A 2,000 year old festival that commemorates the death of a poet-philosopher.
One of the oldest traditional festivals in the world, the Dragon Boat Festivalis celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth Chinese lunar month every year. Alsoknown in China as the Duanwu Festival, it was made an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2009.
An important activity of the Dragon Boat Festival is the dragon boat race,racing teams have been practicing for weeks for the fast and furious race withboats that are named after the prow designed to look like a dragons head, the rear is carved to look like the tail. While the rest of the team works the oars,one person sitting in the front will beat a drum to egg them on and keep time for rowers.
Chinese legend says that the winning team will bring good luck and a good harvest to their village.
Wearing Perfume Pouches
There are several origin stories and mythology threads that are attached to the festival. The most prominet one relates toQu Yuan, a Chinese poet-philospher who was also aminister in the state of Chu in ancient China. He was exiled by the king who mistakenly perceived him as a traitor. He later committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River in the Hunan Province. The local people rowed to the river in a futile search for Qus body. They are said to have paddled their boats up and down the river,beating drums loudly in order to scare away the water spirits. And threw rice dumplings into the water to keep the fishes and the water spirits away from Qu Yuans body. These sticky rice balls – called zongzi – are a big part of the festival today,as offerings to the spirit of Qu Yuan.
Traditionally, apart from racing dragon boats, the rituals will includeeating zongzi (zongzi making is a family thing and each have their own special recipe and cooking method) and drinking realgar wine made from cereal laced with powdered realgar, a mineral made from arsenic and sulphur.Realgar has beenused in traditional medicine in China for centuries.In China, the holiday of the Dragon Boat Festival is generally three days, and the employees of Ruiyuan Company also returned home to accompany their families and spend a happy Dragon Boat Festival together.
Post time: Jun-23-2023