Do You Know About The Dragon Boat Festival?

Today is the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival is the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar every year, is the traditional festival of the Chinese Han people to commemorate Qu Yuan.

Dragon Boat Festival originated from the celestial worship, from the ancient times dragon totem sacrifice evolved. The formation of Dragon Boat Festival rituals is related to primitive beliefs, ritual culture, the Sexagenary Cycle Calendar and celestial signs.

During the Dragon Boat Festival, the Chinese people organize many folk activities, and different regions have different customs. But the most widely known ones are eating rice dumplings and racing dragon boats.

According to historical records, eating rice dumplings originated from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period and was gradually passed down to people in memory of Qu Yuan. The custom of eating rice dumplings has been prevalent throughout China since ancient times and has become one of the most influential and widespread folk food customs of the Chinese nation.

According to legend, Qu Yuan advocated the appointment of wise and capable people, enriching the country and strengthening the army, and advocating the alliance of Qi against Qin, but was strongly opposed by noblemen such as Zi Lan, Qu Yuan was slandered and dismissed from his post, and was expelled from the capital and exiled . During his exile, he wrote poems such as "Li Sao", "Heavenly Questions" and "Nine Songs".In 278 B.C., when the Qin army broke through the capital of Chu, Qu Yuan was heartbroken to see his country being invaded, but he could not bear to give up his country, so on the 5th of May, after writing his masterpiece "Huaisha", he threw himself into the Miluo River with a stone in his arms. After Qu Yuan threw himself into the river, the local people immediately rowed a boat to rescue ......In 278 B.C., when the Qin army broke through the capital of Chu, Qu Yuan was heartbroken to see his country being invaded, but he could not bear to give up his country, so on the 5th of May, after writing his masterpiece "Huaisha", he threw himself into the Miluo River with a stone in his arms.  After Qu Yuan threw himself into the river, the local people heard about it immediately rowed a boat to rescue ...... However, the body of Qu Yuan was never found. In order to send their condolences, people swung their boats above the river, and only after that gradually developed into dragon boat races.The people were afraid that the fish in the river would eat his body, so they went home and brought rice balls into the river to avoid fish and shrimp destroying Qu Yuan's body, which later became the custom of eating rice dumplings.

The main material of rice dumplings is glutinous rice, filling, wrapped with Indocalamus tessellatus leaves(or Phrynium capitatum) and made in a variety of shapes, such as sharp-angled, four-angled. The fillings of rice dumplings include meat, egg yolk, red dates, bean paste, etc., and there are many ways to make it, which fully reflects the local characteristics of each region.

Rice Dumplings with Bean Paste

Rice Dumplings with meat

Dragon boat racing is another important activity of the Dragon Boat Festival. The dragon boat racing is divided into several sections: invite the dragon, worship the dragon god, swim the dragon and collect the dragon. Before the dragon boat race, a grand sacrificial ceremony is usually held, and dragons and gods must be invited first. After worshipping the gods before the Dragon Boat Festival, install the dragon head and dragon tail and prepare for the race.

In addition to eating rice dumplings and dragon boat racing, we also have other customs such as hanging mugwort leaves, drinking realgar wine, and dancing Zhongkui. These customs all represent the good expectations of the Chinese people for life and are an indispensable part of us.