Dragon Boat Festival

When the fragrance of Zongzi (glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves) wafts up from the streets and every household has mugwort inserted and gourd hung on the door,we know that Dragon Boat Festival is around the corner.

Also known as Duanwu Festival,Duanyang Festival or Double Fifth Festival,it falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.“Duan” means “beginning”,hence the name Duanwu,meaning “the beginning of the fifth”.It is said that Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) was born on the fifth day of the 9th lunar month,and,in order to avoid the word taboo of “fifth”,Prime Minister Song Jing changed “Duan Fifth” into “Duanwu”.Such a change is quite appropriate,because according to the Lunar Calendar which adopts Earthly Branches to designate years,the first month is called the Yin Month,so the fifth is called the Wu Month.On the other hand,since the fifth is a yang number,Wushi (the period of the day from 11 a.m.to 1p.m.) is a Yangchen,so it is also called Duangyang Festival.

There are many legends about the evolution of the festival,the most popular of which commemorates Qu Yuan.

Qu Yuan (c.340 BC-278 BC) was minister of the State of Chu and one of China’s earliest poets.At the time,Chinese territory was divided by several vassal states,of which Qi,Chu,Yan,Han,Zhao,Wei,Qin were the most powerful,known as the “Warring States”.Among them,Chu and Qin were the strongest and likely to unify the country.King Huai,the monarch of Chu,had great confidence in Qu Yuan and assigned important posts to him.Qu Yuan,of noble birth,helped King Huai promote political reform to enhance the country,carried out personnel training,and served as an envoy to Qi on two occasions.Thanks to his excellent diplomatic skills,Qi agreed to unite with Chu to fight against Qin.However,despite the many benefits,the reforms inevitably touched on the interests of the old entrenched forces who began to speak ill of Qu Yuan in front of King Huai,undermining his confidence in the former,until he was finally sent into exile.Even in exile,he still cared much for his country and people and composed immortal poems.Reinstated once,he was exiled again by King Qingxiang,and could never return.When he heard the news that Qin troops had finally conquered Chu’s capital,he plunged into the Miluo River,clasping a large stone in his arms.Qu Yuan died,but his spirit of integrity remained in people’s minds.The Saoti poetry he created occupies an important position in the history of Chinese literature,his spirit of seeking truth - “Long,Long had been my road and far,far was the journey,I would go up and down to seek my heart’s desire” and his noble purity and loneliness - “Everyone is filthy whereas I am pure.Everyone is drunk whereas I am sober.” - had an influence on generation after generation of Chinese people.

Dragon Boat Festival

The day of his death happened to be the 5th day of the 5th lunar month in the Chinese lunar calendar.Afterwards,the people of Chu crowded to sail their boats up and down the river to look for his body.People threw into the water Zongzi to divert possible fish or shrimp from attacking his body.This later evolved into the Dragon Boat Festival custom of dragon boat racing and eating Zongzi.

In fact,Dragon Boat Festival can be dated back to the dragon totem worship amid the Wu and Yue peoples before Qin Dynasty (221 BC-206 BC),and after the development through the Han,Wei and Six dynasties (206 BC-589),was officially established as a festival in the Tang Dynasty.Eating Zongzi,dragon boat racing,inserting mugwort,wearing a sachet,wearing colored silk,drinking realgar wine,herb collection races,archery,and so on,are among the customs adopted.

Nowadays,Dragon Boat Festival is still a very important festival of the Chinese nation,and some of its customs are still carried on.In addition to dragon boat racing and eating Zongzi,people will go to pick mugwort early in the morning and hang it on the door.Mugwort is a Chinese herbal medicine with a special aroma that can expel parasites and treat plague,and has a strong bactericidal ability.It is used in moxibustion in traditional Chinese medicine.Children or young people will wear colored silk on the wrist to exorcise evil spirits.Some places also hold a poetry competition to commemorate the great patriotic poet Qu Yuan.

In the lunar fifth month,the weather turns hot with mosquitoes breeding vociferously.In the eyes of the ancients,the fifth month was a “poisonous” month,while the fifth day of the month was an “evil” day,which had many taboos.Now,on this day,people will do some cleaning and give clothes a thorough airing.There is a Chinese proverb that says,“Don’t store the winter clothing away before having Dragon Boat Festival Zongzi.”

When the fragrance of Zongzi wafts up from the streets and alleyways,the annual Dragon Boat Festival will begin again.