Dragon Boat Festival: A tribute to the Chinese patriotic hero Qu Yuan
If you happen to visit China during the summer (say late May or early June), you’re bound to witness this spectacle: Groups of enthusiastic men racing in brightly-hued dragon-shaped boats. They are actually celebrating one of the most popular festivals in the country, the Dragon Boat Festival. This 3-day festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, known as Duanwu. That is why Dragon Boat festival has an alternative name too: Duanwu Jie (in Mandarin). It literally means the beginning of the mid-summer festival. Thanks to its unique date combination, this cultural tradition of China is also known as Double Fifth Festival. This year, it started on 3rd June. Since 2009, it has been part of UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. But wait, why do the Chinese celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival at all? It is their way of paying tribute to their patriotic hero Qu Yuan. Let us take you through the traditions and legends associated with the festival.
Traditions surrounding the Dragon Boat Festival
Starting from worshipping the Dragon God and indulging in boat races to savouring traditional food Zongzi and wearing perfume pouches to fend off evils, Dragon Boat Festival is associated with many curious customs and rituals. Here’s a closer glimpse of some of the most popular traditions.
Participating in Dragon Boat races: As you might have already guessed, this is by far the most important tradition associated with the festival. These boats are usually coloured vibrantly and come in the shape of a dragon. One boat is manned by 18-20 people who paddle hurriedly and harmoniously, while drums play in the background and the audience cheers on. The Chinese believe that the winners of this race will have good luck and a happy life in the next year. The activity is linked to Qu Yuan and the worship of the Dragon God, who, as the ancient Chinese believed, resides in the water.
Having Zongzi: Zongzi is the most popular food that the Chinese relish during the Dragon Boat Festival. It is usually a sticky dumpling made from glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves. These dumplings are mostly triangular or pyramidal in shape, unlike your regular ones. The fillings include common edibles such as meat, egg yolks, beans and dates. Legend tells us that lumps of rice (identical to zongzi) were thrown into rivers to stop fishes from feeding on the drowned body of Qu Yuan who ended his life by jumping into the Miluo River.
Hanging medicinal herbs, Mugwort and Calamus: Just like the rest of the world, China too experiences a wide range of diseases in the summer time. So, as part of the Dragon Boat Festival customs, Chinese people hang medicinal plants such as Mugwort and Calamus to combat diseases. It is believed that the strong fragrance deters all carriers such as flies and mosquitoes. Hanging these herbs is also believed to bring good fortune into the Chinese household.
The story of Qu Yuan
The legend behind the Dragon Boat Festival will amaze you for sure. As it happened, in ancient China, between 340 BC and 278 BC, there lived a wise man, a patriotic poet and advisor to Emperor Huai of the Chu kingdom. Not only was he loyal, this erudite man, Qu Yuan, was also a champion against corruption. This agonised his peers who in turn manipulated the emperor to dismiss and eventually exile Yuan.
Once exiled, Yuan became more determined to stay true to his cause and serve his country. During this period, he travelled across China, gave lectures and wrote poems, some of which (‘Lament’ or ‘Li Sao’ and ‘Nine Chapters’ or ‘Jiu Zhang’) are studied even today. But when he heard of the gradual decline of his hometown and its eventual capture by the Qin kingdom, he was so depressed that he decided to end his life and jumped into the Miluo River.
However, his disciples travelled from all across China to save him. Fishermen were allotted the task of racing to several spots in search of him. Unable to recover him, the crowd became impatient and started throwing random edibles such as eggs, dumplings to prevent the fish from attacking him. Since then, the Dragon Boat Festival has been celebrated in the honour of Qu Yuan on his death anniversary, the fifth day of the fifth month.