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Story 9: Dragon Boat Festival Story

Dragon Boat Festival

Author: Anonymous

The Fifth day of May is a festival in our Chinese calendar – the Dragon Boat Festival.

This festival is the day for us to wrap rice dumplings. On this day every year, many families wrap rice dumplings, and many different flavors and types of rice dumplings emerge one after another in this fragrant rice dumpling season.

Regarding the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, there are actually different opinions. Some people regard it as commemorating the patriotic poet Qu Yuan who threw himself into the Miluo River on the fifth day of May. Some people say that in ancient times, this festival was a day for disinfection and avoiding epidemics.

According to records in the literature and many Dragon Boat Festival customs that have been passed down from generation to generation, May is regarded as the “poisonous month” and “evil month”. The fifth day of May is the first of the nine poisons, so on this day, there are many customs about exorcism and disinfection. And special customs to avoid epidemics, such as planting mugwort leaves, drinking realgar wine, and offering sacrifices to the messengers of the five plagues.

Later, the meaning of the Dragon Boat Festival changed. In order to commemorate the patriotic spirit and noble personality of the patriotic poet Qu Yuan, people have forgotten the original meaning of the Dragon Boat Festival that has been circulated and associated some customs such as dragon boat rowing and rice dumpling making that were not necessarily commemorating Qu Yuan to him.

Nowadays, most people only remember that the Dragon Boat Festival is related to Qu Yuan. In fact, some young people of the new generation have not much impression of Qu Yuan’s story. What they know is that this is a festival for eating rice dumplings, that’s all.

Regarding dragon boat racing during the Dragon Boat Festival, in fact, it is not the arrival of the Dragon Boat Festival, but there are also dragon boat racing events everywhere. From exorcising evil spirits and avoiding epidemics to commemorating Qu Yuan, the meaning of the Dragon Boat Festival has changed a lot.

The original meaning of this festival has been gradually “eroded” by social changes year after year.

Today, this festival has become a Chinese food festival. From the old corn millet and rice dumplings to today’s various colorful rice dumplings. Many places incorporate their own local delicacies into rice dumplings.

In fact, the main custom of the Dragon Boat Festival is dragon boat racing. Regarding the dragon boat race, written records began in “Xu Qixie Ji” written by Wu Jun of the Liang Dynasty 500 years ago. Later, written records about dragon boat racing can be found in many records. Among the thousands of local chronicles existing in various parts of China, a total of 227 local chronicles have records of dragon boat racing.

The sayings about dragon boat racing and dragon boat racing during the Dragon Boat Festival include “all the boats set out together to rush to Cheng to save Qu Yuan.” and “a shout and drum music frightened away the dragon.

” These are all reminiscent of Qu Yuan.

Every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, the Chinese people in the north and south of China and Southeast Asia will also hold dragon boat races and promote the Dragon Boat Festival.

The Legend of Dragon Boat Festival

During the Warring States Period, Chu and Qin were competing for hegemony. The poet Qu Yuan was highly regarded by the King of Chu. However, Qu Yuan’s ideas were opposed by the conservative faction headed by Jin Shang, a Shangguan official.

They continued to slander Qu Yuan in front of King Chu Huai, and King Chu Huai gradually alienated Qu Yuan. Qu Yuan, who had great ambitions, felt deeply saddened. With uncontrollable melancholy and anger, he wrote immortal poems such as “Li Sao” and “Tian Xiang”.

In 229 BC, the State of Qin captured eight cities of the State of Chu, and then sent envoys to invite King Huai of Chu to the State of Qin to negotiate peace. Qu Yuan saw through King Qin’s conspiracy and risked his own life to go to the palace to state his interests. King Huai of Chu not only refused to listen but expelled Qu Yuan from the capital of Ying. King Huai of Chu went to the meeting as scheduled, but was imprisoned as soon as he arrived in Qin.

King Huai of Chu was filled with regrets and became depressed and became ill. He died in Qin three years later. Not long after King Qingsei of Chu came to the throne, King Qin sent troops to attack Chu. King Qingsei of Chu fled the capital in panic, and Qin soldiers captured Yingcheng.

While in exile, Qu Yuan heard the bad news about the death of King Huai of Chu and the attack on Ying City one after another. He lost all hope, sighed up to the sky, and threw himself into the roaring Miluo River.

When the fishermen on the river and the people on the shore heard that Qu Yuan had committed suicide by drowning himself in the river, they all came to the river one after another and tried their best to salvage Qu Yuan’s body.

They brought rice dumplings and eggs and threw them into the river. The doctor also poured realgar wine into the water. In order to use the medicine to stun dragons and water animals, Doctor Qu Yuan’s body was protected from harm.

From then on, in early May every year – the day when Qu Yuan threw himself into the river and was martyred – the people of Chu would row dragon boats on the river and throw rice dumplings to commemorate the great patriotic poet. The custom of the Dragon Boat Festival has been passed down like this.