He Hung Before the Household Woke

02:19:38 Story 6 – The Fragrant Sachets She Made On The Morning of the Festival

02:44:19 Goodnight

02:45:42 Calming Music

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Music & Soundscapes : Created with AI-assisted tools including Suno

Visuals & Illustrations : Created with ChatGPT