The Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.It is generally believed that the festival originated to celebrate the memory of the ancient patriotic poet Qu Yuan.
Qu Yuan,a native of the State of Chu during the Warring States Period (476 BC-221 BC), repeatedly offered his king proposals aimed at forestalling political corruption. Subsequently, slandered by treacherous court officials, he was sent into exile by the same king he had tried to help.
In 278 BC, the capital of the State of Chu was lost to his enemy the State of Qin and Qu Yuan drowned himself in despair on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Aware of the tragedy, the local people living beside the river went out in the boats to try to find his corpse.
Every year thereafter on this day people continued to row dragon boats on their local rivers in memory of Qu Yuan' life and death, throwing sections of bamboo filled with rice into the river as an offering.
Legend has it that someone once met Qu Yuan's spirit on the bank of the river and was told:"The food you have given me has all been taken away by the dragon. Hereafter,you should wrap the rice in bamboo leaves tied with five-colored thread. These are the two things that the dragon is most afraid of."
Thus people began to make zongzi(glutinous rice wrapped in a pyramid shape using bamboo or reed leaves) in a memory of Qu Yuan. Naturally, zongzi is the traditional food for the Dragon Boat Festival.
Qu Yuan,a native of the State of Chu during the Warring States Period (476 BC-221 BC), repeatedly offered his king proposals aimed at forestalling political corruption. Subsequently, slandered by treacherous court officials, he was sent into exile by the same king he had tried to help.
In 278 BC, the capital of the State of Chu was lost to his enemy the State of Qin and Qu Yuan drowned himself in despair on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Aware of the tragedy, the local people living beside the river went out in the boats to try to find his corpse.
Every year thereafter on this day people continued to row dragon boats on their local rivers in memory of Qu Yuan' life and death, throwing sections of bamboo filled with rice into the river as an offering.
Legend has it that someone once met Qu Yuan's spirit on the bank of the river and was told:"The food you have given me has all been taken away by the dragon. Hereafter,you should wrap the rice in bamboo leaves tied with five-colored thread. These are the two things that the dragon is most afraid of."
Thus people began to make zongzi(glutinous rice wrapped in a pyramid shape using bamboo or reed leaves) in a memory of Qu Yuan. Naturally, zongzi is the traditional food for the Dragon Boat Festival.
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