The Dragon Boat Festival 杨琦

When? Also called the Duanwu Festival in Mandarin, the Dragon Boat Festival occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar Because of its timing on the Chinese calendar, it is also know as the Double Fifth

Origins of the Dragon Boat Festival The Dragon Boat Festival is believed to have originated in ancient China. There are a number of theories about its origins. Today, the best, and the most widely known legend relates to the death by suicide of Qu Yuan, a Confucian scholar and minister to the King of Chu, in 278 BC an era in Chinese history that is referred to as the Warring States period Qu Yuan is commonly referred to as a "poet" and a "statesman", however he is more properly considered as a ministerial Confucian scholar.

More About Qu Yuan Because he was descendant of the Chu royal house, Qu served in very high offices. However, when the king decided to ally with the increasingly powerful state of Qin, Qu was banished for opposing the alliance. During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal of poetry, for which he is now remembered. Twenty-eight years later, Qin conquered the Chu capital. In despair, Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth month. It is said that the local people, who admired him, threw food into the river to feed the fish so that they would not eat Qu Yuan's body. This is said to be the origin of zongzi. The local people were also said to have paddled out on boats, either to scare the fish away or to retrieve his body. This is said to be the origin of dragon boat racing.

Celebration under Republican China In the early years of the Republic of China, Duan Wu was also celebrated as "Poets' Day," due to Qu Yuan's status as China's first poet of personal renown. During the initial Republican period following the unseating of the last dynastic rulers, there was a rise in nationalistic fervor and patriotism among the intelligentsia. In the 1950s, under the Chinese Communist Party, Qu Yuan was similarly venerated as a "patriotic poet", consistent with the emergence of the modern Chinese state.

Celebration under Communist China The festival was long marked as a holiday culturally in China. However, the People's Republic of China government, established in 1949, for a long time excluded traditional holidays such as the Dragon Boat Festival from its list of public holidays. From 2005, the government began to plan for the adoption of three traditional holidays, including the Dragon Boat Festival, as a public holiday. In 2008, the Dragon Boat Festival was celebrated in mainland China as a public holiday for the first time.

Today Three of the most widespread activities for the Dragon Boat Festival today are eating zongzi, an angular rice ball wrapped in reed or bamboo leaves; drinking realgar wine, and racing dragon boats.

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