The Dragon Boat Festival 端午节

Falling on the 5th day of the 5th month of the Chinese lunar calendar, the Dragon Boat Festival is of great significance to Chinese people. It has been held annually for more than 2,000 years and is notable for its educational influence. The festival commemorates the patriotic poet Qu Yuan①(340-278 BC), and also acts as a chance for Chinese people to build their bodies and dispel diseases. Many legends circulate around the festival but the most popular is the legend of Qu Yuan.

As a minister in the State of Chu, one of the seven warring states before the Qin Dynasty, Qu Yuan supported the decision to fight against the powerful State of Qin together with the State of Qi. However, he was slandered(诋毁) by the aristocrat Zi Lan② and was subsequently exiled(流放) by the King. In order to show his love and passion for his country, he wrote many enduring poems such as Li Sao③, Heavenly Questions(Tian Wen④) and Nine Songs (Jiu Ge⑤) and is therefore regarded as a famous poet in China’s history. In 278 BC, after finishing his last masterpiece - Embracing the Sand (HuaiSha⑥), he drowned himself in the river rather than see his country occupied and conquered by the State of Qin.

On hearing of Qu Yuan’s death, all the local people nearby were in great distress. Fishermen searched for his body by sailing their boats down the river and other people threw food such as eggs and food like zongzi into the river to attract fish and other animals from destroying Qu Yuan’s body. Because Qu Yuan died on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, people decided to commemorate him on that day every year. Dragon boat racing and eating zongzi have become the central customs of the festival. 

Besides these, they are many other traditional customs and activities held on the specified day by people in China and even by some people in neighboring countries, such as wearing a perfume pouch(香布囊), tying five-color silk thread and hanging mugwort leaves(艾叶) and calamus(菖蒲).

Dragon boats are thus named because the fore and stern of the boat are in the shape of a traditional Chinese dragon. A team of people works the oars(桨) in a bid to reach the destination before the other teams. One team member sits at the front of the boat beating a drum in order to maintain morale(士气)and ensure that the rowers(划手) keep in time with one another. It is said that the winning team will bring a harvest and happy life to the people of their village.

Now, some of the ethnic minorities in China also hold dragon boat races like Miao and Dai. Japan, Vietnam, and Britain regard it as an important game as well. In the year of 1980, it was listed in the state sports competition program.

Most Chinese festivals include the eating of a particular food among their customs and the Dragon Boat Festival is no exception. Zongzi is the special food eaten here. Made with sticky rice, it has different shapes and various fillings. In the north part of the country, people favor the glutinous rice and Chinese date as fillings, while the south prefers glutinous rice with sweetened bean paste, fresh meat, or egg yolk. Many families make zongzi by themselves. They first soak the glutinous rice, wash the reed（芦苇）or bamboo leaves,  and then wrap zongzi with leaves. According to folklore（民间传说）, wearing the perfume pouch protects children from evil. So on this day, children decorate their clothes with diversely perfume pouches. It is a kind of small pouch made of the colorful silk cloth stringed with a five-color silk thread.

Another custom is to tie five-color silk tread（丝线）to a child's wrists, ankles, and around their neck. The five-color thread holds special significance in that it is thought to contain magical and healing properties. Children are not permitted to speak while their parents tie the five-color thread for them, neither are they allowed to remove it. Only after the first summer rainfall can the children throw the thread into the river. This is thought to protect the children from the plague(瘟疫) and diseases.

The festival is held during summer when all kinds of diseases prevail, so people clean their houses and put mugwort leaves and calamus on the top of the doors to dispel diseases. It is said that the stem and the leaves of these plants discharge a special aroma(香味) which can dispel the mosquitoes, flies and purify the air, so this custom is an understandably popular one.

Abridged and revised from

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/essential/holidays/dragon-boat.htm

Notes:

① Qu Yuan: 屈原,名正则，字灵均，一名平，字原，楚武王熊通之子屈瑕的后代。我国浪漫主义诗歌的奠基人，我国第一位伟大的爱国主义诗人，世界四大文化名人之一。他创立了“楚辞”，也开创了“香草美人”的传统。战国时期楚国贵族出身，后因遭贵族排挤被流放,在汨罗江怀石自杀，端午节据说就是他的忌日。

② ZiLan：名子兰(也作阑)，楚怀王之子、楚顷襄王之弟。战国时期楚国人，楚怀王宠臣之一，官至令尹。为了达到个人的目的，他对屈原的各项政治主张和建议多次抵制，并向楚怀王谗言屈原，致使屈原遭受排挤和陷害。

③ Li Sao：《离骚》,是战国时期著名诗人屈原的代表作之一，是中国古代汉族诗歌史上一首最长的政治抒情诗。诗人从自叙身世、品德、理想写起，抒发了自己遭谗言被害的苦闷与矛盾心情，揭露了楚王昏庸、群小猖獗与朝政日非的政治现实，表现了诗人坚持“美政” 理想、不附和邪恶势力的自爱精神及对楚国至死不渝的忠诚。 

④ Tian Wen: 《天问》,是中国最伟大的浪漫主义诗人屈原的代表作，收录于西汉刘向编辑的《楚辞》中，全诗373句，1560字，多为四言，兼有三言、五言、六言、七言，偶有八言，起伏跌宕，错落有致。该作品全文自始至终，完全以问句构成，一口气对天、对地、对自然、对社会、对历史、对人生提出173个问题，被誉为是“千古万古至奇之作”。

⑤ Jiu Ge：《九歌》,是《楚辞》篇名。原为汉族神话传说中的一种远古歌曲的名称，战国楚人屈原据汉族民间祭神乐歌改作或加工而成。共十一篇,多描写神灵间的眷恋，表现出深切的思念或所求未遂的伤感。

⑥HuaiSha：怀沙，是楚国政治家、诗人屈原作为临终前的所作绝命词，大概意指怀抱沙石以自沉，内容为作者在讲述遭遇的不幸与感伤上始终同理想抱负的实现与否相联系，希冀以自身肉体的死亡来最后震撼民心、激励君主，唤起国民、国君精神上的觉醒，以及作者发抒临终前的浩叹与歌唱。以长篇诗歌词为主要形式，句法内容灵活多变，句中句尾多用虚字，用来协调音节，造成起伏回宕、一唱三叹的韵致。