The Dragon Boat Festival

By Vincent

The 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar year is an important day for the Chinese people. The day is called Duan Wu Festival, or Dragon Boat Festival, celebrated everywhere in China.


There are several different explanations for the festival’s origin. The most accepted is that the festival honors Qu Yuan, a famous poet and virtuous official of the Chu Kingdom.

When the king refused his advice and the capital of the kingdom was occupied by invaders, Qu wrote his final poem beside Miluo River in today’s Hunan. He then drowned himself on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. Saddened over the patriotic poet’s death, people tossed rice and meat into the river to feed the fish, which would protect Qu’s body. This later on turned into the custom of eating Zong Zi.

Ancient people believed dragons controlled the rivers and the sea, and they worried that Qu’s spirit would be harmed by dragons. They built boats shaped like dragons and held races on the river to the thunderous beat of drums to warn dragons not to damage Qu’s spirit. The race eventually became a tradition.

Other customs attached to the Dragon Boat Festival include drinking rice wine on this day. The wine is believed to make people healthy and keep insects and snakes away.

Today, the dragon boat festival is celebrated among the chinese. The dragon boat race is now an international game