Dragon Boat Festival

TheDragon Boat Festival(traditional Chinese:端午節;simplified Chinese:端午节;pinyin:Duānwǔ jié) is a traditional Chinese holiday that occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of theChinese calendar, which corresponds to late May or early June in theGregorian calendar. The holiday commemoratesQu Yuanwho was the beloved prime minister of the southern Chinesestate of Chuduring theWarring States period, about 600 B.C. to 200 B.C., and is celebrated by holdingdragon boat racesand eating sticky rice dumplings calledzongzi, which were southern Chinese traditions. Dragon Boat Festival integrates praying for good luck and taking respite from the summer heat.
In September 2009,UNESCOofficially approved the holiday's inclusion in theRepresentative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, becoming the first Chinese holiday to be selected.
The English language name for the holiday is "Dragon Boat Festival",used as the official English translation of the holiday by thePeople's Republic of China.It is also referred to in some English sources asDouble Fifth Festivalwhich alludes to the day of the festival according to the Chinese calendar.
The Chinese name of the festival is pronounced differently in differentChinese languages.Duanwu(端午) literally means 'starting five'—i.e., the first "fifth day" of the month according to theChinese zodiac.However, despite the literal meaning referring to theEarthly Branches, this character has also become associated withwǔ(五;wu; 'five'), due to the characters often having the same pronunciation. HenceDuanwu, the festival on "the fifth day of the fifth month".
InCantonese, it isromanizedasTuenNgJitin Hong Kong andTungNgJitinMacau, hence the name "Tuen Ng Festival" used inHong Kong,andTun Ng(Festividade do Barco-DragãoinPortuguese) in Macau.
The fifth lunar month is considered an unlucky and poisonous month, and the fifth day of the fifth month especially so.To get rid of the misfortune, people would putcalamus,Artemisia, and garlic above the doors on the fifth day of the fifth month.These were believed to help ward off evil by their strong smell and their shape (for instance, calamus leaves are shaped like swords).
Venomous animals were said to appear starting from the fifth day of the fifth month, such as snakes, centipedes, and scorpions; people also supposedly get sick easily after this day.Therefore, during the Dragon Boat Festival, people try to avoid this bad luck.For example, people may put pictures of the five venomous creatures (snake, centipede, scorpion, lizard, toad, and sometimes spider) on the wall and stick needles in them. People may also make paper cutouts of the five creatures and wrap them around the wrists of their children.Big ceremonies and performances developed from these practices in many areas, making the Dragon Boat Festival a day for getting rid of disease and bad luck.
The story best known in modern China holds that the festival commemorates the death of the poet and ministerQu Yuan(c.340–278 BC) of theancient stateofChuduring theWarring States periodof theZhou dynasty.A cadet member of theChu royal house, Qu served in high offices. However, when the king decided to ally with the increasingly powerful state ofQin, Qu was banished for opposing the alliance and even accused of treason.During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal ofpoetry. Eventually, Qin capturedYing, the Chu capital. In despair, Qu Yuancommitted suicideby drowning himself in theMiluo River.
It is said that the local people, who admired him, raced out in their boats to save him, or at least retrieve his body.This is said to have been the origin ofdragon boat races.When his body could not be found, they dropped balls ofsticky riceinto the river so that the fish would eat them instead of Qu Yuan's body. This is said to be the origin ofzongzi.
During the twentieth century, Qu Yuan became considered a patriotic poet and a symbol of the people. He was promoted as a folk hero and a symbol ofChinese nationalismin the People's Republic of China after the 1949Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War. The historian and writerGuo Moruowas influential in shaping this view of Qu.
Another origin story says that the festival commemoratesWu Zixu(died 484 BC), a statesman of theKingdom of Wu.KingGoujianof thestate of YuesendsXi Shi, a beautiful woman, to the state of Wu to distract its KingFuchaifrom state affairs. Wu Zixu sees through the plot and warned Fuchai, who became angry and forced the latter to commit suicide. His body was thrown into the river on the fifth day of the fifth month. After his death, in places such asSuzhou, Wu Zixu is remembered during the Dragon Boat Festival.
Although Wu Zixu is commemorated in southeastJiangsuand Qu Yuan elsewhere in China, much of NortheasternZhejiang, including the cities ofShaoxing,NingboandZhoushan, celebrates the memory of the young girlCao E(130–144 AD) instead. Cao E's father Cao Xu (曹盱) was a shaman who presided over local ceremonies atShangyu. In 143, while presiding over a ceremony commemorating Wu Zixu during the Dragon Boat Festival, Cao Xu accidentally fell into theShun River. Cao E, in an act offilial piety, searched the river for 3 days trying to find him. After five days, she and her father were both found dead in the river from drowning. Eight years later, in 151, a temple was built inShangyudedicated to the memory of Cao E and her sacrifice. The Shun River was renamed Cao'e River in her honor.
Cao E is depicted in theWu Shuang Pu("Table of Peerless Heroes") by Jin Guliang.
Some modern research suggests that the stories of Qu Yuan or Wu Zixu were possibly superimposed onto pre-existing holiday traditions. The promotion of these stories might have been encouraged byConfucianscholars, seeking to legitimize and strengthen their influence in China. The relationship between zongzi, Qu Yuan and the Dragon Boat Festival first appeared during the early Han dynasty.
The stories of both Qu Yuan and Wu Zixu were recorded inSima Qian'sShiji, completed 187 and 393 years after the respective events, because historians wanted to praise both characters.
