The Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival is traditionally celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month on the lunar calendar, and is therefore often called ‘Double Fifth Festival'. In Chinese, it is called” Duan Wu Jie”.

The Dragon Boat Festival commemorates the life and death of the famous Chinese scholar-statesman Chu Yuan, who lived approximately three centuries before the birth of Christ. Chu Yuan was a loyal minister that served the King of Chu during the Warring States Period. Chu Yuan was a highly respected and trusted advisor to the King of Chu. He fought the corruption of other officials in the court.

Initially, Chu Yuan was favored by his sovereign, but over time, his wisdom and erudite ways antagonized the other court officials. Eventually, the intrigues of his rivals exerted enough ill influence on the King that Chu Yuan soon found himself in disfavor. The King began to ignore Chu Yuan 's suggestions and advice. Not long after, the King banished Chu Yuan from Chu. While in exile, Chu Yuan composed many poems expressing his sorrows and concerns for his country and people. Amongst his most famous poems is "Encountering Sorrow," a poem describing his search for a good sovereign that would listen to good advice regarding government.

In the year 295 B.C., at the age of 37, Chu Yuan drowned himself in the Milo River. He clasped a heavy stone to his chest and leaped into the water. Knowing that Chu Yuan was a righteous man, the people of Chu rushed to the river to try to save him. The people desperately searched the waters in their boats looking for Chu Yuan, but they were unsuccessful in their attempt to rescue him. Every year the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated to commemorate this attempt at rescuing Chu Yuan.

When it was known that Chu Yuan had been lost forever, the local people began the tradition of throwing sacrificial cooked rice into the river for their lost hero. However, a local fisherman had a dream that Chu Yuan did not get any of the cooked rice that was thrown into the river in his honor. Instead, it was the fishes in the river that had eaten the rice. So, the following year, the tradition of wrapping the cooked rice in bamboo leaves was begun. The cooked rice wrapped in bamboo leaves later came to be known as zong zi.

There is also another version of the story. When it was known that Chu Yuan had been lost to the river, the local fisherman had a dream that the fishes in the river were eating Chu Yuan 's body. The local people came up with the idea that if the fishes in the river were not hungry, then they would not eat Chu Yuan 's body. So the local people began the tradition of throwing zong zi into the river to feed the fishes in hope that Chu Yuan 's body would be spared.

There are other traditional customs for Dragon Boat Festival. They are:

1: The dragon boat races :- Originally this activity was done to find out Chu Yuan's body in the river but now it has evolved as an important occasion. Nowadays, some of the main city governments take part in this activity by rowing boats on the famous river.

2: Chineses prepare Calamus and Moxa to hang on the front door and paste pictures of Chung Kuei, adults drink Hsiung Huang wine and children are given fragrant sachets. These activities are symbolized to avoid evil and disease. Some people believe that this activity could bring peace.

3: Fetching noon water :- People trust that the water which they draw today from their house has the power and the magic which can keep the human body healthy.


4: Standing Egg :- This activity is very interesting. If you can successfully stand an egg on its end exactly at 12:00 noon, then the coming year will be a lucky one.

In memory of Chu Yuan, people put rice inside bamboo stalks and threw it into the river as an offering. Later on, to express their admiration and respect for the great poet Chu Yuan, the Chinese people also designated this festival as Poet's Day.

We hope that we can make you a better understanding of traditional Chinese festivals - the Dragon Boat Festival by our introduction.

Edited by John, Katrina, Kinder and Thomas