Duanwu Festival is a traditional Chinese festival held on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar. It is also known as the Double Fifth. It has since been celebrated, in various ways, in other parts of East Asia as well. In the West, its commonly known as Dragon Boat Festival.
The exact origins of Duan Wu are unclear, but one traditional view holds that the festival memorializes the Chinese poet Qu Yuan (c. 340 BC-278 BC) of the Warring States Period. He committed suicide by drowning himself in a river because he was disgusted by the corruption of the Chu government. The local people, knowing him to be a good man, decided to throw food into the river to feed the fish so they would not eat Qus body. They also sat on long, narrow paddle boats called dragon boats, and tried to scare the fish away by the thundering sound of drums aboard the boat and the fierce looking carved dragon head on the boats prow.
In the early years of the Chinese Republic, Duan Wu was also celebrated as Poets Day, due to Qu Yuans status as Chinas first poet of personal renown.
Today, people eat bamboo-wrapped steamed glutinous rice dumplings called zongzi (the food originally intended to feed the fish） and race dragon boats in memory of Qus dramatic death.
For thousands of years, the tradition of the Duanwu Festival has been passed down from one generation to the next. But where did it come from and why did people eat Zongzi and race dragon boats? Many scholars have studied these questions and given their academic explanations.
One explanation is that the Duanwu Festival originated from peoples worship of dragons. In ancient China, people believed the dragon was the god in charge of water, which was vitally important to daily life and agricultural production. On the day of Duanwu, people raced dragon boats to entertain the god and offered him Zongzi as a treat. The sole purpose was to please the god to ensure a year of favorable weather.
Some people believe Duanwu comes from activities instigated by ancient sorcerers. These activities were held in early summer when the hot weather was about to bring diseases to people who didnt have modern devices and medicines to protect themselves. So, ancient sorcerers encouraged people to wear fragrant pouches and hang mugwort and calamus on their doors to drive away the so-called evil spirits that caused diseases.
Scholars may provide many other explanations about the origin of the Duanwu Festival. But if you ask ordinary people about its origin, youll get the same answer. They will tell you that the Duanwu Festival honors the great poet, Qu Yuan. Theyll also tell you the story that has been passed down for more than 2,000 years.
Qu Yuan was born in 340 BC, during the Warring States Period. At that time, there were seven states struggling among themselves to unify China. Of the seven states, Qin was the strongest and Chu the largest.
Qu Yuan was a noble of Chu. During his lifetime, the powerful kingdom of Chu fell into a decline.
Early in his life, Qu Yuan won the confidence of the King of Chu, and was his deputy prime minister, helping draft laws and determine foreign policy. When he saw the danger posed by the ambitious Qin State, he proposed government reforms and an alliance with the neighboring Qi state as a way to ensure Chus safety.
But the King of Chu was surrounded by self-seekers, who were jealous of Qu Yuan. They accepted bribes from the Qins envoy, dissuaded the King from taking Qu Yuans advice and brought about the poets estrangement from the King. Qu Yuan was finally sent into exile for 20 years.
During those desperate years, Qu Yuan helplessly watched his beloved country become weaker every day. In the year 278 BC, the capital of Chu was stormed by troops from Qin. In great pain, Qu Yuan wrote Lisao or The Lament, the greatest of all his poems. On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, he drowned himself in the Milo River, because he was hopeless about his countrys future.
People grieve for those who have grieved for them. Each year, during the Duanwu Festival, the day of Qu Yuans death, people race dragon boats to commemorate him. This is believed to be a representation of how the people of Chu tried, at the time, to recover Qu Yuans body from the Milo River. Pyramid-shaped dumplings by the name of Zongzi were thrown in the river to feed the fish, so they would stay away from Qu Yuans body.
Qu Yuans life was tragic but, as a poet, he achieved great success. In fact, he is considered to be the first poet in Chinese literature. Before his time, there were only folk songs. Qu Yuan created a new style of poetry, which became known as Chu Ci.
Some holidays are so much fun that they catch on outside of their culture. The most obvious example is probably Christmas, which is celebrated around the world by people who arent even Christian. Similarly, in recent years, the Dragon Boat Festival has moved beyond China to become an international holiday celebrated by people who may know little about the holidays origins.
The Dragon Boat Festival is one of three major Chinese holidays, along with the Spring and Moon Festivals. Of the three, it is possibly the oldest, dating back to the Warring States Period in 227 B.C. The festival commemorates Qu Yuan, a minister in the service of the Chu Emperor. Despairing over corruption at court, Qu threw himself into a river. Townspeople jumped into their boats and tried in vain to save him. Then, hoping to distract hungry fish from his body, the people scattered rice on the water.
Over the years, the story of Qus demise transformed into the traditions of racing dragon boats and eating zongzi a kind of rice wrapped in bamboo leaves. The races have certainly captured the imagination of people from all over the world. Every spring there are nearly 60 dragon boat races held outside of China in cities from Vancouver to Sydney, from Gdańsk, Poland to Cape Town, South Africa. Canada alone has nearly 50 dragon boat teams and Germany has nearly 30.
So what is it about the Dragon Boat Festival that appeals to foreigners? Its an unusual sport, says one racer from Germany. Its not like everybodys doing it. Thats one of the reasons that theres such great team spirit in a dragon boat team everybody feels like were doing something special. And what about the zongzi? Ehhh, theyre not bad, I guess, he says. Something of an acquired taste. I just havent really acquired it yet.