According to some, the holiday may have originated as a celebration of agriculture, fertility, andrice growingin southern China.As recently as 1952 the American sociologistWolfram Eberhardwrote that it was more widely celebrated in southern China than in the north.
Another theory is that the Dragon Boat Festival originated fromdragon worship.This theory was advanced byWen Yiduo. Support is drawn from two key traditions of the festival: the tradition of dragon boat racing andzongzi. The food may have originally represented an offering to thedragon king, while dragon boat racing naturally reflects a reverence for the dragon and the activeyangenergy associated with it. This was merged with the tradition of visiting friends and family on boats.
Another suggestion is that the festival celebrates a widespread feature of east Asian agrarian societies: the harvest of winter wheat. Offerings were regularly made to deities and spirits at such times: in the ancient Yue, dragon kings; in the ancient Chu, Qu Yuan; in the ancient Wu, Wu Zixu (as a river god); inancient Korea, mountain gods (seeDano). As interactions between different regions increased, these similar festivals eventually merged into one holiday.
In the early 20th century the Dragon Boat Festival was observed from the first to the fifth days of the fifth month, and was also known as the Festival of Five Poisonous/Venomous Insects (traditional Chinese:毒蟲節;simplified Chinese:毒虫节;pinyin:Dúchóng jié;Wade–Giles:Tu-chʻung-chieh).Yu Der Lingwrites in chapter 11 of her 1911 memoirTwo Years in the Forbidden City:
In 2008 the Dragon Boat Festival was made anational public holiday in China.
The festival was long marked as a cultural festival in China and is a public holiday in China, Hong Kong, Macau, andTaiwan. ThePeople's Republic of China's governmentestablished in 1949 did not initially recognize the Dragon Boat Festival as a public holiday but reintroduced it in 2008 alongside two other festivals in a bid to boost traditional culture.
The Dragon Boat Festival is unofficially observed by theChinese communitiesof Southeast Asia, includingSingaporeandMalaysia. Equivalent and related official festivals include the KoreanDano,JapaneseTango no sekku,and VietnameseTết Đoan Ngọ.
Three of the most widespread activities conducted during the Dragon Boat Festival are eating (and preparing)zongzi, drinkingrealgar wine, and racingdragon boats.
Dragon boat racinghas a rich history of ancient ceremonial and ritualistic traditions, which originated in southern central China more than 2500 years ago. The legend starts with the story of Qu Yuan, who was a minister in one of the Warring State governments, Chu.He was slandered by jealous government officials and banished by the king.Out of disappointment in the Chu monarch, he drowned himself in the Miluo River.The common people rushed to the water and tried to recover his body, but they failed.In commemoration of Qu Yuan, people hold dragon boat races yearly on the day of his death according to the legend.They also scattered rice into the water to feed the fish, to prevent them from eating Qu Yuan's body, which is one of the origins ofzongzi.
A notable part of celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival is making and eating zongzi, also known as sticky rice dumplings, with family members and friends. People traditionally make zongzi by wrappingglutinous riceand fillings in leaves of reed or bamboo, forming a pyramid shape.The leaves also give a special aroma and flavor to the sticky rice and fillings. Choices of fillings vary depending on regions.Northern regions in China prefer sweet or dessert-styled zongzi, with bean paste,jujube,and nuts as fillings. Southern regions in China prefer savory zongzi, with a variety of fillings including eggs and meat.
Zongziappeared before theSpring and Autumn periodand were originally used to worship ancestors and gods. In the Jin dynasty, zongzi dumplings were officially designated as the Dragon Boat Festival food. At this time, in addition to glutinous rice, the Chinese medicineyizhiren(Alpinia oxyphylla) was added to the ingredients for making zongzi. This cooked zongzi is calledyizhi zong.
'Wu' (午) in the name 'Duanwu' has a pronunciation similar to that of the number 5 in multiple Chinese dialects, and thus many regions have traditions of eating food that is related to the number 5. For example, the Guangdong and Hong Kong regions have the tradition of having congee made from 5 different beans.
Realgar wineor Xionghuang wine is a Chinese alcoholic drink that is made from Chinese liquor dosed with powderedrealgar, a yellow-orange arsenic sulfide mineral.It was traditionally used as a pesticide, and as a common antidote against disease and venom.On the Dragon Boat Festival, people may put realgar wine on parts of children's faces to repel the five poisonous creatures.
In some regions of China, people, especially children, wear silk ribbons or threads of 5 colors (blue, red, yellow, white, and black, representing thefive elements) on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival.People believe that this will help keep evil away.
Other common activities include hanging up icons ofZhong Kui(a mythic guardian figure), hangingmugwortandcalamus, taking long walks, and wearing perfumed medicine bags.Other traditional activities include a game of making an egg stand at noon (this "game" implies that if someone succeeds in making the egg stand at exactly 12:00 noon, that person will receive luck for the next year), and writingspells. All of these activities, together with the drinking of realgar wine or water, were regarded by the ancients (and some today) as effective in preventing disease or evil while promoting health and well-being.
In the early years of theRepublic of China, Duanwu was celebrated as the "Poets' Day" due to Qu Yuan's status as China's first known poet. In Taiwanese tradition,balancing an eggon Duanwu is said to bring good fortune for the rest of the year.
The sun is considered to be at its strongest around the time of the summer solstice, as the daylight in the northern hemisphere is the longest. The sun, like theChinese dragon, traditionally representsmasculine energy, whereas the moon, like thephoenix, traditionally representsfeminine energy. The summer solstice is considered the annual peak of male energy while the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, represents the annual peak of feminine energy. The masculine image of the dragon has thus become associated with the Dragon Boat Festival.