DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL

Background

Many believe that the Dragon Boat Festival originated in

ancient China based on the suicide of the poet and statesman
of the Chu kingdom, Qu Yuan in 278 BCE.
The festival commemorates the life and death of the famous
Chinese scholar Qu Yuan, who was a loyal minister of the
King of Chu in the third century BCE. Qu Yuan’s wisdom and
intellectual ways antagonized other court officials, thus they
accused him of false charges of conspiracy and was exiled by
the king. During his exile, Qu Yuan composed many poems to
express his anger and sorrow towards his sovereign and
people.
Qu Yuan drowned himself by attaching a heavy stone to his
chest and jumping into the Miluo River in 278 BCE at the age
of 61. The people of Chu tried to save him believing that Qu
Yuan was an honorable man; they searched desperately in
their boats looking for Qu Yuan but were unable to save him.
Every year the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated to
commemorate this attempt at rescuing Qu Yuan.
The local people began the tradition of throwing sacrificial
cooked rice into the river for Qu Yuan, while others believed
that the rice would prevent the fishes in the river from eating
Qu Yuan’s body. At first, the locals decided to make zongzi in
hopes that it would sink into the river and reach Qu Yuan's
body. However, the tradition of wrapping the rice in bamboo
leaves to make zongzi began the following year.
 Dragon boat racing

Dragon boat racing has a rich history of ancient ceremonial and

ritualistic traditions, which originated in southern central China more
than 2500 years ago. The legend starts with the story of Qu Yuan,
who was a minister in one of the Warring State governments, Chu. He
was slandered by jealous government officials and banished by king.
Out of disappointment in the Chu monarch, he drowned himself into
the Miluo river. The common people rushed to the water and tried to
recover his body. In commemoration of Qu Yuan, people hold dragon
boat races yearly on the day of his death according to the legend.
They also scattered rice into the water to feed the fish, to prevent them
from eating Qu Yuan's body, which is one of the origins of zongzi.
 History

Qu Yuan
A statue of Qu Yuan in Jingzhou, at the site of the former Chu
capital Ying
The story best known in modern China holds that the festival
commemorates the death of the poet and minister Qu Yuan
(c. 340–278 BC) of the ancient state of Chu during the
Warring States period of the Zhou Dynasty. A cadet member
of the Chu royal house, Qu served in high offices. However,
when the king decided to ally with the increasingly powerful
state of Qin, Qu was banished for opposing the alliance and
even accused of treason. During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote a
great deal of poetry. Twenty-eight years later, Qin captured
Ying, the Chu capital. In despair, Qu Yuan committed suicide
by drowning himself in the Miluo River.
It is said that the local people, who admired him, raced out in
their boats to save him, or at least retrieve his body. This is
said to have been the origin of dragon boat races. When his
body could not be found, they dropped balls of sticky rice into
the river so that the fish would eat them instead of Qu Yuan's
body. This is said to be the origin of zongzi.